Celebrating Aaron Harang

We rarely talk about Aaron Harang. When we do, it’s usually to describe him as a “safer” player rather than a good one, or perhaps to poke a little fun at his appearance. He never ranks very highly when it comes time to make lists, and we’re generally at a loss to describe his success. And yet, he keeps churning out solid seasons of baseball.

A sixth round draft pick of the Texas Rangers back in 1999, Harang was never a staple of top prospect lists, to say the least. He was one of the better starters in the Appalachian League after he was drafted in terms of ERA and K/BB ratio, but as a college draftee, he was older than many of his competitors. He was solid again in 2000, but that didn’t stop the Rangers from trading him to the A’s for Randy Velarde. It was with Oakland where he made his major league debut, but he wasn’t there too long before he was shipped away in the four-player deal with the Reds that landed Jose Guillen by the Bay.

It was in Cincy where Harang really made his home. We got an inkling of it in the final two months of that 2003 season, when he posted his first sub-100 FIP- in Cincy. The next season, he posted his first season with a K-BB% better than 10 percent. He would do it for six straight seasons, from 2004-2009. He would go on to have a pretty nice run from 2005-07. In each season, he posted at least 4.6 WAR, and 4.0 RA9-WAR. In terms of WAR, he was seventh-best in the game during that stretch, worth slightly more than CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay, who I remember being pretty good. In terms of RA9-WAR, he was 11th best, in a pack with Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Dan Haren.

The capstone was 2007. Harang has never been an All-Star, or recognized with a formal award or anything like that, but in 2007, when he went 16-6, with a 3.73 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 79 FIP- and 17.5% K-BB%, he finished fourth in the National League Cy Young Award voting. Now, that sounds cooler than it really is — he only got 10 vote points, and didn’t remotely challenge winner Jake Peavy. And he likely got those vote points because of his 16-6 record. But the truth is, he was deserving of them. He finished seventh in NL FIP- that season, though he was really in a virtual tie for fifth, and within striking distance of fourth. He also tied with John Smoltz to lead the NL in K/BB, at 4.19. His K-BB% ranked fourth. It was a good year for Harang, and while he was never that good again, it has helped him stay employed ever since.

When you look at Harang’s stats, he grades out as the epitome of average. You notice that he works quickly, though even in this category he’s not extraordinary — his 20.8 Pace from 2008-present ranks 87th out of 220 qualified pitchers. But being average for a very long time is, well maybe not something to aspire to, but in terms of major league baseball anyway, is certainly admirable. And that is doubly true for a pitcher. Pitchers generally are dropping left and right these days to one injury or the next, and many never make it back to the majors. Sure, Harang has been felled by a back injury here, an appendectomy there, but by and large, he keeps showing up for work. So much so, that he’s one of the best players from his draft class:

Fifth by WAR, and sixth by RA9-WAR. These are, by the way, the only eight pitchers from that draft class to compile at least 20 WAR by one of the two metrics. Looking at position players, the only two players in the class clearly superior to Harang have been Albert Pujols (88.5 WAR) and Carl Crawford (42.5). Not bad for a sixth-round pick.

In fact, it’s not just among his draft class. Any way you slice it, Harang has been pitching long enough to be at least one of the best 500 pitchers of all-time. Here’s some ranks for you:

• WAR, 1871-present: 277th out of 2,948
• WAR, 1901-present: 243rd out of 2,725
• WAR, 1947-present: 163rd out of 1,978
• RA9-WAR, 1871-present: 430th, out of 2,948
• RA9-WAR, 1901-present: 376th, out of 2,725
• RA9-WAR, 1947-present: 243rd, out of 1,978

Perhaps you don’t think being in the top 500, or 200 in some cases, is a big accomplishment. After all, why focus on guys like Aaron Harang when we can just obsess over more marvelous pitchers like Pedro Martinez, Clayton Kershaw or Sandy Koufax? But it’s a career most pitchers would dream of — to pitch in the majors for 14 years, and to do it well. To do so, you have to be more than the safe pick, you actually have to have some talent too. His hot start this season may continue, and he may have another solid season on his hands, but whether it does or doesn’t, the San Diego native has more than earned his keep during his big league career.