Why am I looking at 45 seasons, you ask? I chose to make the cutoff the introduction of the divisional era in 1969. That's also the year the pitcher's mound was lowered, after Bob Gibson and friends made a mockery of MLB hittIng the year before. In those 45 seasons, there have been a total of 235 players who started at least one game for the Tribe, resulting in 491 separate pitching seasons, 166 of which included 20+ starts by the pitcher.
If you recall, an expected win (xWin) is a start in which a pitcher posts a Game Score of 55+, while a Game Score of 45 or below is an expected loss (xLoss), while starts with a Game Score between those two figures is an expected no decision.
Here are the top single-season xWin totals for the Indians since 1969:
Year |
Starts |
xW |
xND |
xL |
|
Gaylord Perry |
1972 |
40 |
33 |
5 |
2 |
Gaylord Perry |
1974 |
37 |
29 |
2 |
6 |
Sam McDowell |
1970 |
39 |
28 |
4 |
7 |
Sam McDowell |
1969 |
38 |
27 |
3 |
8 |
Charles Nagy |
1992 |
33 |
23 |
4 |
6 |
Gaylord Perry |
1973 |
41 |
22 |
8 |
11 |
Len Barker |
1982 |
33 |
22 |
3 |
8 |
Wayne Garland |
1977 |
38 |
20 |
5 |
13 |
Dick Tidrow |
1972 |
34 |
20 |
7 |
7 |
CC Sabathia |
2007 |
34 |
20 |
7 |
7 |
Dennis Eckersley |
1977 |
33 |
20 |
4 |
9 |
Bert Blyleven |
1984 |
32 |
20 |
8 |
4 |
Fausto Carmona |
2007 |
32 |
20 |
4 |
8 |
Ubaldo Jimenez |
2013 |
32 |
20 |
4 |
8 |
Cliff Lee |
2008 |
31 |
20 |
5 |
6 |
Bartolo Colon |
2000 |
30 |
20 |
2 |
8 |
Here are the actual win, loss, an no decision totals for those 16 seasons:
Year |
Starts |
W |
ND |
L |
|
Gaylord Perry |
1972 |
40 |
24 |
0 |
16 |
Gaylord Perry |
1974 |
37 |
21 |
3 |
13 |
Sam McDowell |
1970 |
39 |
20 |
8 |
11 |
Sam McDowell |
1969 |
38 |
18 |
6 |
14 |
Charles Nagy |
1992 |
33 |
17 |
6 |
10 |
Gaylord Perry |
1973 |
41 |
19 |
3 |
19 |
Len Barker |
1982 |
33 |
15 |
7 |
11 |
Wayne Garland |
1977 |
38 |
13 |
6 |
19 |
Dick Tidrow |
1972 |
34 |
13 |
6 |
15 |
CC Sabathia |
2007 |
34 |
19 |
8 |
7 |
Dennis Eckersley |
1977 |
33 |
14 |
6 |
13 |
Bert Blyleven |
1984 |
32 |
19 |
6 |
7 |
Fausto Carmona |
2007 |
32 |
19 |
5 |
8 |
Ubaldo Jimenez |
2013 |
32 |
13 |
10 |
9 |
Cliff Lee |
2008 |
31 |
22 |
6 |
3 |
Bartolo Colon |
2000 |
30 |
15 |
7 |
8 |
Yes. You read that right. Every one of the 40 starts Gaylord Perry made in 1972 resulted in a win or a loss. He didn't have any no-decisions. And that poor offense in 1972 actually cost him quite a bit, a -9 on the win side and +14 on the loss side. Also, from 1972 to 1974, Perry made 118 starts and received a no-decision in only 6 games, incredible! Ubaldo had 10 no-decisions last year, a fairly high number. But that is because for the first half of the season, he was having a tough time getting into the sixth inning, which increases the likelihood of a swing in the score.
