There's Only 5 Aces in MLB... (Here's Why)
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- There are a lot of great pitchers across Major League Baseball, but there are very few that are true aces. To call yourself an ace you have to do it all as a pitcher, and even as pitching continues to get better, finding those guys that have everything you're looking for is as difficult as ever. It takes a lot to be a pitcher that your team can rely on to carry them deep into games every five days, and turn to in the biggest games of the year, and right now, there are only five pitchers that deserve the title of ace. Let's get into what it takes to be an ace, the guys that have earned the right to be an ace, and what the guys that didn't quite make it need to do.
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My guy used a lot of Pablo Lopez footage for never having mentioned him in any category
Yeah he’s a top 5 pitcher in the league
This year he’s winning cy young
He tips his pitches, at least he did in the 2 games with him that I watched.
He sucks
@@user-eo3gz7ve3yHe's elite when he can be, but I couldn't trust him in the playoffs.
He used a lot of Strider footage when true baseball fans know Fried is the ace.
This guy would think Maddux wasn't an ace because he also pitched to contact when it was needed.
Or glavine
Literally exactly what I was going to comment. He does have a point as to why the K is preferable.
@@rcapogarcia With a man on 1st with less than 2 outs, I'll take a 4 pitch at-bat for a double play rather than 10-11 pitches to strikeout the next 2 hitters. Pitching to contact isn't terrible. Fewer pitches to get the out keeps your pitch count down. Maddux pitched complete games with less than 100 pitches all the time. High volume strike out guys are at 100 pitches in the 7th inning. I know there is an inherent risk in the batter hitting the ball, but guys like Maddux and say a Max Fried induce weak contact.
@@Shan_Cox Agreed, but when you think of the best pitchers high Ks guys are usually the norm. Maddux was and is somewhat of an outlier. Contact guys are usually not as dominant.
My exact thought. This man is an idiot. Groundball pitchers can be aces.
A double play gets more outs than a K
I’m shocked you didn’t include Corbin Burnes as an ace. I’m a Yankees fan and I shit my pants thinking about him pitching against the Yanks
I wouldn't be surprised if he was absolutely elite again this year, and if he is like I said he's earned ace status again, I just don't like his Ks/BBs getting noticeably worse the last couple years, but he could easily prove me wrong.
@@SmartrBaseball Burnes numbers stack up favorably against Gallen, Gausman, and Wheeler over the past 3 seasons. I think you're suffering recency bias on Burnes. It's different for Alcantara who tanked, but Burnes still had 200Ks on the nose and 191IP with a low-3s ERA and a sub-4 FIP. It just seemed like a down season; I'd encourage you to go look at Verlander's baseball reference page. He had down years at the same age for inexplicable reasons. Baseball's finicky.
I only think there is 1 ace in baseball (Cole), but to be consistent, I think it should to be a 1 pitcher list or a 6 pitcher list. I'd even say Burnes would be my #3 if I had to rank them---behind Cole and Strider but ahead of the other 3 guys you named.
@@user-fx2bx1gz4c Burnes numbers combined over the last three years are great, but like I said in the video it's that they've been going down, this year will answer any questions though. I can absolutely see him putting up great numbers again, and then it's no question he's an ace, but if they go down again I'm hitting the panic button.
Burnes was lights out in the 2nd half last year.
@@jeffreyjurney2013 He was definitely better second half, walks were still a bit high for my taste, but hopefully it's a sign he gets back to 2021-22 Burnes, I'm rooting for the best version of him which is absolutely filthy.
Gerett Cole is probably the most dependable pitcher in baseball today if you need a win he will definitely keep you in the game to give the offense the opportunity to win the game.
Isn’t Gerett cole poop in post season? Get he’s a gun during regular but not really an ace or dependable when it matters
@@0ucandoit0 Dude he has better career stats in the postseason than the regular season. Postseason ERA of 2.93 WHIP .94 Regular season ERA 3.17 WHIP 1.08
@@0ucandoit0 gerrit cole was great the rest of the yankees were just ass
@@0ucandoit0 Completely not true. He had 1 bad post season game, wild card against the Red Sox. He’s phenomenal in the playoffs. Nobody talks about how good he was in the 2020 playoffs particularly.
