(As you probably know, I'm aware that wins are a pretty poor indicator of a pitcher's actual performance. That's fine. What follows is not an argument that Cliff Lee v. 2008, just some numbers I found to be pretty incredible.)
Best single-season winning percentages ever (min. 20 decisions):
Pretty impressive, although it'll be tough to stay above the .900 mark in his last five starts. What is really amazing is that last column. Not surprisingly, most of these teams are really good. The average team W% for #2-#10 is .622. I went looking for the highest winning percentage on a sub-.500 team. This took awhile, as I had to go all the way down to #87 on this list. In 1964, Sandy Koufax went 19-5, a winning percentage of .792; the Dodgers finished 80-82.
Cliff Lee currently has a winning percentage of over .900 on a sub-.500 team; nobody else in that situation has ever been above .800. He could go 0-3 in his last five starts and still be at .800. Realistically, the only way he doesn't set this "record" is if the Indians, currently 66-70, finish above .500. Those five starts, by the way, should be: @KC, vsKC, vsMIN, @BOS, @CWS. So 23-2 going into the last week of the season is looking like a very real possibility.
There is a very reasonable argument that the Indians have both the best pitcher and best position player in the AL this year. It's really too bad they're forced to send seven other guys out there.
Photo: The Baseball Analysts
