MLB Leaders: First half stat leaders and pace for full year

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ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 21: Justin Verlander #35 of the Houston Astros pitches in the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Angel Stadium on July 21, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

The first half of the MLB season has led to some interesting name on the MLB leaders list, but will they sustain into the second half?

The first half of the MLB season has given some new MLB leaders along with plenty of familiar ones. We will take a look at each league’s hitting and pitching leaders and their paces to see just how sustainable they are.

We’ll start with the American League pitching, then move to AL hitting, then to National League pitching, before finishing our look at MLB leaders with NL hitting. Enjoy!

MLB Leaders: AL pitching

Wins: Luis Severino, New York Yankees, 14; Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland, Blake Snell, Tampa Bay, and Corey Kluber, Cleveland, 12; Eduardo Rodriguez, Boston, Rick Porcello, Boston, Charlie Morton, Houston, and David Price, Boston, 11
Earned Run Average: Justin Verlander, Houston, 2.19; Chris Sale, Boston, 2.23; Snell, 2.27; Severino, 2.31; Trevor Bauer, Cleveland, 2.44
WHIP: Verlander, 0.85; Sale, 0.90; Kluber, 0.91; Gerritt Cole, Houston, 0.98; Sean Manaea, Oakland, 1.00
Games: Jose Alvarez, Los Angeles, 50; Edwin Diaz, Seattle, Tyler Clippard, Toronto, and Ryan Pressly, Minnesota, 49; Joe Jimenez, Detroit, Cam Bedrosian, Los Angeles, Sergio Romo, Tampa Bay, Seung-Hwan Oh, Toronto, and Noe Ramirez, Los Angeles, 47
Saves: Diaz, 37; Craig Kimbrel, Boston, 31; Aroldis Chapman, New York, 26; Blake Treinen, Oakland, 24, Keona Kela, Texas, 23
Innings: Verlander, 143 2/3; Bauer, 140 1/3; Kluber, 133 2/3; James Shields, Chicago, 133; Dallas Keuchel, Houston, 130
Strikeouts: Sale, 188; Verlander, 183; Bauer, 182; Cole, 177; James Paxton, Seattle, 155
Walks: Lance Lynn, Minnesota, 61; Lucas Giolito, Chicago, 60; Danny Duffy, Kansas City, 56; Shields, 50; Kyle Gibson, Minnesota, 48
K/BB: Kluber, 7.77; Verlander, 7.04; Sale, 6.07; Carrasco, 5.00; Paxton, 4.70

Right now, Luis Severino is on pace for 23 victories, Justin Verlander is on pace for 230 innings, and Edwin Diaz is on pace for 61 saves, but what is incredible is the strikeout paces.

Chris Sale is on pace for 305, Trevor Bauer is on pace for 304, and Justin Verlander is on pace for 294. Add in Gerritt Cole, who is on pace for 284, and you have four pitchers with a legit chance to have 300 strikeouts. In modern baseball history, no season has ever had more than two 300 strikeout pitchers combined. The American League alone could have four.

Next: AL hitters

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 17: Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox bats during the first inning of the 89th MLB All-Star Game at Nationals Park Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

MLB Leaders: AL hitting (stats through Saturday)

Batting Average: Mookie Betts, Boston, .355; Jose Altuve, Houston .329; J.D. Martinez, Boston, .325; Jean Segura, Seattle, .322; Matt Duffy, Tampa Bay, .317
On-Base: Mike Trout, Los Angeles, .451; Betts, .444; Shin-Soo Choo, Texas, .401; Jose Ramirez, Cleveland, .401; Aaron Judge, New York, .398
Slugging: Betts, .677; Martinez, .639; Ramirez, .639; Trout, .595; Manny Machado, Baltimore, .575
Runs: Francisco Lindor, Cleveland, 86; Betts, 79; Martinez, 72; Trout, 71; Ramirez, 70
Hits: Altuve, 130; Segura, 122; Eddie Rosario, Minnesota, 120; Nick Castellanos, Detroit, 117; Lindor and Martinez, 116
Doubles: Eduardo Escobar, Minnesota, 36; Lindor, 32; Alex Bregman, Houston, 31; Whit Merrifield, Kansas City, 30; Miguel Andujar, New York, and Castellanos, 29
Triples: Carlos Sanchez, Chicago, 9; Teoscar Hernandez, Toronto, and Mallex Smith, Tampa Bay, 6; Andrew Benintendi, Boston, and Yoan Moncada, Chicago, 5
Home Runs: Ramirez, 30; Martinez, 29, Judge 26, Lindor and Trout, 25
RBI: Martinez, 80; Ramirez, 72; Edwin Encarnacion, Cleveland, 68; Mitch Haniger, Seattle, 67; Machado, 65
Walks: Trout, 86; Judge, 66; Choo, 63; Justin Smoak, Toronto, and Bregman, 58
Strikeouts: Joey Gallo, Texas, 135; Moncada, 134; Judge, 132; Giancarlo Stanton, New York, 131; Chris Davis, Baltimore, 121
Stolen Bases: Dee Gordon, Seattle, 22; Tim Anderson, Chicago, 21; Ramirez, 20; Betts, 18; Merrifield, Benintendi, and Smith, 17

To get an idea of where the leaders could end up, here are some of the paces:

Lindor, runs, 143
Altuve, hits, 209
Escobar, doubles, 61
Sanchez, triples, 15
Ramirez, home runs, 50
Martinez, RBI, 130
Trout, walks, 141
Gallo, strikeouts, 221
Gordon, stolen bases, 36

Interestingly, few seem terribly out of reach, outside of Escobar’s double total and Ramirez’s home run total, but neither of those is insane for recent numbers that we’ve seen. One of the interesting things to track is whether Escobar may be traded to a team 1) in the American League, and 2) that he will be a starter for when he could be a super utility for a number of playoff-quality teams.

