The best Atlanta Braves RHP: so how do you value pitching?
Braves Performance (part 1/WAA)
Here, we need to be a bit careful… and it’s the first point where “your mileage may vary”. I have chosen baseball-reference’s Wins Above Average for this. Not WAR, but hopefully a better indication of how much better a pitcher was performing beyond his peers’ results.
HUDSON – 11.7 (on this chart, he’s actually the tenth-ranked Braves RHP!)
MADDUX – 46.5
NICHOLS – 69.0
NIEKRO – 50.0
SMOLTZ – 39.1
Those between Smoltz and Hudson: John Clarkson (25.2), Vic Willis (24.4), Tommy Bond (24.1), Jim Whitney (15.4), and Charlie Buffington (11.9).
Had I used WAR, the results would still have Nichols on top (107.4) and Niekro 2nd, but flipping Smoltz and Maddux. Hudson drops to 11th among Braves RH hurlers as Lew Burdette jumps into the 9th spot.
Points: Niekro and Nichols 8, Smoltz 7, Maddux 5, Hudson 1.
BRAVES PERFORMANCE (part 2/ERA+)
Before looking, it is recognized that this metric might end up being too similar to WAA, though it is included since the value obtained is intended to grade a pitcher independent of ballpark conditions (how accurate that might be for Nichols is anyone’s guess, though).
HUDSON – 115 (9th among Braves RHP with 1000+ innings)
MADDUX – 163
NICHOLS – 143
NIEKRO – 119
SMOLTZ -127
Points: Nichols 12, Niekro and Maddux and Smoltz 10, Hudson 3
BRAVES WINS PLUS SAVES
The latter value is obviously in here because of Smoltz, though I am going to modify that just a bit: the numbers you’ll see here will be Wins + (0.333 * Saves)… counting a save as 1/3rd of the value of a Win (results rounded).
Feel free to adjust your own calculators if you don’t like that 0.333 figure, but that’s where we’ll start here:
HUDSON – 113 (again, all of these numbers are measure while a Brave)
MADDUX – 194
NICHOLS – 330 + (0.333)*15 ==> 335
NIEKRO – 268 + (0.333)*29 ==> 278
SMOLTZ – 210 + (0.333)*154 ==> 261
Points: Nichols 17, Niekro 14, Smoltz 13, Maddux 12, Huddy 4.
At this point, I want to make clear that while Tim Hudson was clearly a stalwart of the Atlanta Braves rotation for nearly a decade and his contributions to the success of the club were outstanding, he’s simply being overwhelmed by the rare company he’s in here.