Ben Sheets enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2004, posting a 2.70 ERA and setting the new single-season record for strikeouts by a Brewers pitcher. But how does Big Ben’s 2004 campaign stack up against the greatest seasons by a hurler in Brewers history? Where does he rank on the All-Time list?

This article will seek to answer those questions using one of many potential statistical tools, Baseball Prospectus’ Value Over Replacement Player (VORP). While there are a number of other ways to evaluate and rank historical seasons, VORP was chosen because it takes into account the two things pitchers must do to be successful: pitch well, and pitch often. Developed by Keith Woolner, it is a measurement of “the number of runs a pitcher surrenders below what a replacement level pitcher would have given up in the same number of innings.” A counting stat, VORP allows us to compare pitchers from different eras because it is calculated in the context of each pitcher’s league and ballpark.

Thus, without further ado, this article presents a list of the greatest seasons by a pitcher in Brewers history. In addition to a brief overview of their season, each pitcher’s season in the top ten includes a table listing their appearances (G) and starts (GS), won-loss record (W-L), innings pitched (IP), earned run average (ERA), adjusted ERA compared to the league average (ERA+), hits per nine innings (H/9), walks per nine innings (BB/9), strikeouts per nine innings (SO/9), and VORP.

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