I think that Castillo is in there for being an Ace, Pablo Lopez needs a definite shoutout, and Strider still doesn’t convince me 100% of the time, but he’s on the braves who make up for his weaknesses
I completely agree with this. The biggest component to me is health. You cant be an ace without durability. Aces can go out there tired, without their best stuff, and still go 7. Big reason Cole is my #1 by quite a bit right now... and also a reason I believe Corbin Burnes should be considered an ace. Also, Gausman isnt an ace to me at all.
Personally, I find it hard to consider someone an “ace” if they don’t consistently pitch through 6-7 innings. A starter shouldn’t have comparable innings totals to a well-used long reliever. The reduction is innings pitched is entirely on the analytic emphasis on making every pitcher throw as hard as possible and “load management” becoming a norm earlier and earlier in their pitching lives. This is a choice. Baseball is doing it to itself.
George Kirby threw his first and only knuckler to Corey Seager. But, yeah, he's nervous about throwing strikes.
Framber is always near the top of the list in "in zone balls". His control is better than the numbers and better than you think. I believe that in 2023 he had a game vs Seattle with 18 in zone balls. No other pitcher last season had as many as five in a start. If you look at in zone dBalls (pitched) and out of zone oStrikes (faced) the same teams are always on the top of that list; Oakland, Houston, Baltimore, Tampa, SD, Colorado. Basically Houston and teams that face BOS, NYY, and LAD.
Great vid, loved the info and citing stats after every talking point as well as using the videos of the best pitchers. (I would say webb is an ace though...)
Your take on Framber Valdez is correct, he's messy as hell, let them seethe.
So according to this metric Greg Maddux, Orel Hersheiser, Andy Petitite are not Aces. Respectfully disagree. An ace is a pitcher that the rest of the rotation leans on, pitches deep into games, gets outs and wins games
Before the video even loaded I'm like "The quadfather better be on the list"... and there they are (both of them) front and center in the first second.
I wholeheartedly disagree with Spencer Strider. The video starts with talking about pitchers making clutch strikeouts. And then the video cites Strider getting unlucky with getting rocked with guys on base.
White Sox had FOUR Starting pitchers with 200 innings or better in 2005..What a special season that was!!! ❤
This is a pretty narrow minded way to narrow it down to 5 for contents sake. I still watched it though so I won’t complain too much
someone who actually recognizes how good the Jays best pitcher is??? We didnt even recognize it we made Manoah the opening day starter last year...
17:04 haha autocorrect got you
An Ace is HIGHLY dependent on the era in which they pitched. An ERA of 3.20, now, wouldn't even start in 1908. Two complete games lead the league...not an ace, ANYTIME before 2010.
There was only 5 aces at any given time. Prior to 1961, there was only 16 teams. Adding more teams doesn’t add more great players. Adding new teams just dilutes the talent pool. The bottom players on each MLB team never would have made it to double A after getting drafted from college, let alone make it to an MLB roster.
For me, a true ace is a guy you can count on to go 7 when the pen is over worked, ( in addition to the other results)
Luis Castillo probably should’ve been in those honorable mentions too, dudes top 10 in almost every pitching stat
Gray was second in al cy young voting btw. Cease didn't have a single vote
The one guy you missed that I think lines up with your criteria of an ace is Aaron Nola. Over the last 3 years he's in the same range as the guys you mentioned for IP, BB, SO, and HR. I think the only thing that hasnt been that impressive for him is ERA and Win/Loss.
Nah
@@ChairmanMeow1 which part?
He was ass last year
When he's on, he's an ace, but he's too inconsistent and last year was a down year for him
An ace is a pitcher who would be the runaway best pitcher on an average team. It’s that simple.
Took forever to actually get into the video we came to see
Mariners have 3 1bs in gilbert kirby and castillo
every team has a #1, not every team has an ace
Haven’t watched the full video yet but if he says Strider is an ace because of his low FIP I stg
For me Gallen is NOT an ace. I believe he’s great and may become one, but as of now, no. He has a hard time getting thru 6 innings. I love that he’s healthy and reliable, but he also had a bad 2nd half of last season. 34 starts and only 210 innings, i understand it’s a great amount of innings, but that’s saying in all his starts but 6 he’s gone 6innings and in those other 6 starts went 7. In an estimation. That’s not Ace material to me.
there is only 4 aces, spades, clubs, diamonds, hearts
Very interesting subject.
