Good morning!
Over on Twitter, Josh was Remembering Some Guys from the 2013 White Sox squad, prompting him to worry about today's Sporcle theme:
Just watch this Saturday @tedsox31 is going to do a @SoxMachine Sporacle Saturday on the 2013 White Sox that will own all of us.
— Josh Nelson - Sox Machine (@soxmachine_josh) April 29, 2021
In case you missed the title of this post, worry not! Today's Sporcle will not cover the 2013 White Sox. (By the way, Leury Garcia is the lone holdover from that roster)
No, today's Sporcle will celebrate Carlos Rodón's fantastic start to the season. After Thursday's dominant performance, Rodón's line sits at: 4-0, a 0.72 ERA (2.17 FIP/3.03 xFIP...both of which we would have gladly taken before the start of the season), 0.640 WHIP, an absurd 12.96 K/9, and an equally absurd slash-against of .085/.202/.146. I'd imagine we're looking at the leading contender for AL Pitcher of the Month, and deservedly so.
The above numbers indicate an all-time great start to a season, and you are correct in thinking so. The last time a White Sox starting pitcher got off to this strong a start was 1988, and that pitcher's ERA was 0.94. To find a season start which bests Rodón's ERA, you need to go all the way back to 1914 (0.52 ERA) when the ball was the equivalent of a rolled up dirty sock.
It's such a good beginning to a season that my original ERA cutoff (ERA of 1.00 or lower) only yielded eight entries, five of which were logged by the same two guys. Thus, here are the qualification cutoffs for today's Sporcle: ERA of 2.00 or lower, at least 4 games started (this took care of IP; 24 IP would have otherwise been the cutoff), and all games played in March/April. That raises the number of entries to 33: how many can you name? Good luck!
Quiz Parameters
- I've allotted 15 minutes for completion attempts.
- For hints, I've provided the year and the ERA of the pitcher in question.
- To reiterate: the cutoffs are an ERA of 2.00 or lower; minimum 4 GS, and those games played within the confines of March and April.
Useless information to amaze, annoy, confuse, and/or confound your friends and family:
- Total bases given up by Rodón thus far? 12, while the next-best number from the players on this list sits at 18 TB (1910).
- His 0.640 WHIP is also third-best on this list, with the other two coming in 1909 and 1910 (0.511 and 0.590, respectively).
- His 7 hits allowed is also the fewest from the players on this list, with the next-best total sitting at 17 (1982).
All data from stathead.com
(Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)
