Scoring leaders, triple-digit losers, and the disappearing complete game

Baseball, as I’ve noted before, lacks a scoring race, a shortcoming that sets it apart from the other major sports.

I’ve made a small attempt to fill the void with SC, a stat that measures a batter’s direct production of runs. The formula is a simple one. It adds runs scored and runs batted in, then subtracts home runs. (The latter step prevents the double-counting — a run and an RBI — that would otherwise occur whenever a homer is hit.)

William Contreras of the Milwaukee Brewers topped the majors (and the National League) in scoring after the first eight weeks of the 2024 season. His totals stood at 41 runs scored, 40 driven in, and seven home runs as of the morning of May 23, giving him an SC of 74.

Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals led the American League with an SC of 72. Both he and Contreras held sizable leads in their respective scoring races, as you can see:

• 1. Bobby Witt Jr., Royals, SC 72

• 2. Jose Ramirez, Guardians, SC 65

• 3. Juan Soto, Yankees, SC 64

• 4. Marcus Semien, Rangers, SC 62

• 5. Maikel Garcia, Royals, SC 57

• 6. Gunnar Henderson, Orioles, SC 55

• 6. Kyle Tucker, Astros, SC 55

• 8. Andres Gimenez, Guardians, SC 54

• 9. Aaron Judge, Yankees, SC 52

• 10. Salvador Perez, Royals, SC 50

• 1. William Contreras, Brewers, SC 74

• 2. Alec Bohm, Phillies, SC 65

• 3. Mookie Betts, Dodgers, SC 62

• 4. Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers, SC 60

• 5. Marcell Ozuna, Braves, SC 59

• 6. Kyle Schwarber, Phillies, SC 58

• 7. Bryce Harper, Phillies, SC 56

• 7. Jurickson Profar, Padres, SC 56

• 7. Christian Walker, Diamondbacks, SC 56

• 10. Freddie Freeman, Dodgers, SC 55

• 10. Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers, SC 55

• 10. Bryson Stott, Phillies, SC 55

The years since 2021 have been fertile ones for losers.

Four major-league clubs suffered at least 100 losses in each of the past three seasons:

• 2021: Arizona Diamondbacks (110 losses), Baltimore Orioles (110), Texas Rangers (102), and Pittsburgh Pirates (101)

• 2022: Washington Nationals (107 losses), Oakland Athletics (102), Cincinnati Reds (100), and Pirates (100)

• 2023: Athletics (112 losses), Kansas City Royals (106), Colorado Rockies (103), and Chicago White Sox (101)

This streak is amazing in a couple of ways.

The first is the wide mix of clubs involved. Ten different teams reached triple digits in defeats at least once during the 2021-2023 span. (Oakland and Pittsburgh were the only repeat offenders.)

The second is the rarity of such widespread incompetence. Only five big-league seasons dating back to 1903 — including the three most-recent years — have inducted four members into the 100-loss society. (No season has ever had more than four.) The others to reach that dismal level were 2002 and 2019.

What are the odds that 2024 will again produce multiple triple-digit losers? Reasonably good, actually.

Three teams, after eight weeks of play, were on pace for at least 100 defeats, and three others were close.

The White Sox were the worst. Their 15-35 record would translate to 48.6 wins and 113.4 losses over a 162-game schedule. The Rockies and the Miami Marlins were also pointing toward triple digits, and the Athletics, Los Angeles Angels, and Reds weren’t far behind.

Here are the relevant loss projections:

• Chicago White Sox, L 113.4

• Colorado Rockies, L 108.0

• Miami Marlins, L 108.0

• Oakland Athletics, L 98.5

• Los Angeles Angels, L 97.2

• Cincinnati Reds, L 95.9

It’s not exactly breaking news that today’s pitchers rarely finish what they start.

Only nine complete games were registered during the first eight weeks of the 2024 schedule. Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves established himself as a modern-day iron man with two CGs, and seven other starters had one apiece.

Pitchers collectively made 1,490 starts in the eight-week period, with the nine complete games accounting for just 0.6 percent of the total.

Things used to be different, of course, as you can see in the graph below. It shows the percentage of all starts that ended in CGs at 10-year intervals. Nearly half of all pitchers went the distance in 1924, 48.6 percent.

The share dropped to 34 percent by 1954, then 15 percent in 1984. It has been below 10 percent ever since.

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The Athletics are in the early stages of a protracted two-stage franchise relocation. They intend to move next year to Sacramento for three seasons before shifting to Las Vegas in 2028.

