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The hottest MLB pitchers headed into September sprint
Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton has been lights-out all season. USA TODAY Sports

The hottest MLB pitchers headed into September sprint

Let’s say it all together now: “Pitching wins championships.” Alright, let’s do it again:

“PITCHING WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS!”

This is an abundantly true fact that means more and more as the season stretches into its later phases. Just a year ago, a deep Mets starting staff faced off against a powerhouse Royals bullpen. The year before that, that same K.C. pen took on the juggernaut performance of Madison Bumgarner. Going back over time, masterful postseason impacts by Michael Wacha, Cole Hamels, Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Mariano Rivera, John Smoltz and many more have delivered titles to their clubs. So despite the fact they don’t put the runs on the board the way the hottest hitters in MLB do, they can either stop a series dead in its tracks or propel their teams to undeniable momentum with the ball in their hands.

There are a handful of pitchers who are entering September with a chance to add their names to that legacy of late-season defining hurlers, many of whom are unsurprisingly hitting their top strides as the summer turns to fall.

Here are the hottest pitchers in baseball as September approaches.

Jake Arrieta, Cubs

Jake Arrieta is a victim of his own success. The perception that he is somehow having a decline this season is simply because teams were able to score runs on him at all this year. He kicked back into that throwback mode that won him last year’s NL Cy Young honors in August, and if he carries his current performance over to September, he could very well take another one home for himself too.

Arrieta had a four-game personal winning streak entering yesterday’s contest, in which he took a no-decision (as well as a healthy beating), having had allowed only 12 hits over 27 innings. He has somehow quietly reclaimed the lead in wins in the NL, while still sitting in the top eight in seven other key categories as well.

Arrieta has been painting another understated masterpiece, and remember, it was about this point in the year last season when he made everyone truly stand up and take notice of him, allowing two runs over 40 September innings. And there is something to be said for having been through the dog days of summer before.

Zach Britton, Orioles

The O’s closer has had the hot hand all season. Until last week, he had not allowed an earned run since April 30. That spanned three months and 24 days of futility created by Britton, who has a 0.68 ERA on the year in 56 appearances. So perhaps the fact that he gave up a single run means that August is his worst month in the last three? I think that is forgivable in light of everything else he has done.

Closers winning the Cy Young is a hotly contested issue. It is often said that they do not pitch enough innings to influence that many games. However, when opponents are only hitting .148 against a guy, he has allowed only 43 runners on the year and has saved 100 percent of the chances he has been issued (which has been an outcome of 53 percent of his team’s games), I think it is safe to say convention should be out of the window.

Danny Duffy, Royals

It seems odd now to think that just a few months ago, Duffy couldn’t break into the Royals’ starting rotation. But since making his first start on May 15, only twice has the talented young lefty been credited with more than three runs in single outing. What’s more important is that when he goes to the mound, more often than not the Royals emerge victorious: 16 of his 20 starts have been K.C. wins.

As the Royals attempt to pull off a tremendous final-month comeback push (they have won their past seven series entering Tuesday and are 5.5 games behind in the AL Central and two back in the wild card), it will be Duffy who will be the top gun Ned Yost has at his disposal — as well as a fairly proven good luck charm.

Cole Hamels, Rangers

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Cole Hamels may be the best trade-deadline acquisition of the past decade. Since he has landed in Arlington, the Rangers have virtually lived in first place, and much of it has to do with the steadying element he brought to the top of their previously shaky starting pitching.

Since arriving in the AL just over a year ago, Hamels is 21-5 with a 3.00 ERA over 252 innings. Over the last month, he has quietly asserted himself stronger than at any point in the year, working to a 2.04 ERA over five starts, while allowing only two home runs and 29 hits in 35.1 innings. Hamels is an understated ace in today’s game, but he is one without a shadow of a doubt.

Kyle Hendricks, Cubs

The least hallowed member of the Cubs’ rotation coming into the year, Hendricks was the reason Theo Epstein and company did not need to pay premium dollars for David Price or Zack Greinke — because they had a player who could already compete on their level. Hendricks has followed in Arrieta’s footsteps to become the second Cub in as many years to begin to make a big name for himself in the season’s final stages.

