Eli Cash - contributing reporter
Alright folks, part two is here; let's take a look at the pitchers up for Hall voting. As a reminder, HoF voting ends 12/22 am, so be sure to get those votes in and make them count. The pitching is a little more clear cut than the hitting was, always a little tough to gauge it seems. Another refresher for those who missed the Part 1 - particularly the primer for a detailed explanation of the three scoring system we use. As a quick reminder, a sure thing for a hitter is 60/130/500, for a starter its 60/130/420 and for a reliever (who doesn't use the Test Score) is 130/250. You'll see them highlighted in blue below.
Players ranked by Monitor score
Bob Graves
First year on ballot. Graves ranks 3rd overall in pitching on the Monitor score list. Slightly above Hall of Famers Francisco Aramboles, but well above James Haselman and Thomas Hutchinson. There's no reason not to make this guy a first ballot Hall of Fame, unless you are just evil...or Canadian but potayto, potahto. Let's cut right to the chase.
Stat Chasers: 3000+ K, 300+ W, 7 seasons of 14+ W, 12 of 200+ K and 12x sub 3.00 ERA seasons.
Trophy Chasers: 9x All Star, 2x World Series rings, 2x Cy Young
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Sandy Koufax, Lefty Grove, Tom Seaver
Armando Merced
In his final year of voting. Cash has supported Merced since the beginning and I still believe he belongs in the Hall; but I clearly have Sean Gosling, Raul Galvez, Edinson Hernandez, and Bob Graves above him. You'll see below that I have Tomo Hayashi above him too. I wanted to throw my vote to Merced instead of Bob Graves just because it's his last time on the ballot and would be sad to not get him in! He's secured no less than 11 votes each time, toping out at 13 last year but that's still 4 short of an induction. The scores don't lie, Merced ranks above 9 other Cobbfather HoF pitchers and just below Chris Pendleton.
Stat Chasers: 3000+ K, 270 W, 5 seasons of 18+ W, 6 of 200+ K and 6 sub 3.00 ERA seasons.
Trophy Chasers: 7x All Star, 3x World Series rings
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Don Sutton, Catfish Hunter, Early Wynn
Braeden Abercrombie
Another player in their final year on the ballot. When a pitcher tops 3000 K with 9 sub 3.00 ERA seasons you know he's been dominant. Cash wouldn't be surprised to see more votes for him this season, but was he really better than Merced or Graves; the stats say no. He's seen everything from 1 to 7 votes, let's see how he does this year.
Stat Chasers: 3000+ K, 4 seasons of 18+ W, 8 of 200+ K, 9 sub 3.00 ERA seasons.
Trophy Chasers: 6x All Star, 1x Cy Young, 1x World Series ring
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Bert Blyleven, Mike Mussina, Jack Morris
Midre Tavarez
Final ballot season yet again. His comps aren't the best, but he has routinely been around the 6-8 mark surprisingly. We covered how similar he is to Merced in Season 47's Hall recap if you'd like to jump over for a quick read.
Stat Chasers: 270+ W, 5 seasons with 18+ W, 5 sub 3.00 ERA seasons.
Trophy Chasers: 6x All Star, 2 World Series rings, 1x No Hitter
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Jose Mesa, Tommy John, Ron Guidry
Players ranked by Monitor score
Al Balentien
5th and final year on the ballot, he topped out his first year with 4 votes but hasn't had more than 2 any other season. There is just no love for relievers, and as you'll see with Hayashi; especially no love for owners that close stud closers as middle relievers for 80+ games a season. The "counting" stats just don't add up for them. I wouldn't blame you for continuing to push for Balentien for the Hall, as 13 current Cobbfather HoFers rank below Balentien's 179 Monitor score. Nearly topped 500 saves - ranking #3 all time on the saves list.
Stat Chasers: 8 seasons of 40+ SV, 6 of sub 3.00 ERA
Trophy Chasers: 8x All Star, 5x Fireman of the Year, 1x World Series ring
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Tom Glavine, Gaylord Perry, Jim Palmer
Tomo Hayashi - received Eli Cash's vote
3rd season on tehe ballot and the love hasn't been good for him. As referenced in the above, had he been on any other owner's team and used as a closer, he'd likely be talked about as the All-time leader, even ahead of Sale. But he did practically pitch every other game with great success and there has to be some value to that. In fact in Season 36 he pitched in over half of that season's game (86). On the low end he could have averaged 40 saves those 9 seasons; which would have given him 705 saves. And that's if he only managed 40, most top closers secure more a few more than that each year. But a strong bullpen is a strong bullpen. Similar to Balentien, outranks 13 current Cobbfather Hall of Famers.
Stat Chasers: Pitched to the tune of 13 sub 3.00 ERA seasons (5 were sub 2.00). Even though he didn't close during his prime, he still managed 8 seasons of 30+ SVs.
Trophy Chasers: 7x All Star, 1x Fireman of the Year, 2x World Series ring
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Gaylord Perry, John Smoltz, Trevor Hoffman
Eduardo Jose
Third season on the ballot and seems to be able to secure a vote or vote. Sadly he just doesn't have the numbers and those votes are costing some of the above and referenced hitters in Part 1 the Hall. I'll ask of you, if you want to vote for Jose let's put it off until next year and get some of these other guys who deserve in the Hall!
Stat Chasers: 6 seasons of sub 3.00 ERA, 10 seasons of 30+ SV (3 were 40+)
Trophy Chasers: 7x All Star, 2x Fireman of the Year
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Andy Pettitte
Artie Stone
On his 4th ballot, but like Jose; if you want to vote for him let's put it off until next year and get some of these other guys who deserve in the Hall!
Stat Chasers: 5 seasons of sub 3.00 ERA, 5 seasons of 30+ SV (3 were 40+)
Trophy Chasers: 6x All Stair
MLB (Monitor) Comparisons: Jose Mesa, David Cone, Joe Nathan
There you go folks, S50 possible Hall of Famers. Let's see if anyone gets in this year!