Ubaldo Jimenez has been pitching like he is from another planet this season. He won his ninth game yesterday, pitching eight scoreless innings against the Diamondbacks who fell to the Rockies by a 7-3 score.
His record now stands at 9-1 with a 0.88 ERA, a 0.93 WHIP all of which lead the NL. He has pitched a quality start in all 10 of his starts. He has allowed two earned runs only twice this season. He has allowed one earned run three times and he has held his opponents scoreless in the other five starts.
He is pitching on another level having three more wins than any other NL starter. ESPN.com is projecting him to finish with a 32-4 record and to allow 148 hits in 250 innings. Currently he has allowed only 42 hits in 71 innings.
The most amazing stat to me for Jimenez is that he has faced 267 batters in 71 innings and has allowed only one home run.
Even when he lost his one game this season he pitched superbly, allowing one run and two hits in seven innings in a 2-0 loss to the Dodgers on May 9.
Opposing batters are hitting .176 against Jimenez, which is a major league best. Jimenez is particularly effective in night games, with an ERA of 0.24 and allowing one run in 37 innings. The power-laden Diamondbacks who lead the NL in home runs with 58 have been held scoreless by Jimenez in 14 innings this season.
It is ironic that he pitched a no-hitter against the Braves in a 4-0 win while walking six batters in his third start of the season on April 17. He usually has much better control and has walked two or less batters in seven of his 10 starts.
121 major league pitchers have allowed more hits than Jimenez while 272 major league pitchers have allowed more earned runs than his seven allowed in 10 starts encompassing 71 innings.
At the rate he is going Jimenez could have 15 wins by the All Star game. Baseball fans will wait in anticipation for each Jimenez start and we may not know how long he can pitch at this level, but for today it is safe to say he is the best starting pitcher in the major leagues.
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