Mets Starters' Velocity vs. Strikeouts/9 and W.A.R.

Accurate visual representation of Niese's 90.7 MPH average fastball

Average Fastball Velocity


Niese- 90.7
Gee- 90.2
Santana- 88.4
Young- 84.4
Dickey- 83.4 (77 = average knuckleball)

Average Fastball Velocity- Rankings (105 qualifying starters)

Niese- 65 of 105
Gee- 73 of 105
Santana- 91 of 105
Young- 104 of 106 (if he had enough innings to qualify for the ERA lead, which he does not)
Dickey- 105 of 105

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings

Dickey- 9.24
Niese- 8.63
Santana- 8.54
Gee- 8.37
Young- 5.4

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings- Rankings (105 qualifying starters)

Dickey- 8 of 105
Niese- 22 of 105
Santana- 25 of 105
Gee- 32 of 105
Young- Does not have enough innings to qualify, but would be somewhere around 95th.

Wins Above Replacement

Dickey- 2.9
Santana- 1.8
Gee- 1.2
Niese- 0.7
Young 0.6

- The W.A.R. of 0.6 for Young is after only 5 starts and is a very strong number for such a small sample.

- The caveat here is Dickey who only throws the fastball 13.3% of the time and is not your average starter, in case you have not noticed.

- Only 32 MLB starting pitchers with qualifying innings have over 8.35 strikeouts per nine innings and the Mets have 4 of those 32 in their starting rotation.

- Jon "Cholula" Niese is the flamethrower of the quintet with his average fastball velocity at 90.7. He ranks 65th out of 105 qualifying starters.

- The Mets rotation has been fantastic in 2012 and they have done it without a single pitcher having above average fastball velocity.