Shedding light on Jose Quintana’s stellar season

Let’s talk about a Chicago White Sox pitcher. And, no, his name isn’t Chris Sale. His name, rather, is Jose Quintana, and he’s been an elite pitcher in 2014.

Yes, I said elite. Entering Saturday Quintana placed with the ninth-best fWAR among starting pitchers in baseball, at 4.5, trailing his ace teammate, Sale, by 0.4 percentage points. That mark is better than the likes of Johnny Cueto, Madison Bumgarner, and Adam Wainwright.

Now, fWAR isn’t a perfect measure of a pitcher’s value, so put as much stock into it as you see fit. However, even looking at his basic numbers, 3.44 ERA and 2.86 FIP, we can see the southpaw has been spectacular. His FIP, in particular, has been phenomenal, and that’s largely credited to his unsustainable 4.1 HR/FB (home run to fly ball ratio). That said, his 7.56 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 aren’t too shabby, either.

Quintana’s never been a strikeout pitcher in his career, and this year’s no different. In fact, his 7.56 K/9 this season is .14 percentage point below league-average. Conversely, his BB/9 is .37 points above league-average this year. His rare ability to hit his spots and get in command is evidently shown by his 66.2 F-Strike% (first strike percentage), which ranks 12th in baseball among qualifiers.

Quintessentially, hitters tend to watch the first pitch go by, and Quintana seems to be cognizant of that and takes advantage of the fact. Another reason for his success is the effectiveness of his fastball.

His heater, according to Fangraphs’ Pitch Value, has been the 12th best fastball in baseball among starting pitchers this season. The 25-year-old has always had great feel for that pitch, and last year his fastball, according to (again) Fangraphs’ Pitch Value, was rated the 7th most useful in MLB between staring pitchers.

Check out this clip of Quintana working his magic against the Astros.

You see him use that fastball, ranging from 90-93 mph, on multiple occasions to put batters away with two strikes. If you watch the video intently, you should see the left-hander use his curveball to record his second punchout of the contest. His curveball has been terrific, as well, and has seen opposing batters only churn a pedestrian .172 batting average and .440 OPS this season.

The changeup that hitters demolished for an .899 OPS, in ’13,  has also improved, as hitters have only managed to amass a .685 OPS off the off-speed pitch in ’14.

All said, his improved pitches have led to a much more effective campaign for Quintana this season. He’s lived in the shadow of another underrated pitcher (Chris Sale) the past two seasons, but it’s time he gets proper recognition for his honed craft. Unexpectedly, but covertly, Quintana has forged himself into one of the best southpaws in the game, and with him and Sale anchoring Chicago’s rotation for the foreseeable future, the White Sox may be closer to contention than you think.