Best Pitcher in the MWC? Maybe Not Who You Think

By Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
April 21, 2011

Going into this Mountain West Conference baseball season, no one whose uniform didn’t include the color purple got any sort of preseason recognition when it came time to talk about the league’s top pitchers.

UNLV’s Tanner Peters is changing that.

As crunch time approaches, and it gets real crunchy this weekend in Fort Worth when UNLV visits TCU, the Rebel junior righthander will be the center of attention.

He won’t be the only attraction of course. TCU remains ranked in the Top Ten and is looking to put even more distance between themselves and the rest of the MWC. Jason Coats has been on fire at the plate and there are at least some positive signs of late that the Frogs are getting their bullpen situation straightened out. If that happens, watch out. Yes, Matt Purke has been sidelined indefinitely with shoulder soreness, but that won't matter once they yell, "play ball."

Make no mistake; the headliners in this series are taking the mound on Thursday night.

Going into what should be a much-ballyhooed rematch with TCU’s Kyle Winkler on Thursday night, Peters is arguably the best pitcher in the MWC at this moment.

Here’s the evidence: A 6-2 record, an ERA of 1.40, a league-leading 70 innings pitched, four complete games in nine starts (both best in the league), one of only two complete game shut-outs thrown in the league this year and a league leading 72 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .192 against Peters. I’m not a baseball cyber geek, but even I know that giving up only 50 hits and 15 walks in 70 innings makes for a pretty darn good WHIP.

Peters is coming off his fourth complete game win, this one a 7-2 three-hitter over BYU last weekend. For his efforts, he was named Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. He punched out the first four Cougars he faced, then after a bumpy third inning, held BYU hitless the rest of the way while striking out 11.

Tough to argue that Peters hasn’t been the MWC’s best pitcher this season, especially if you factor in where he plays his home games; not only carry well in Las Vegas, but the ground is very hard and pitchers tend to give up a lot of ground ball hits there.

To be fair, Winkler is tied with Peters for wins (6) and starts (9) and has his own sterling ERA at 1.42. Opponents are hitting just .189 against the TCU junior right hander, he trails Peters in strikeouts by just three, and his WHIP might be a tad better (I’m guessing here as I don’t know the cyber geek formula). Winkler’s been the league Pitcher of the Week three times already.

All of which makes Thursday night in Fort Worth “Must See TV” if you’re a baseball fan. The two already squared off once earlier in the season, with the Rebels handing Winkler his only loss of the season on a ninth-inning walk off home run by Brandon Bayardi. Peters gave up a lead off home run, but settled in to pitch 7 2/3 innings, giving up just two earned runs and striking out 11, while Winkler gave up four earned runs on eight hits and struck out 11 in a losing effort.

Like I said, if you like a good pitchers duel, lock it on The Mtn. Thursday night.

It’s not only a chance for Tanner Peters to establish himself as the best pitcher in the Mountain West Conference, but a chance for Tim Chamber’s Rebels to let everyone in MWC country that they are back to stay.

See all of Mark Knudson's blog entries HERE.