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Nap Rucker, 1911
Stats: 22-18, 2.71 ERA, 315 2⁄3 IP, 23 CG, 190 SO, 123 ERA+, 3.18 FIP, 1.156 WHIP,
Awards: MVP (27 in voting)
Baseball Reference WAR: 8.5
FanGraphs WAR: 3.9
Combined WAR: 6.2
Nap Rucker is a familiar name at this point, as this is the third time he’s cracked this countdown. He spent his entire 10-year big-league career in Brooklyn. Overall, he’s one of the better pitchers in franchise history, as he won a total of 134 games and owns a career ERA of 2.42. Today, we’ll be looking back at one of the better seasons of his career. We all remember 1911, right? Alright, great!
Well, since this was over 100 years ago, there’s not a whole lot more I can tell you about Rucker. Just like every pitcher back then, he ate innings. He made 33 starts and 23 of them were complete games.
The one thing I was interested in was the huge difference between his WAR from Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. His 8.5 rWAR was the best in the National League, but yet FanGraphs had him only at 3.9. I think so far while doing these rankings, that’s the biggest gap between both sites.
Oh, well. Winning 22 games with 190 strikeouts and a 2.71 ERA is still a great season!
Here’s where his season ranked in the National League:
- 8.5 rWAR (1st)
- 22 wins (5th)
- 315 2⁄3 innings (4th)
- 190 strikeouts (3rd)
- 23 complete games (6th)