Zack Greinke vs Matt Cain

[sfgiants5518]

Who's better? Who would you rather have on your team going forward?

[CHRISDODGERS]

toss up. their stats to the last 3-4 yrs are really close. Cain's a year younger. if Greinke's home park was AT&T he might have had better outcomes. idk. Greinke because he might become a Dodgers

[SenorGato]

Greinke. Cain is very conveniently located, for his skillset which makes him more stable. On pure talent and who can blow up and have a string of great seasons - Greinke.

[todu82]

Close but Greinke.

[d79cheese]

toss up. their stats to the last 3-4 yrs are really close. Cain's a year younger. if Greinke's home park was AT&T he might have had better outcomes. idk. Greinke because he might become a Dodgers

That's why Matt Cain's career HR/9 and HR/FB% on the road is lower then Greinke's overal career

Considering it is a "toss up" statistically over the last 3-4 years is actually a decisive advantage to Cain, seeing that 2009 is a PED to Greinke's back of the baseball card.

Gimme the pitcher that has pitched 200+ innings for 6 straight years. All while increasing strikeouts and decreasing walks over the past 4 seasons and continuing to induce some of the weakest contact in baseball.

I like Greinke, and think he is a real good pitcher. His periphals always look really good (high k's/low walks). When you start compaing pitchers over long periods of time (which this thread is asking) then you can def. bring in metrics like ERA and BAA. Even with Greinke's unrepeatable 2009 ERA+ of 205, Cain holds a decisive career edge of 124 to 114. It is not a coincidence when pitchers go on 4+ seasons of either underperforming (Greinke) or overperforming (Cain) to their FIP/xFIP numbers.

Cain continues to be the most undervalued top pitcher in the league. He's incredibly durable, doesn't give up hits, barely allows any baserunners (compared to the league average), consistently strands runners when they do get on. Oh, and he is still only 28 with a perfect game on the resume and was a key piece in 2 championships.

[dskjfd]

Greinke. Cain is very conveniently located, for his skillset which makes him more stable. On pure talent and who can blow up and have a string of great seasons - Greinke.

Greinke is talented but I can't ignore the mental part of his game. Probably has better stuff than Cain, but I prefer the stoic dependability of Matt Cain.

[Jeffy25]

I'd rather have Greinke. But Cain is no slouch, and I wouldn't really argue with someone that picked the weak contact king

[VRP723]

I'd take Cain. But I think they're both second tier aces.

[LASportsFan1996]

toss up. their stats to the last 3-4 yrs are really close. Cain's a year younger. if Greinke's home park was AT&T he might have had better outcomes. idk. Greinke because he might become a Dodgers

This

[Scully in 2012]

If they were both Free Agents and we had the option?

Sign both....cuz we have the $$



It is truly very close. I think Cain has been and remains to be one of the most underrated and unappreciated pitchers in the game.

[Gandalf]

I'm going with Cain younger more experienced in the post season and just a better all around pitcher.

[Greedy22]

I'd go with Cain, but both are great.

[jmkh]

I'm going with Cain younger more experienced in the post season and just a better all around pitcher.

I agree with the first part but not so sure about second part. They are both great all around pitcher

[Pinstripe power]

cain

[giants73756]

I'd rather have Greinke. But Cain is no slouch, and I wouldn't really argue with someone that picked the weak contact king

Is there a statistic that shows average velocity of the ball off the bat for pitchers? Because that would be cool if there was.