Leading with “has one or more great pitches” is part of being an ace? FALSE
Then going to “can strike a guy out at key point in a game”? FALSE
Webb is NOT looking for a new pitch. Steele does NOT need to make his fastball move more. Kirby…my goodness…these are all bad takes.
Command, yes, that’s the first thing I’ve heard I can agree with.
Yes, Snell and Cease are not aces. Snell is too inconsistent, Cease as well.
Year in and year out for the whole season - yes.
I agree with your 5 picks as aces but to say Logan webb isn’t an ace because he pitches to contact with one of the worst defenses in the league is batshit crazy.
Yup! And 0 run support!
Ya to say the guy that pitches more innings than anyone the last 2 years while being top 10 in Era is not an ace is laughable at best. This guy knows absolutely nothing.
Also said he needs a sinker…
I agree
Said he needs a premiere pitch. But his change up has been one of the most devastating pitches the last 2 years.
The definition of "teams top pitcher" feels misleading when teams have had multiple aces at once, looking at the 1990's Braves with Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz or the 2-headed monster of Schilling and Johnson on the 2001 Dbacks.
Also Logan Webb is an ace lmao if you wanna say his style "relies on defense" too much keep in mind he placed 2nd in CYA voting with one of the worst defenses in MLB who led the league in errors by a big margin.
Totally agree on the "teams top pitcher", an ace is a top pitcher and a team can have more than one ace. As for Webb, like I said I think he is a really good pitcher, but we can disagree on him being an ace or not. Giants D was terrible with errors, but was still 12th in team Def according to fangraphs, and most of their bad defense according to advanced numbers was from the outfield, which doesn't matter as much to a high groundball pitcher like Webb, C and each INF spot ranked no lower than 13th in MLB.
Logan Webb is definately and ace!
@@SmartrBaseball To me he fits more into the mould of a Maddux than a Johnson, but he's still an ace. His control is still stupid good, given he led the MLB with the best K/BB ratio and still has excellent FIP even better than his RBIs. Having Pat Bailey helps but the Giants infield is generally average at best defensively, they arent making him worse but they arent carrying him the way the Dodgers infield does.
@@SmartrBaseball Any team that has to have Wilmer Flores at 3rd base 22 games out of the year with an .848 fielding percentage is really bad defensively. Brandon Crawford was also nowhere is his usual badass self defensively, plus the bad outfield which still counts even with a ground ball pitcher like Webb. If you don't have Logan Webb as an ace your definition of an ace is pretty suspect.
Don’t forget about the famous “Four Aces” on the Phillies in 08
"These guys are more worried about throwing strikes than throwing something that's hard for the batter to hit, as a result they can give up a lot of contact and balloon their ERAs"
Also puts Spencer fucking Strider as a true ace despite him throwing so many strikes that it lead to an ERA over 4 last year.
Logan webb is still the most underrated pitcher in baseball for not making this list. definately an Ace, would like to have him over Gausman and gallen and strider rn. More innings and no difference in ERA with the worst defense in baseball as a groundball pitcher. By far the best ground ball pitcher in the league, he has no comparisons for innings with 216 pitched. 2nd in cy young and projected to lead the league in pitchers war. Dude is an ace on a trash giants roster and I am a giants fan. the fact that he didnt get all mlb team SP or an all star is literally criminal and the league should be embarrassed.
Bro plays in nl west which is a pitchers haven besides Coors. He's great but a sinkerballer and not as electric as gaus
@@ghostofmoredishesmorebitch1507he pitches in a pitchers ballpark for sure but he also has the worst defense in the league as a ground ball pitcher
Nah Webb is better than gaus
100% right! Don’t forget he gets zero run support also!
Cheater
So based on your definition Greg Maddux wouldn’t not be an ace pitcher? In what world is only strikeout pitchers aces
Fr
Maddux also struck guys out. And walked NOBODY. Well except for Bonds
@@wingracer1614Maddux’ best K/9 ever was 7.8. Se struck guys out like every pitcher strikes guys out. But he wasn’t a strikeout pitcher.
