So in the course of surfing last night, I came across the current stats for 2013 and found them particularly interesting in light of the Strasburg oddity I'd commented on earlier -
http://m.mlb.com/stats/?season=2013&stat_type=pitching&game_type=R&sort_column=eraOf note, if you sort pitchers by seasonal ERA? Strasburg has the second lowest winning percentage
in the top 60!!! And the 60th best ERA is currently 4.03, well over a full run higher than Strasburg, who merits the 6th best ERA in baseball @ 2.85.
Cole Hamels, #41 with a 3.51 ERA and 6-13 record/.316 , is the only worse winning % on the top 60, although honorable mentions go to John Lackey who ties Stras with a 8-12, .400 win %, but #28 in ERA with 3.22.
Here's a bit I found especially striking...
Out of the top 60 pitchers in ERA, there are only six with a losing record. The three aforementioned, and numbers 13, 23 and 26. Otherwise, 54 of the 60 best ERAs have winning or break even split records for 2013.
So yeah, like others have said already, wins and losses are a relatively meaningless stat for pitchers. But nevertheless, given Strasburg's exceptional ERA ranking 6th best in all of baseball, Zimmermann sitting at 16-8 (.667 w%) & 3.30 ERA (Good for #31 league-wide) plus honorable mentions to Gio at 9-6 (.600 w%) & 3.49 ERA (#40 overall) and the team itself over .500... Combine all that with the rarity of losing records for
any quality pitchers on
any team this season, and the freakish 6-9/.400 w% stands out all the more.
As I initially sought perspective for Stras' ERA and win % differential, figured I'd post the answer to my own question as far as the current season goes for anyone else who might have been curious. Like I said, utterly meaningless, yet still rather fascinating.