Daniel Descalso, Best Pitcher of All Time
Something historic happened last night. Well, maybe, we should say multiple historic things happened last night. The Dodgers also combined for a no-hitter, and that’s pretty cool. It’s happened about 300 times in the long history of MLB. Also, the MLB Social Media folks seemed to be pretty jazzed up about Gerrit Cole‘s 16 strikeout, 1 hit shutout, which amounted to a 100 Game Score in 9 innings. That metric has been reached fewer times than the no-hitter. Albert Pujols knocked his 3,000th hit on an auspicious flair to right field, joining Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Alex Rodriguez as the only members of the 3000 hit/600 home run club.
That’s pretty neat, but Daniel Descalso is now an all-time record holder. He’s done something that nobody else in the history of baseball can match. “Daniel Descalso, Best Pitcher Ever” has a certain curious ring to it, doesn’t it?
Here it is:
The announcers and fans are pretty jazzed up. Daniel Descalso, a utility infielder, just struck someone out! The official Diamondbacks Twitter account noticed something a bit more historic:
After a flyout and a strikeout (first of his career), @DanielDescalso has yet to allow a baserunner over 3 appearances with the #Dbacks. https://t.co/T4dXMAwzDN
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 5, 2018
But they’re missing the larger point here. See, Daniel R. Epstein uncovered something in the offseason that made this pitching appearance all the more important: Daniel Descalso just broke a record as a pitcher. From Daniel Epstein’s great piece in December:
As it turns out, Descalso’s seven batters retired without allowing a baserunner is nearly the best ever. He is now fifth all-time for most batters faced with career WHIP of 0.000. Only four pitchers in major league history faced more batters without allowing a hit or walk.
Epstein proceeded to further dive into the record book, excluding some shoddy turn of the century records, and concluded that Descalso needed two more outs to become the most perfect pitcher in the history of baseball.
On May 4th, 2018, Daniel Descalso became the most perfect pitcher in the history of baseball. He retired two straight batters and etched his place atop the record book as the pitcher with the most batters retired without ever allowing a baserunner. There were cheers, sure, but the game didn’t pause. His catcher didn’t race out for a bear hug. His family didn’t saunter onto the field for an awkward stare contest. He likely didn’t even get to keep the record-breaking baseball; it’s probably mixed in with all the other gamers for batting practice today.
The thing about records is that they’re meant to fall, but Descalso’s grasp on this one feels strong. No full-time pitcher could ever hold this honor, unless you entertain the idea that a pitcher tosses exclusively perfect games in perpetuity. A position player could take the crown, sure, but said player would need the right mix of Descalso’s MLB staying power and a utility role that would let him complete a roster without being too integral to it to risk as a pitcher on multiple occasions.
Since it seems likely that Descalso finds himself atop the bump again and gives up a baserunner, all Descalso has to do to keep the record is not do the one thing that he’s the best at in the history of the sport: pitch.
-Sean Morash with a huge tip of the cap to Daniel R. Epstein.