@@bordomsdeadly Not saying he was a K god, but he did K more guys than most people give him credit for. For instance, he struck out WAY more guys than Glavine while also walking about half as many.
@bordomsdeadly strikeout rate now is also a lot higher than it was then
7 min in and he has yet to name 1 of the aces.
the list starts at 9:43 ridiculous
Definitely took too long to get to the main part. I'm sorry, I don't want to be mean. You explained what your list was, but over explained it. Then you did your list. Awesome. Then you explained what your list was again. Trim it, and you have a great video. I could be being hard on you, but I I enjoy things like this. Hearing people's perspectives. However when I'm not feeling like I get the information quickly enough I feel like my time is being wasted. Lucky for me, I know when to skip a video.
Boo hoo you had to listen to rationale and information 😭😭. This isn’t tik Tok pal, go over there.
@@king_supreme1102 he does this to lengthen his watch time dummy. Its a common practice in social media. So you defending it and making it about attention span shows your complete ignorance to the actual situation going on.
@@king_supreme1102the first ten minutes isn’t information though, it’s just extensive fluff that can be summed up by saying “Aces are the best at getting batters out” on top of footage of double plays and sac flies
I for one am really hoping that knuckleball George Kirby has teased every now and then can become a real pitch for him. He could pound the zone about as much if he pleases if hitters have it in the back of their heads that a legit knuckleball could come out at any time.
I love this haha I can only imagine facing that as a hitter, that would be terrifying!
he only did it once. but he should definitely throw his gausman inspired splitter more
Throwing a good knuckleball is really really hard, otherwise tons of guys would use it. If it's a really good knuckleball it's effective as hell but if it's not thrown perfect it's like throwing batting practice.
@@unkledoda420 Smoltz used to throw one every once in a while, and it was hilarious.
Dont sleep on max fried. He had injury trouble last year but other than that hes consistently around 30 starts a year, strikeouts,walks,and era all being near the top of MLB. I fully expect him to have a cy young type if season
Not strikeouts tho😂 he's a sinkerballer stop being a dumbass braves fan and see he ks less than a batter an inning
Max Fried is the ace on the best team in baseball
@@MrBookertjones didn't know he was a ranger?
came here to post this. Yeah he missed most of last year but once back, he still looked like an ace and has been an ace the previous several seasons.
@@ghostofmoredishesmorebitch1507 He could be next year. Probably a Dodger though
Dodgers fan here. Every time the Dodgers face Logan Webb, it’s a tough game.
i like kirby the way he is. he'll be the first pitcher to throw 200 innings with only 2 walks
stopped watching the video the second he talked about kirby not throwing balls lol
@@jxgilly Me too!
Interesting no mention of Nola. I know he’s had a few rough seasons since his career best 2018 season (including last season), but I’d consider him a 1B. He’s among the most durable pitchers in the game, walks barely anybody and has a nasty arsenal despite only topping out around 92-93. He’s struggled with the long ball though. Hanging watermelon curveballs. I think Nola is gunna have himself a very good 2024.
Nola was one of my guesses too, not knowing exactly what his recent stats were. It feels like he's been that 1B for a prolonged enough period of time he might qualify or be close.
@@coachleif yeah, he had a hard time adjusting to the pitch clock last season. Struggled. 4.46 ERA in 193 innings. But he made a few adjustments in late September (he realized he was standing at an angle on the mound in order to face the pitch clock and incorporated a slide step) and his last 5 starts were 2022-esque. Plus the looming free agency situation. I really think he can still win a Cy Young and will.
I agree with your point about pitchers who pitch to contact, but numbers strongly suggest that Logan webb is an ace regardless of his style.
2021-2023:
92 G, 556.2 IP
3.07 ERA, 3.00 FIP
23.2% K, 5.2% BB, 0.6 HR/9
14.2 WAR
Those numbers rival or exceed most of the five true aces you named in this video
Maddux pitched to contact and no sane person would say he wasn’t an Ace.
This man just thinks he can residue a term
Not to mention the giants defense is pathetically bad which really effects his stats as a contact pitcher.
This is such a waste of time concerning yourself with the subjective semantics of "ace". This word, this classification has literally no value, especially when you arbitrarily restrict the scope of its meaning. This is just a list of your five favorite pitchers.
