2013 A.J. Burnett vs 2015 Gerrit Cole: Who Had the Better Season?

My Verdict

Between the two, personally, a slight edge goes to 2013 A.J. Burnett.

Cole did have the upper hand in ERA, but ERA is extremely flawed. The 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates defense was much better in terms of UZR and UZR/150 than the 2013 Pirates were. This, undoubtedly, was a contributing factor to a lower ERA. Plus, it was one of the few stats Cole was better than Burnett in.

Cole was better at limiting free passes, but it’s not like Burnett was awful with walks with a 3.2 BB/9. Plus, he struck out eight more batters than Cole did, despite having faced 31 fewer batters. Burnett had a far superior SIERA with a .20 gap between the two. Despite the near identical home run rates, Burnett surpassed Cole’s ground ball rate by a whopping 8.5%. Also, Cole far surpassed his expected performance in 2015. Cole had a xFIP of 3.16, a .50 difference in FIP. Meanwhile, Burnett had a 2.90 xFIP, resulting in a .10 difference between that and his actual FIP.

From 2013-2015, Burnett and Cole helped pitch the Pittsburgh Pirates to the postseason three times. Well, just two times in Burnett’s case as he spent the 2014 season with the Philadelphia Phillies. Of these seasons, Burnett’s 2013 campaign and Cole’s 2015 campaign were two of the best in franchise history for a starting pitcher.