Sabermetrics: Analysis of Danks, Floyd Through Magnum Start Value
By Brian Draus
July 2008
John Danks
7/1 vs Cleveland Indians: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 1 ER: 5.5 (ND, White Sox win 3-2)
Gavin Floyd
7/5 vs Oakland Athletics: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 3 BB’s, 0 ER: 2.5 (W, White Sox win 6-1)
7/30 @ Minnesota Twins: 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 1 E: 3.64 (W, White Sox win 8-3)
August 2008
John Danks
8/11 vs Boston Red Sox: 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB’s, 2 ER: 3.0 (L, White Sox lose 5-1)
Gavin Floyd
8/26 @ Baltimore Orioles: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 ER: 5.5 (W, White Sox win 8-3)
September 2008
John Danks
9/21 @ Kansas City Royals: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 0 ER: 3.0 (W, White Sox win 3-0)
9/30 vs Minnesota Twins: 8 IP, 2 H, 3 BB’s 0 ER: 5.5 (W, White Sox win 1-0)
Gavin Floyd
9/16 @ New York Yankees: 7 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 2 ER: 2.5 (W, White Sox win 6-2)
When looking over their years as a whole, it seems that Floyd got the better of Danks in virtually every category. Since this article focuses so much on the addition of YMP, I am going to begin with that statistic. Given neither posted many Magnum Starts, however Floyd had a 24.2 percent YMP while Danks only recorded an 18.2 percent YMP.
Considering those percentages are quite low, I want you to keep something in mind. Both of these starters posted a limited volume of Magnum Starts, which is going to hurt all their results drastically. Just by looking at Danks measly YMT of 22.5, it only foreshadows future problems such as his awful 0.68 YMA. One of the American League’s leaders when it came to wins in 2008 wasn’t much better, as Floyd put up an YMT of 28.14 combined with a YMA below one once again (0.85).
Even though neither pitcher recorded any starts in the MPP category all season, Danks was able to have an excellent final September outing and every White Sox fan remembers it. While his MO-Dot percentage was zero in the aforementioned classification, Danks posted both 50 percent in MMP and MPM for that month. The MPM was versus the Minnesota Twins and is in italic, and for those who don’t remember he put the Sox into the postseason in a one-game playoff at Guaranteed Rate Field. Had he gone the distance Danks would have easily registered for MPP, and by all accounts deserved its status.
Before I wrap things up there is a correction that needs to be made in the Cy Young article. On the final page where YMP scores are tallied up, there is a minor error you should know about. Corey Kluber’s YMP for 2016 is 40.6 percent instead of 40.3 percent, however the difference is so minute it had no real effect on anyone’s understanding of the term itself.
All in all, these new categories should aid further studies of Magnum Start Value (MSV) due to the fact that cross analysis is now much easier within the statistic itself. That aforementioned ability may help identify who will regress over time, not to mention expand what is analyzed altogether. I hope you continue to follow along, as more of these studies will continue over the next handful of months. So in other words, stay tuned!