An Ace is a Elite Starter who you trust, who can put you in position to win (low FIP/ERA), getting outs (K-rate), and racking up innings.
Gerrit Cole
Kevin Gausman
Zack Wheeler
Spencer Strider
Zac Gallen
I think Sandy Alcantara, and Corbin Burnes could make a comeback... but otherwise, I like the list. (Oh... you did mention them. Lol.)
genuininely thought you were just giving the TL:DR of the video lol
Actually there are only 4 Aces and if you have 5. You are Cheating
Ace is the best pitcher in the staff. That’s how it started. Managers would say I’m leading with my ace. Which is putting your best card forward. Around the 90s I noticed people started calling certain pitchers “true Aces.” Which meant legit studs. That’s now how we use the term ace as it’s seems the true part got dropped off and people just call really good pitchers aces. However, every staff still has their number one guy.
Agreed. It's the best pitcher on the team even if he's got a 4+ ERA.
Skip to 9:30 this guy talks a lot
An ace to me is someone that could be the guy on a contending team and theres a lot of them. Obviously guys like Cole are aces because they're the best pitchers in the league lmao but to say someone like Logan Webb isn't is silly, he easily could be main or 1A pitcher on a legit contender
By this guys logic Greg Maddux wouldn’t be an ace but Kevin Gausman would
Where's Max Fried?
Fried is great, but hurt too much
Who's winning NL Cy Young this season? Spencer Strider or Max Fried?
@@realisticthought1781
Fried's starts since becoming a full-time starter:
2019: 30 games
2020: 11 (Covid season)
2021: 28
2022: 30
2023: 14
recency bias is blinding you people calling him injury prone.
@Shan_Cox who do you want on the mound in game 7? Strider or Fried? Give me Fried.
@@adamwiggins8290 That's like picking a favorite child. I'd be perfectly content with either. Max has more experience but Spencer is Spencer. For the sake of answering your question tho, I'll say Spencer.
Id rather have Ben Lively. You throw that hard, you will need Tommy John Surgery.
Astros fan here: totally agree with you on Framber Valdez. Love the guy to death and boy is his stuff good, but his propensity to melt down/give up the big inning, as well as his refusal to walk fewer than 3 batters a game, deservedly lands him as not an ace.
This guy's understanding of baseball is comparable to my three-year old nephew's understanding of quantum mechanics.
Am I the only one who got an obscene number of ads on this vid? It was like every 2 minutes
Kirby turned himself into the Ms staff ave last year. Pitch in Seattle, Kirby is going to win multiple Cy Young awards. After thinking about Smell based on this video I cant really argue with that. Last time I saw predictions for the 24' season Kirby, Castro and Gilbert were in the top 10 for best odds at winning the Cy Young. Very much holding out hope they figure out how to bring Snell home that would be 4 TOP 10 PITCHES WITH VERY REALISTIC CHANCES TO WIN THE AL CY YOUNGE.
I grew up in the era of Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux being known as aces. Tossing around the term "ace" is revolting imo. I'm not really sure I call Gallen an ace, even though I'm a DBacks fan. He needs to have more control early game, teams tend to jump on him early. He does have this incredible ability to give up 1, 2, maybe 3 runs in the first inning and shut down the next 6, but I get a little nervous when Gallen starts. He's not a Gerrit Cole/Zach Wheeler level guy IMO
lol strider over ohtani? u high my guy
I'm sorry but I'm pushing back on Strider. In order to be considered an ace you really do need to do this for about 3 years straight. Yes his stats are phenomenal but he only has one year under his belt. And how many wonderful one and dones have we seen over the last I don't know 50 years?
Spencer strider is unbelievably overrated and not even top ten. Results matter fip is a hypothetical stat he needs to actually give up less runs for me to consider him an ace. I would never be scared to face him in comparison to guys like burnes, Cole, Webb, fired, wheeler and a few others.
Ok. Ask the nl east how they feel.
There is nothing hypothetical about FIP. It's just as real as homeruns or strikeouts. You COULD say it's inaccurate or invalid because of what it leaves out but there is nothing hypothetical about it
A healthy Shane Bieber is an Ace.
Ohtani has on average 100 more innings than the pitchers you mentioned while having an above average ERA for a starter. While having the highest K/9 amongst active pitchers. While also serving a team with the worst Bullpen in baseball. On a team that refused to trade him because of 2nd half ticket sales.
