Monday, April 28, 2014

2014: COMPLETE GAME #15

The pattern in the carpet continued to assert itself in 2014's complete game sweepstakes when young A's righthander Sonny Gray tossed a three-hit shutout tonight vs. the Rangers in Arlington.

The A's had hit a rough patch recently, having been swept at home by the Rangers last week and then managing only a split with the the lowly Astros in Houston. Gray's performance in the A's 4-0 win gave them a leg up on their closest division rival in what shapes up to be a significant early-season series.

Gray's CG was the seventh (out of the fifteen total CGs thus far) thrown by a pitcher aged twenty-five or younger. The percentage of young starter CGs thus stands at 46%, which is up significantly from last year's percentage (26%). At this point in time last year, only one pitcher aged 25 or younger had thrown a complete game...