Since the beginning of the season, Corbin Burnes has made headlines as he pursued Major League history. Burnes set the Major League record for most strikeouts before issuing a walk to start the season, and has been involved in several historic pitchers’ duels. For example, he and Twins’ starter Jose Berrios each took no-hit bids through six innings while striking out 10 or more hitters. It was the first time in history that that had happened. However, Brandon Woodruff, too, has been putting up some pretty historical numbers, and it is time for us to highlight them.
Opponents’ OPS
OPS is on-base plus slugging percentage for a batter. In short, it measures how often a hitter gets on base and how often they are accumulating extra-base hits. Since 1901, five pitchers have allowed opponents to have an OPS below .400 through their first 10 starts of the season. Currently, Brandon Woodruff has allowed opponents to a .402 OPS. Since that 1901 date, it is the sixth best ever among starting pitchers through their first 10 starts.
Lowest OPS in first 10 starts of a season in MLB history?
.376 Marichal, 1966
.376 Mathewson, 1901
.394 Johnson, 1914
.396 Brown, 1908
.399 Koufax, 1963
.402 Woodruff, 2021 ⚡️⚡️⚡️First 5 are in the Hall of Fame!!! 🏆@B_Woody24 @Brewers @ReviewngTheBrew https://t.co/f8wtUBfysw
— Codify, Inc. (@CodifyBaseball) May 25, 2021
Second Lowest ERA in Team History Through 10 Starts
Brandon Woodruff has been the victim of poor run support. Despite only having a 3-2 record this year, he has been putting up stellar numbers. He currently has a 1.41 ERA through 10 starts. His first start on Opening Day was a dud, but he has put together a string of nine consecutive quality starts. This has led to the second lowest ERA through 10 starts in Brewers’ history. Only Cal Eldred in 1992 was better.
Brandon Woodruff: unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/JSCPCcwyR8
— Bally Sports Wisconsin (@BallySportWI) May 25, 2021
WHIP
WHIP stands for walks and hits per innings pitched. It is used to measure how many total baserunners a pitcher allows per inning. Over his last nine starts, Woodruff’s WHIP is 0.617. Having a WHIP that low is otherworldly, and in Woodruff’s case, it is among the best of all-time.
So, uh, I don't mean to alarm, but Brandon Woodruff's current 0.617 WHIP over his last nine starts is the seventh-best mark over *any nine-game stretch* in a season by any pitcher in MLB history.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) May 25, 2021
Conclusion
Brandon Woodruff is good. It is still May, the season is still young, and hopefully he can continue to dominate hitters the way he has been doing all season so far. The offense has scored four runs in five consecutive games for the first time since 2019, so the ship seems to be righting offensively. Woodruff is among the league-leaders in lowest run support, so a better offense should generate more wins and bring more attention to his historic season.
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