City-to-city transfers were fairly common in the 1950s and 1960s, but have become rare in recent decades. The relocation of the A’s will be the first in the major leagues in 20 years — and only the second in 53 seasons.

Today’s quiz is about baseball’s past franchise shifts. Look to the bottom of this newsletter for the answers.

1. Which club abruptly announced a transfer during 1953’s spring training? (It was the first major-league relocation in half a century.)

2. What was the only season to feature two teams that had shifted cities over the winter?

• A. 1954

• B. 1958

• C. 1965

• D. 1971

3. Which relocated team was immediately replaced by another club of the same name?

• A. New York Giants

• B. Seattle Pilots

• C. St. Louis Browns

• D. Washington Senators

4. Which franchise moved to a new city after only one season in its original home?

• A. Kansas City Athletics

• B. Milwaukee Braves

• C. Seattle Pilots

• D. St. Louis Browns

5. What was the most recent big-league club to relocate (prior to Oakland)?

• A. Kansas City Athletics

• B. Montreal Expos

• C. Seattle Pilots

• D. Washington Senators

We were talking earlier about complete games — or more specifically, the lack of CGs in today’s game.

Well, what about the exceptions? Six starting pitchers have been credited with at least 30 complete games in the 21st century, led by Hall of Famer Roy Halladay with 65.

Halladay actually went the distance 67 times for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies in his 16-season career. But this list is limited to the years from 2000 onward, eliminating Halladay’s first two route-going performances.

Below are the 11 pitchers with the most CGs in this century, as tabulated by Baseball Reference. You’ll note that only one, Justin Verlander, is currently active.

• 1. Roy Halladay (2000-2013), CG 65

• 2. Livan Hernandez (2000-2012), CG 39

• 3. CC Sabathia (2001-2019), CG 38

• 4. Mark Buehrle (2000-2015), CG 33

• 5. Randy Johnson (2000-2009), CG 32

• 6. Bartolo Colon (2000-2018), CG 30

• 7. Cliff Lee (2002-2014), CG 29

• 8. Adam Wainwright (2005-2023), CG 28

• 9. Chris Carpenter (2000-2012), CG 27

• 10. Curt Schilling (2000-2007), CG 26

• 10. Justin Verlander (2005-2024), CG 26

The 1984 Detroit Tigers — who rank as the greatest team of baseball’s Modern Era (1961 to the present) — certainly didn’t seem special during the week from May 21 to May 27.

The Tigers had been a juggernaut up to that point, boasting the stunningly implausible record of 32-5 on the morning of the 21st. And they kept rolling to a 35-5 mark with a three-game sweep of the California Angels.

But then they offered a glimpse of mortality, losing three straight games to the mediocre Seattle Mariners. The composite score was Seattle 22, Detroit 9.

Pitcher Jack Morris was offended by the way the sweep was celebrated in the Kingdome. “I didn’t mind the fans waving brooms in the air,” Morris said. “But I didn’t like the ‘sweep, sweep’ chant on the scoreboard. We don’t do that to them in Detroit.”

No matter. The Tigers still held a comfortable five-game lead over Toronto in the American League East on May 28, 1984.

The New York Mets started the week of May 21 to May 27, 1962, with high hopes. Yes, they were an expansion team, but a recent winning streak had boosted their record to 12-19, elevating them above the Chicago Cubs and Houston Colt .45s in the National League standings.

Then the wheels came off.

The Mets lost a pair of one-run games to Houston, an entire three-game series to the Los Angeles Dodgers (including a 17-8 pounding), and another three-game set to the San Francisco Giants (capped by an unhappy doubleheader).

The total score for the 0-8 week: Opponents 50, New York 27.

The 1962 Mets — destined to be the losingest team of the Modern Era — sank back into last place in the 10-team NL. Their record on the morning of May 28 was 12-27.

1-A. (The Boston Braves relocated to Milwaukee in 1953. Players caught wind of the move in the midst of a spring-training game.)

2-B. (The Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants shifted to Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively prior to the 1958 season.)

3-D. (The original Washington Senators moved to Minnesota, becoming the Twins, in advance of the 1961 season. The American League quickly granted Washington an expansion team, which assumed the Senators’ name.)

4-C. (The Seattle Pilots began play as an expansion team in 1969. The financially troubled franchise moved to Milwaukee in 1970, becoming the Brewers.)

5-B. (The Montreal Expos relocated to Washington after the 2004 season. They were renamed the Nationals.)