Since the All-Star break, Hendricks has carried a 1.52 ERA and lost just once in eight games. Otherwise, he has the lowest ERA in the majors, while not allowing more than three runs in 17 consecutive starts. All for the hefty sum of $510,000 — or what Price makes for five innings of work per start.

Corey Kluber, Indians

Kluber has gotten better and better as the year has gone on and is now clearly in range of potentially landing his second Cy Young Award in three years. He has been the best starter in the AL since June, working to a 2.30 ERA while going 10-2 and striking out 105 compared to 28 walks.

Since the All-Star break, his effort has gotten even more intense, as he owns a 1.89 ERA and a 4-0 record. He is the type of stopper that makes a team virtually slump-proof and the anchor amid the Indians’ multifaceted attack off the mound.

Carlos Martinez, Cardinals

He is perhaps the most important pitcher for any one team in this year’s postseason chase, because while the Cardinals' pitching has deteriorated all around him, Martinez has began to affirm himself as a star in the game.

Since Aug. 1, his rotation mates for the majority of the season, Adam Wainwright, Mike Leake, Michael Wacha and Jaime Garcia, have combined for a 5.71 ERA, 5-6 record and 1.55 WHIP, a far cry from the collective effort they were predicted to have. Meanwhile, Martinez has sported a solid 3.38 ERA (which is inflated by a disastrous six-run, five-inning outing vs. the Braves), while holding opponents to a .210 average against him. With Wacha and Leake out of the mix indefinitely, Martinez’s responsibilities have increased even further, and he has responded in kind, allowing three runs over his last 21 innings, and the Cardinals have taken home victories in all three contests.

Ivan Nova, Pirates

It may be too early to crown Nova as the latest full-blown Pirates reclamation project, but he has been strong since coming over from the Yankees in August. The Bucs have won four of his five starts thus far, and Nova has surrendered just one run in three of those outings. He is battling some hamstring issues, but if he can continue to make it to the mound, the Pirates will continue to be a player in the wild card race.

Julio Urias, Dodgers

Like Trea Turner offensively for the Nationals, Urias is another highly touted prospect who is making his much-anticipated arrival at the right time. Due to plethora of injuries incurred by Los Angeles pitching this year, the Dodgers were forced to deploy their top prospect earlier than they would have liked in the year. And while he did not click right away, in his most recent run, he has become the lights-out talent that he proved to be during his phenomenal start to the summer, in which he ran up a 29-inning scoreless streak at Triple-A.

In his last four outings, he has allowed a total of two runs (0.93 ERA), while he has begun to "figure it out," as they say. And if his learning curve continues to bend as it currently is, he will be one of the most dangerous arms any team possesses headed into October.

Justin Verlander, Tigers

Remember him? The same guy who was pulling double duty with the Cy Young Award and MVP just a few years ago is back and is the Tigers’ answer to the formidable group of aces within the AL Central.

Verlander is a different pitcher now, more content to wear down opponents than to overwhelm them constantly, but the results have gotten back to his vintage form. Since the All-Star Game, Verlander is sporting a 1.98 ERA, while batters are only managing a .169 average against him. He is in line to win more games than he has since 2012 and has already bested his WAR from 2014-15 at this point (3.3 vs. 4.4).

Can you name every MLB pitcher with 25 or more wins in a season since the Expansion Era (1961-) began?
SCORE:
0/18
TIME:
4:00
31 (1968)
Denny McLain
27 (1990)
Bob Welch
27 (1972)
Steve Carlton
27 (1966)
Sandy Koufax
26 (1968)
Juan Marichal
26 (1965)
Sandy Koufax
25 (1980)
Steve Stone
25 (1978)
Ron Guidry
25 (1974)
Fergie Jenkins
25 (1974)
Catfish Hunter
25 (1971)
Mickey Lolich
25 (1969)
Tom Seaver
25 (1966)
Juan Marichal
25 (1966)
Jim Kaat
25 (1963)
Sandy Koufax
25 (1963)
Juan Marichal
25 (1962)
Don Drysdale
25 (1961)
Whitey Ford

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