Next: NL Pitching

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 17: Max Scherzer #31 of the Washington Nationals delivers during the first inning of the 89th MLB All-Star Game at Nationals Park Tuesday, July 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

MLB Leaders: NL Pitching

Wins: Aaron Nola, Philadelphia, Max Scherzer, Washington, and Jon Lester, Chicago, 12; Zack Godley, Arizona, 11; Zack Greinke, Arizona, and Miles Mikolas, St. Louis, 10
Earned Run Average: Jacob deGrom, New York, 1.68; Nola, 2.30; Scherzer, 2.41; Mike Foltynewicz, Atlanta, 2.66; Mikolas, 2.79
WHIP: Scherzer, 0.90; deGrom, 0.97; Nola, 0.98; Mikolas, 1.05; Patrick Corbin, Arizona, 1.05
Games: Steve Cishek, Chicago, Sam Dyson, San Francisco, Andrew Chafin, Arizona, Drew Steckenrider, Miami, Brad Ziegler, Miami, and Archie Bradley, Arizona, 48
Saves: Wade Davis, Colorado, and Kenley Jansen, Los Angeles, 28; Brad Hand, San Diego, and Brad Boxberger, Arizona, 24; Felipe Vazquez, Pittsburgh, 23
Innings: Scherzer, 134 2/3; Nola, 129; Clayton Richard, San Diego, 127; deGrom, 123 1/3; Corbin, 122 1/3
Strikeouts: Scherzer, 182; Corbin and deGrom, 149; Nola, 131; Jon Gray, Colorado, 125
Walks: Tyler Chatwood, Chicago, 79; Godley, 57; Sean Newcomb, Atlanta, 52; Richard and Julio Teheran, Atlanta, 51
K/BB: Greinke, 5.39; Scherzer, 5.35; deGrom, 4.97; Alex Wood, Los Angeles, 4.70; Ivan Nova, Pittsburgh, 4.65

Here are a few paces for leaders:

Nola, Scherzer, Lester, wins, 20
Jansen, Davis, saves, 46
Scherzer, innings, 225
Scherzer, strikeouts, 304
Chatwood, walks, 132

What is incredible to consider is that no pitcher in over 25 seasons has eclipsed 130 walks. That is how remarkable the pace that Tyler Chatwood is on right now.

Another thing underappreciated in the brilliant year that Jacob deGrom is having and the rough season the team around him is having is that Max Scherzer is deGrom’s ERA lead short of a pitching triple crown. He’s led the league in wins, innings, and strikeouts in 2016 as well.

Next: NL Hitting

ATLANTA, GA – JULY 14: Nick Markakis #22 of the Atlanta Braves hits a ninth inning single against the Arizona Diamondbacks at SunTrust Park on July 14, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /

MLB Leaders: NL Hitting

Batting Average: Nick Markakis, Atlanta, .323; Scooter Gennett, Cincinnati, .321; Albert Almora, Chicago, .318; Freddie Freeman, Atlanta, .316; Nolan Arenado, Colorado, .313
On-Base: Joey Votto, Cincinnati, .418; Jesse Winker, Cincinnati, .409; Freeman, .405; Eugenio Suarez, Cincinnati, .396; Arenado, .395
Slugging: Jesus Aguilar, Milwaukee, .618; Arenado, .597; Matt Carpenter, St. Louis, .593; Suarez, .565; Max Muncy, Los Angeles, .599 (Muncy does not have enough at-bats to qualify currently, so his ranking is based on providing Muncy with at-bats needed to qualify without a single hit during those at-bats)
Runs: Charlie Blackmon, Colorado, 76; Ozzie Albies, Atlanta, 75; Tommy Pham, St. Louis, and Arenado, 66 Cesar Hernandez, Philadelphia, 65
Hits: Markakis, 121; Freeman, 116; Gennett, Albies, and Startlin Castro, Miami Marlins, 115
Doubles: Albies and Carpenter, 30; Markakis, 29; Trevor Story, Colorado, 27; Javier Baez, Chicago, and Freeman, 26
Triples: Ketel Marte, Arizona, 9; Chris Taylor, Los Angeles, 8; Brandon Nimmo, New York, and Baez, 6
Home Runs: Carpenter, Aguilar, and Arenado, 25; Bryce Harper, Washington, 23; Muncy, 22
RBI: Baez, 74; Arenado, 72; Suarez and Aguilar, 71; Story, 68
Walks: Harper, 78; Carlos Santana, Philadelphia, 74; Votto, 73; Justin Bour, Miami, 63; Hernandez, 62
Strikeouts: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona, 116; Taylor, 111; Story, 105; Harper, 104; Ian Happ, Chicago, 103
Stolen Bases: Starling Marte, Pittsburgh, 25; Michael Taylor, Washington, 24; Ender Inciarte, Atlanta, 23; Billy Hamilton, Cincinnati, and Trea Turner, Washington, 22

Current paces for leaders:

Blackmon, runs, 126
Markakis, hits, 206
Albies, doubles, 51
Marte, triples, 15
Carpenter and Arenado, home runs, 41
Baez, RBI, 124
Harper, walks, 130
Goldschmidt, strikeouts, 190
Marte, stolen bases, 41

What is most impressive of all of these lines is not Ozzie Albies on pace to smack 51 doubles in his first full season in the league, but that a whole league is not going to have a single player strike out over 200 times in this era of high strikeouts!

Next: CTTP's midseason top 150 prospects

It has been a great first half with some new names on the MLB leaders list. It will be fun to see if the paces hold up for the season!

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