Wins don’t quite have the importance and weight they used to have in MLB.
Analysts, scouts, executives and fans have learned that they should not be used in any way to analyze a pitcher’s talent or skill.
However, the stat still exists and it helps us understand certain things.
Just for fun, let’s take a look at the best career winning percentages in MLB since World War II.
Best MLB career winning percentage
(since WWII, 50+ decisions):Julio Urías, 74.2%
Walker Buehler, 74.2%
Clayton Kershaw, 69.4%
José Fernández, 69.1%
Whitey Ford, 69.0% pic.twitter.com/PD5oPj9qZQ— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) January 6, 2023
The threshold to qualify is 50 decisions.
Here, we can see how historically relevant Julio Urias and Walker Buehler’s performances have been.
However, the real conclusion should be how good and historically relevant the recent Los Angeles Dodgers seasons have been.
Three of the five pitchers listed as the win% leaders are currently employed by LA and have been the anchors of their rotation for years.
We don’t need to tell you that Clayton Kershaw is on the shortlist for being a top-ten pitcher in the history of the game, and that Buehler and Urias have also been magnificent.
The late Jose Fernandez did this while playing for the Miami Marlins, which will go down as one of his greatest achievements.
Whitey Ford played on some of the best New York Yankees teams ever to take a baseball field.
Back to the top three, it’s amazing how we often fail to fully grasp how good the Dodgers have been in recent seasons.
The analysis should go beyond the fact that they only won the 2020 World Series: the playoffs involve more randomness and luck than we are all willing to admit.
The 2017-2022 Dodgers have been one of the best squads ever assembled.
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