You also forget he threw a complete game in under 100 pitchers while throwing 88 strikes. Not calling him an ace is an insult to your Baseball knowledge.
I don't understand. Knowledgable people have told me Gerrit Cole's contract is horrible and the Yankees paid for Pittsburgh Cole. What changed?
I wish I could hear a pitching conversation between Gallen and Strom
Gallen’s batted ball statistics are awful. He definitely benefits from playing in a massive stadium.
By these requirements, Ranger Suarez if he continues this run, would qualify in every category except velocity and sample size. Putting the ball where you want it matters far more than velocity when you're talking MLB speed. 93+ is enough if you have elite command. Example is, Spencer Strider got lit up in the playoffs, and he's now out for a full season, and likely won't be throwing in the high 90s for a few years. I think he's always been a lot more hype than what I have seen. Don't get me wrong, he's a great pitcher, but Tommy John was always in his future, and he's also really unlikeable. When it comes down to it, he might throw strikes, but he's getting away with a lot of poor placement by throwing as hard as he does. Hitting the box vs hitting your spot are different things.
I would imagine the part of Burnes's regression last year was partly due to his frustrations with the Brewers. Now that he has a new home on a team with a lot of potential, the Orioles. The Brewers have been on a slow decline, and that can play i pretty big factor in one's performance. Now that he has a legitimate chance to make it deep in the playoffs, don't be surprised to see those numbers swing back in the positive direction. The Orioles's park is also a little more pitcher friendly than the Brewers is.
Even though Sandy alcantara struggled in 2023, he’s a literal ace, I don’t see how anyone can say he’s not an ace
Get to the ducking point, you talk to damn much.
Guys go straight to minute 9:34 that’s when the video really starts.
Paul Skenes is an ace, someone who can single handedly just dominate batters and take over a game.
The silly coddling of modern pitchers and “analytics” have ruined “Aces”.
Going 6ip every 5 days is something Bob Gibson and Nolan Ryan would giggle about. Baseball has outsmarted itself. And the commissioner releases a juiced ball to tinker with offense for a futile attempt to increase viewership. It’s disgusting to see pitchers pulled during No Hitters. Blake Snell has never pitched in the 8th inning. Coddleball
A lineup must fear facing you knowing you’re going 0-3 unless you get lucky. That’s an Ace.
And a true ace repeats it. It’s so rare. Like Lincecum in the Giants ring run. Kershaw in his prime.
The word you’re looking for that my disgruntled baseball circle uses is “super ace”.
All 5 of your “aces” issue more than 1 free pass per start so I guess there’s zero aces in MLB 😂
And everything you just said right there is exactly why zach wheeler should have won the cy young in 2021. Look at the numbers. It's not even close.
Again Max Fried not getting the respect he is due. Yeah he was injured for much of last year but when he came back he straight up balled like he has for the last 4 years. The guy has one of the best ERA in the league since 2020 and is the best lefty starter in baseball. He finished 2nd in cy young in 2022 and showed last year when healthy he is elite. Though many may not like to include them in deciding who is an ace it's important to note that along with his great pitching he holds runners on like nobodys business with by far the best pick off move in baseball (and it's not even close) paired with the fact that he is the best defensive pitcher in the game only having his string of gold gloves snapped last year due to missed time. Just for kicks since it obviously doesn't matter anymore the dude could also straight up hit. How many pitchers have you seen with a game winning walkoff hit? There is a reason he was the guy they went to in the final game of the 2021 World Series and he's only gotten better since. Now if the Braves GM could just get his head out of his ass and make the man a legit extension offer. I will never understand the logic behind offering Aaron Nola such a contract yet not Fried. Fried is on a whole other level to Nola.
Sorry, but you have Strider as one of your aces, but not Snell? Gimmie a break man. Snell had an ERA a full run lower than Strider and pitched a whole 6 innings less last year. Dude was ballin last year and the second half of 2022. He has been the most dominant pitcher over that span, period. Also, pitching to contact isn't bad. It allows you to do the thing you want them to do, go deeper into games. Lots of strikeouts generally mean you have an elevate pitch count. These days that is a death knell to pitching deep into games. You are wildly inconsistent in this video on what your criteria is. Feels more like you are just trying to justify hate for some pitchers while elevating the ones you like.