Here are some the worst seasons, ranked by expected losses:
Year |
Starts |
xW |
xND |
xL |
|
Neal Heaton |
1984 |
34 |
9 |
3 |
22 |
Dick Tidrow |
1973 |
40 |
15 |
6 |
19 |
Ken Schrom |
1987 |
29 |
7 |
3 |
19 |
Neal Heaton |
1985 |
33 |
11 |
5 |
17 |
Tom Candiotti |
1987 |
32 |
9 |
6 |
17 |
Charles Nagy |
1998 |
33 |
8 |
8 |
17 |
Lary Sorensen |
1982 |
30 |
6 |
7 |
17 |
Justin Masterson |
2012 |
34 |
15 |
3 |
17 |
Rick Waits |
1979 |
34 |
12 |
6 |
16 |
Ken Schrom |
1986 |
33 |
10 |
7 |
16 |
Fausto Carmona |
2009 |
24 |
5 |
4 |
15 |
Ryan Drese |
2002 |
26 |
4 |
7 |
15 |
Jeremy Sowers |
2008 |
22 |
3 |
4 |
15 |
Dwight Gooden |
1999 |
22 |
4 |
4 |
14 |
And the actual results for those seasons:
Year |
Starts |
W |
ND |
L |
|
Neal Heaton |
1984 |
34 |
12 |
8 |
14 |
Dick Tidrow |
1973 |
40 |
14 |
10 |
16 |
Ken Schrom |
1987 |
29 |
6 |
10 |
13 |
Neal Heaton |
1985 |
33 |
9 |
8 |
16 |
Tom Candiotti |
1987 |
32 |
7 |
7 |
18 |
Charles Nagy |
1998 |
33 |
15 |
8 |
10 |
Lary Sorensen |
1982 |
30 |
10 |
5 |
15 |
Justin Masterson |
2012 |
34 |
11 |
8 |
15 |
Rick Waits |
1979 |
34 |
16 |
5 |
13 |
Ken Schrom |
1986 |
33 |
14 |
12 |
7 |
Fausto Carmona |
2009 |
24 |
5 |
7 |
12 |
Ryan Drese |
2002 |
26 |
10 |
7 |
9 |
Jeremy Sowers |
2008 |
22 |
4 |
9 |
9 |
Dwight Gooden |
1999 |
22 |
3 |
15 |
4 |
Ubaldo Jimenez was actually worse than Masterson in 2012, but had more no-decisions (xW: 7-10-14, W: 9-5-17). I am not sure how Gooden managed to get 15 no-decisions in 22 starts, but there you have it.
To complete the data, here are the top pitchers, career since 1969:
Years |
Starts |
xW |
xND |
xL |
|
CC Sabathia |
2001-08 |
237 |
122 |
44 |
71 |
Charles Nagy |
1990-2002 |
297 |
121 |
56 |
120 |
Gaylord Perry |
1972-75 |
133 |
94 |
15 |
24 |
Tom Candiotti |
1986-91, 1999 |
174 |
87 |
37 |
50 |
Cliff Lee |
2002-09 |
178 |
84 |
30 |
64 |
Bartolo Colon |
1997-2002 |
160 |
82 |
27 |
51 |
Greg Swindell |
1986-91, 1996 |
154 |
78 |
16 |
60 |
Rick Waits |
1975-82 |
187 |
75 |
27 |
85 |
Sam McDowell |
1969-71 |
108 |
74 |
11 |
23 |
Jake Westbrook |
2001-08, 2010 |
179 |
72 |
29 |
78 |
Len Barker |
1979-83 |
134 |
68 |
19 |
47 |
Justin Masterson |
2009-13 |
135 |
63 |
25 |
47 |
Bert Blyleven |
1981-85 |
103 |
63 |
18 |
22 |
Fausto Carmona |
2006-12 |
153 |
58 |
36 |
59 |
Dennis Eckersley |
1975-77 |
87 |
51 |
10 |
26 |
Dave Burba |
1998-2002 |
127 |
50 |
32 |
45 |
And the worst career records since 1969:
Years |
Starts |
xW |
xND |
xL |
|
Neal Heaton |
1982-86 |
99 |
28 |
20 |
51 |
Jaret Wright |
1997-2002 |
96 |
34 |
17 |
45 |
Wayne Garland |
1977-81 |
88 |
32 |
12 |
44 |
Paul Byrd |
2006-08 |
84 |
24 |
20 |
40 |
Jeremy Sowers |
2006-09 |
71 |
20 |
13 |
38 |
Ken Schrom |
1986-87 |
62 |
17 |
10 |
35 |
Scott Bailes |
1986-89 |
59 |
18 |
9 |
32 |
David Huff |
2009-12 |
52 |
12 |
11 |
29 |
Milt Wilcox |
1972-74 |
48 |
11 |
8 |
29 |
Dan Spillner |
1979-81, 1984 |
56 |
17 |
12 |
27 |
That Neal Heaton got 99 starts with the Indians is beyond belief.