Is Shane McClanahan the Best Pitcher in Baseball?

By: Elijah Burns

Shane McClanahan has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball this season. Let’s break him down a little, and his only real competitor, Sandy Alcantara.

Stats used, and what they mean:

xERA, a conversion of xwOBA to the ERA scale, while called expected ERA, is not an actual ERA predictor

FIP, a stat used to remove defense from ERA, but pitchers who get Ks, limit walks, and don’t allow homers may appear better than they actually are

xFIP, a stat that is supposed to predict FIP, by replacing the homer part of FIP with fly balls. Like FIP, it is not a complete analysis of a pitcher.

dERA, is essentially a better version of xERA, using xwOBAcon over xwOBA. Found on Chamberlain’s pitch leaderboard with pCRA.

pCRA, the most complete stat on the ERA scale. It uses Ks, BBs, and the best way to determine how many home runs a pitcher will allow in the future, barrels. pCRA is also the best predictor of ERA.

ERA & Peripherals

Shane McClanahan has truly lit up the stat sheet this year. His 1.73 ERA is tied for 2nd. His 2.28 xERA leads the league. The 2.48 FIP is a step down, but his xFIP is a mind blowing 1.98. He leads 2nd place Kevin Gausman by .83, which is also the difference between 2nd place Gausman and 25th place Charlie Morton.

Results

Some may not think of McClanahan as the best pitcher in baseball due to his more limited volume, as he has 26 less IP than NL Cy Young favorite Sandy Alcantara. While it's not necessarily wrong to call Alcantara the best pitcher in baseball, it's hard to say it's right. McClanahan trails only Dylan Cease in K/9, while Alcantara comes in at an underwhelming 38th. However, strikeouts rarely tell the full story. Alcantara has a GB% of 56.6%, behind only fellow All Star Framber Valdez. McClanahan does come in 9th in GB%, but Alcantara does easily beat him here.

What makes the best pitcher the best?

Those who believe the goal of pitching is solely to get outs, probably think Sandy Alcantara is the best pitcher in baseball. Personally, I do not believe that, but those who do are not wrong. Shane McClanahan allows less walks and hits than everyone but Tony Gonsolin, and strikes out more than everyone but Dylan Cease. I believe that Shane McClanahan is the best pitcher in baseball.

Pitch data

Sure he has good results and peripherals, but why? He has two pitches that are absolutely insane and one that is very good. His CU has a .17 dERA, 1.93 pCRA, and a .165 wOBA. You want to know what batter has that bad of a wOBA? None of them. Johnathan Schoop has been the worst hitter in baseball this year, and still sits a comfortable .084 points ahead of this fictional worst batter. You want to know the best part? It’s not his best pitch. His CH has a -1.09 dERA, 1.19 pCRA, and a .120 wOBA. Yeah. Negative 1.09. And is more than two times worse than Schoop. His SL has more human stats, at a 2 dERA, 2.76 pCRA and a .232 wOBA, which is still worse than the worst hitter. And it’s his 3rd best pitch. However, the last pitch he has isn’t as good. His FF. Sitting at a 4.79 dERA, 4.74 pCRA, and .335 wOBA, his fastball is just not very good.

Conclusion

When you look at the big picture though, it’s just hard to really hold it against him. Shane McClanahan is the best pitcher in baseball at 25 years old.