Most Wins Without a Complete Game

Yesterday Max Scherzer pitched another brilliant game, 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K while lowering his season ERA to 3.24.  He reached the magic number of pitches, exactly 100, and was promptly replaced.  Again, it left fans wondering just when Scherzer would get a chance at a complete game.

Below is the table of pitchers with the most wins without a complete game, something that Fox Sports Detroit seems to show whenever Max Scherzer or Rick Porcello is pitching:

Rk	Player	W	CG	From	To	Age	G	GS	SHO	GF	L	W-L%	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA	ERA+
1	Max Scherzer	60	0	2008	2013	23-28	154	145	0	2	42	.588	0	888.0	828	416	377	290	929	3.82	112
2	Tony Armas	53	0	1999	2008	21-30	185	167	0	7	65	.449	0	925.2	891	519	478	431	680	4.65	94
3	Rick Porcello	50	0	2009	2013	20-24	131	130	0	1	45	.526	0	748.2	861	414	383	191	431	4.60	93
4	Scott Olsen	37	0	2005	2010	21-26	130	127	0	0	49	.430	0	723.0	778	446	390	291	528	4.85	88
5	Bud Norris	33	0	2009	2013	24-28	111	110	0	0	42	.440	0	639.2	637	340	306	265	604	4.31	92
6	Ivan Nova	31	0	2010	2013	23-26	72	66	0	5	15	.674	0	400.1	431	209	197	140	303	4.43	95
7	Lance Lynn	27	0	2011	2013	24-26	65	43	0	4	9	.750	1	285.2	249	111	109	101	296	3.43	111
8	Mike Minor	26	0	2010	2013	22-25	66	65	0	1	17	.605	0	381.1	354	180	169	111	337	3.99	99
9	Chris Narveson	26	0	2006	2013	24-31	97	63	0	9	18	.591	0	396.2	394	213	205	150	326	4.65	87
10	Mike Thurman	26	0	1997	2002	23-28	105	87	0	9	36	.419	0	493.2	537	311	277	190	296	5.05	89

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 6/7/2013.

All of these pitchers have pitched within the last 15 years and only Tony Armas, Scott Olsen and Mike Thurman haven't pitched in 2013 from this list.  With specialized roles in the bullpen and an emphasis on pitch counts, it has already become more common to not get a complete game out of a pitcher for his career, but I don't think we're there yet in regards to Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello.  It seems like both Scherzer and Porcello have taken a step forward this year, therefore it is now a matter of "when" not "if" they can go the distance.  

Max Scherzer has pitched 5 games this year while going at least 8 innings.  That's already 1 more than his career high of 4 games in 2010, for which if it wasn't for an extra inning game, he would have already recorded a complete game by going 9 innings.  

Below is a game log for Scherzer first sorted by number of innings, then number of pitches:

Date	IP	Pitches
9/1/2010	9	106
5/10/2013	8	103
4/24/2011	8	104
4/17/2013	8	105
5/4/2013	8	105
5/4/2011	8	109
7/2/2010	8	110
9/7/2012	8	110
9/1/2012	8	113
7/16/2011	8	116
5/21/2013	8	118
5/31/2013	8	119
8/26/2010	8	121
9/22/2010	8	121
6/17/2012	8	122

3 of the top 5 happened this year; he's getting closer.  Now it is up to Jim Leyland to put him back out there in the 9th.

For Rick Porcello, he only has 1 game in 2013 where he's gone 8 innings, therefore his complete game bid has been more spread out.  However, he's been much more efficient with his pitches:

Date	IP	Pitches
5/22/2011	8	84
8/1/2009	8	91
7/21/2012	8	94
5/1/2012	8	98
7/17/2010	8	99
5/28/2013	8	99
9/9/2010	8	105
9/26/2010	8	107
7/29/2011	8	107

I'm not exactly sure what Leyland's mindset was in the May game in 2011, as it looks like Porcello could have gotten a complete game without reaching the magic 100 pitch count.

After the implosion against the Angels, Porcello has a 3.48 ERA and is averaging exactly a strikeout an inning in 7 starts as he seems to have taken a big step forward this year.