It’s our final pitching stats rundown for August (not a ton changes with these weekly). However, we’ve added some extra categories, particularly here on the pitching side, plus a “last week” column where you can compare a player’s ranking to a week ago. In our September rundown(s), we may expand from Top 10 to Top 15 or Top 20.

ERAs took a bit of a hit this week, and Mason Adams jumped from off the list (No. 11) into the Top 10 this week. Ditto on the WHIP side, where Zach Franklin leapfrogged some mainstays into the Top 10.

No surprise here, as someone covering Charlotte every week, to see Sean Burke at No. 4. Interesting that coming off of major surgery Burke hasn’t just retained his ability to strike out batters, but improve on it. He was on the cusp of the majors pre-injury, as the unofficial “No. 6 starter” awaiting an injury on the South Side. It would seem that Burke has very much re-assumed that position, albeit among a more competitive batch of starting candidates.

Take the DSL for what you will, but it’s typical to see big offensive numbers, with a lot of walks. There are dominant pitchers, but by nature they’re never allowed to pitch much, they’re kids, after all. So it’s especially rare to see a young arm like Yhoiker Fajardo pitching well and with control.

It was a bit odd that GM Chris Getz, upon acquiring Jairo Iriarte in trade from San Diego this spring, directly pegged him for the majors by the second half. And Iriarte, along with another Padres arm acquired in the same deal, Drew Thorpe, had the makings of doing just that early on. It seems Iriarte will fall short of seeing the South Side in 2024, but not for a lack of trying; with 21 starts and 120 innings already banked he is proving to have an MLB starter’s constitution.

Similar to the DSL observation, it’s always interesting to see an A-ball arm getting utilized heavily/often. You’d expect to see a lot of Charlotte arms among on the Appearances leaderboard. Jesús Méndez has been a HOSS for the CBs.

Finishes of course are not EXACTLY pure determinations of closer mettle, but they’re not far off. It’s interesting to see the two remaining starter arms from 2019-20, Andrew Dalquist and Jared Kelley, transitioning to closer/setup roles.

Wins are a very tricky stat, but hats off to Aaron McGarity for yeoman work in Charlotte all year; it’s not just dumb luck he, almost exclusively in a late-inning role, has picked up the second-most wins in the organization.

A little interesting to see some of these stingy longball pitchers residing in the ACL, a league you’d think would be somewhat ripe for big flies.

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Jairo Iriarte photo from the Birmingham Barons.