Ben Sheets To Retire

**pwaldo** · 10-02-2012, 05:16 PM

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/1...to-retire.html

Ben Sheets will retire after he pitches tomorrow, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports (on Twitter). Sheets, who joined the Braves midseason after missing the entire 2011 campaign, said he will never pitch again.

The Brewers selected Sheets with the tenth overall pick in the 1999 draft and he spent most of his career in Milwaukee. He put together a number of strong seasons with the Brewers, including a memorable 2004 campaign. Sheets posted a 2.70 ERA with 264 strikeouts and just 32 walks in 237 innings that year, finishing eighth in the Cy Young balloting. In ten MLB seasons, Sheets has a 94-96 record, a 3.78 ERA and 1323 strikeouts in 1595 2/3 innings. He has earned more than $52MM as a professional, according to Baseball-Reference.

**ajcorleone** · 10-02-2012, 05:33 PM

A great hype I stocked up on his rookies back then.They it next to my Brien Taylor rookies.

**the 'stache** · 10-04-2012, 05:33 AM

Except, unlike Taylor, Sheets was a star. His problem was injuries.

When Sheets was on, he was unhittable. He had some of the best pure stuff I'd ever seen a pitcher have. He finally realized his potential in 2004, then got hurt the year after.

**ajcorleone** · 10-04-2012, 07:57 AM

Injuries are part of the game and with this line
In ten MLB seasons, Sheets has a 94-96 record, a 3.78 ERA and 1323 strikeouts in 1595 2/3 innings.
I would not really say he was a star.He could have been

**the 'stache** · 10-04-2012, 09:38 AM

He absolutely was a star. Are you really looking at his win loss record as proof he wasn't?

Here's another pitcher with similar numbers:

98-76, 3.22 ERA, 1,487 K in 1,620 IP. 3.10 SO/BB 8.3 K/9 IP. Other pitcher
94-96, 3.78 ERA, 1,325 K in 1,596 IP. 3.59 SO/BB. 7.5 K/9 IP. Sheets

The "other pitcher" is Felix Hernandez, a Cy Young winner, and a Cy Young runner up.

As I said before, once Sheets put it all together, yes, he was a star. He pitched for a piss poor Milwaukee Brewers team, and got very poor run support. That's why he wasn't a household name. But he was clearly a #1 starter.

If you want to look at his numbers from 2004 to 2008, when he was forced out of baseball due to injury, he was outstanding. Those numbers:

53-44, 3.24 ERA. 785 K in 839 IP. 8.4 K/9 IP. 5.16 K/BB.

Look at his 2004 season. He finished 8th in the Cy Young vote, but he was clearly better than all the pitchers who finished above him save for Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson. And the argument can be made that he was just as good as Clemens and Johnson.

WAR?
Clemens 5.1 (Won Cy Young)
Johnson 8.1
Sheets 6.9

WHIP?
Clemens 1.157
Johnson 0.900
Sheets 0.983

SO/BB?
Clemens 2.76
Johnson 6.59
Sheets 8.25

ERA+?
Clemens 145
Johnson 176
Sheets 162

Sheets was a 4 time All Star. His last season in Milwaukee, he was 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA, and he led the NL with 3 shutouts.

Comparing him to Brien Taylor is just silly. If Sheets hadn't developed arm problems, he'd have won a Cy Young Award at some point in his career. He was that good.

**chakhae1** · 10-09-2012, 05:12 AM

Wow, comparing Ben Sheets to Felix Hernandez is just laughable. Ben Sheets as you have stated was never close to winning a cy young and Felix is on his way to several in his career. Sheets had good stuff in his prime and injuries were his downfall, but all the numbers you present make him out to be a slightly above average starter at best who once was a #1 starter but never maintained the ability to be one.

**the 'stache** · 10-09-2012, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by chakhae1

Wow, comparing Ben Sheets to Felix Hernandez is just laughable. Ben Sheets as you have stated was never close to winning a cy young and Felix is on his way to several in his career. Sheets had good stuff in his prime and injuries were his downfall, but all the numbers you present make him out to be a slightly above average starter at best who once was a #1 starter but never maintained the ability to be one.

It's hardly laughable. I just showed the numbers from the 2004 Cy Young race. Sheets was 8th in the voting, which was a joke. His numbers were quite favorable to the guys that finished 1-2 in the race. He should have finished third.

In his prime, Sheets was nearly as good as Felix Hernandez. Using the statement "he's on his way to winning several Cy Youngs in his career" would be laughable, however. Using things that haven't happened isn't going to strengthen your argument. You have no idea what Hernandez will do in his career going forward. He's a great pitcher, but he could turn into Tim Lincecum of 2012, or blow his arm out. Plus, I think there's a few other pitchers in the AL that might have something to say about it. Past success is never a guarantee of future success.

Let's compare their best years, shall we?

Felix won the Cy Young in 2010. 13-12, 2.27 ERA, 1.057 WHIP, 232 K, 3.31 K:BB, 8.4 K/9 IP
Ben Sheets in 2004. 12-14, 2.70 ERA, 0.983 WHIP, 264 K, 8.25 K:BB, 10.0 K/9 IP

I'm sorry, but at their best, Sheets was every bit as good as Hernandez, and the numbers back it up. He had a better WHIP, more strikeouts per 9 IP, and a much better strikeout to walk ratio.

If you want to take it a step further, look at their numbers over the course of their careers:

Hernandez: 1.212 WHIP, 3.10 K:BB, 8.3 K per 9 IP
Sheets: 1.219 WHIP, 3.59 K:BB, 7.5 K per 9 IP

They are quite comparable. And those are the only numbers a pitcher really has control over.

The problem was that the arm issues started nearly as soon as he realized his success. If you want to say that Hernandez has been better longer, I'd absolutely agree with you. Part of being a great pitcher is reliability. King Felix has been great over a long period, and Sheets never realized that level of dominance again. But to say that it's "laughable" to compare the two at their best is absurd.

**nadeau01_johnson48** · 10-09-2012, 08:40 PM

Ben Sheets was never better than Felix Hernandez. Let's be real here.

**the 'stache** · 10-09-2012, 08:50 PM

I never said better. I did say that he was "nearly as good", and the numbers back that assertion up.

People can ignore the facts, but they are there. Sheets had incredible control, and dominating stuff.