I disagree about the idea that a pitch to contact pitcher can’t be an ace. So long as they aren’t giving too much damage, forcing guys to ground or fly out is often more effective than striking them out. Justin Steele was elite in this sense-he let up very few home runs, and forced tons of ground balls. So what if he doesn’t strike as many guys out? Strikeouts don’t win games, letting up few runs while pitching many innings wins games. Yes, if he’s in a jam you might rather have someone else out there, but pitchers like Steele don’t get into jams very often.
Ohtani of 2022-23 was an ace, no doubt about it. You have to remember that he was pitching every 6th game, not 5th, so that impacted his innings. If he wasn't a hitter the Angels wouldn't have been using a 6-man rotation.
One of the problems is so many guys look like aces--but only for a short while. There are very few guys who are ace-like year after year.
I feel like the Braves have 2 legitimate Aces actually in Max Fried and Spencer Strider, but that's probably just a fan bias lol
"Ace" is an eye test thing. Pitching is dependant upon your skills and how the umpire is feeling today. There is no objective way to seperate the top pitchers in todays game. Your criteria works for some pitchers but leaves out a few. We will have to wait for robo umps for a more objective opinion
8:58 It is an unfair comparison for Ohtani when you say “only rodon has had a season of 30 starts,” when Ohtani will never have a season of 30 starts because that’s just the nature of being a TWP like him
I commented earlier and I'm not even that big of a Nola fan but no mention of Aaron Nola in a video talking about consistency, reliability and raw stuff of pitchers is absolutely nuts. You should delete your channel
Before watching this video, my aces are:
Gerrit Cole
Pablo Lopez
Luis Castillo
Zack Wheeler
Kevin Gausman
Corbin Burnes
No mention of Aaron Nola at all here? If he doesn't make your "1B" list then what is he? Strikeouts and innings alone over his career have got to put him there according to your own logic.
Ace is the best pitcher on the team. Not who's first in the rotation or any thing else. You're ace can be a bullpen guy if hes the best guy. Most examples of ace relievers are closers. Didnt need 20 minutes for a top 5 list.
ace pitchers do not need to be stikeout getters. like someone else mentioned, greg maddux is widely regarded as one of the best pitchers if not the best and definitely an ace. Never having a k/9 above 8, with those numbers getting above ten for the strikeout “ace” pitchers of that era
Honestly I'm a Astros fan and I don't think Valdez a ace, when he on he good one of the best. The problem with Valdez right now and why sometimes his command is bad when things go bad like he give up a hit or a hr he get in his head, so it can snowball into a bigger thing. He learned how to control that and why he did good that one season but last season with the pitch clock he didn't have time to do what his therapist told him to do so to me unless he really able to control that he not a ace I wouldn't relay to him as the Astros number one guy. Just with that.
No mention of Kyle Bradish? He might not be the elite ace yet, but he's close. And Greyson Rodriguez is a year or two away from being an ace.
Dumbr baseball
This shines more light on how truly incredible the Braves rotation in the 90s was. Three Aces. Three hall of famers. In their prime, for over a decade.
So pitching innings is what you want but pitching to contact (much more pitch efficient than strikeouts) is bad? Crazy double standards.
Any SP who issues more than 1 base on balls per start is NOT an ace.
Excellent video. I was disappointed that Burnes did not make the cut, but I'm an Orioles fan so I'm biased about him
SHUT UP... I got what an "ace" was in the first minute.
NOT 10 minutes of you reaping the same information.
As an Astros fan for 27 years, Framber is good, but so inconsistent that I can't trust him, and he can't be called an ace when he pees his pants in the playoffs.
The braves one thru four this year are either former or potential aces: Strider, Fried, Morton, Sale.....it's coming together this year....
I mean a deck of cards only has 4 aces, there are many other good cards but only 4 aces. Having there only be 5 peak level pitchers isnt crazy
Constructive criticism here. Taking 9 and a half minutes to list your five players is way too long 😕 video basically starts at 9:26
Framber is trash. Command is either there or it isn’t. And it’s never there when he needs it. If he pitched every playoff game for the Astros they’d never see a World Series again.