Flipping through The Bill James Handbook can reveal a lot of fun and interesting tidbits about the most recently completed Major League Baseball season. For instance, looking at the best Game Scores in the National League in 2015 shows some very notable performances.
| Top National League Game Scores, 2015 |
| Player |
Game Score |
| Max Scherzer, Was |
104 |
| Max Scherzer, Was |
100 |
| Jake Arrieta, ChC |
98 |
| Cole Hamels, Phi |
98 |
| Chris Heston, SF |
98 |
| Clayton Kershaw, LAD |
97 |
| Max Scherzer, Was |
97 |
| Madison Bumgarner, SF |
94 |
| Madison Bumgarner, SF |
94 |
| Johnny Cueto, Cin |
93 |
| Stephen Strasburg, Was |
93 |
The player that obviously stands out on that list is Max Scherzer. He had a historic season, pitching three of the seven best games in the NL, including the top two.
However, looking a little closer, there is another interesting name on that list. Chris Heston threw the first of MLB’s seven no-hitters in 2015, a performance that was good enough to tie him for the third-best individual Game Score in the NL. As a 27-year-old having just completed his first full season in the major leagues, Heston seems like the most unlikely name on that list. In fact, looking at another list that can be found in the Leader Boards section of The Bill James Handbook confirms how unlikely that performance was.
| Lowest Average National League Game Scores, 2015 (Minimum 30 Games Started) |
| Player |
Game Score |
| Jeff Locke, Pit |
48 |
| Andrew Cashner, SD |
49 |
| Rubby de la Rosa, Ari |
50 |
| Tom Koehler, Mia |
50 |
| Brett Anderson, LAD |
51 |
| Bartolo Colon, NYM |
51 |
| Anthony DeSclafani, Cin |
51 |
| Alex Wood, Atl-LAD |
51 |
| Ian Kennedy, SD |
51 |
| Chris Heston, SF |
52 |
Of the NL pitchers that were able to make at least 30 starts in 2015, Heston had the 10th-lowest average Game Score. That is not to say that Heston was the 10th-worst pitcher in the NL, because it obviously takes a certain quality pitcher to be trusted with at least 30 starts in a season. However, it is still interesting to see how one of the more unremarkable pitchers in the game today can still surprise you with one great outing.
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