Current American League WAR Leader is Basically the Most Surprising Name Possible

Justin Verlander's having an ace-like season. Mike Trout is doing Mike Trout things. Plenty of the AL's bonafide stars are shining, as expected, through the first two months of the 2019 season.

But Verlander doesn't lead the league in pitching WAR. Not even close.

In fact, Ranger starting pitcher Mike Minor, an unlikely candidate, leads all of the A.L. pitching in WAR this year at 3.6.

He also leads the entire American League, with Mike Trout finishing second, at 3.4.

Mike Minor for MVP?

Who on earth had this pegged.

The Rangers southpaw, in a secondary breakout season, holds a record of 4-3 with an ERA at 2.55. He has done an effective job this year of keeping runs off the board by any measure, and in 11 games started, Minor has thrown 70.2 innings while striking out 72 batters.

Known for their potent offense heading into the 2019 season, no one would ever have suspected that a Texas Ranger starting pitcher would be the league leader in pitching WAR. Or OVERALL WAR. That, my friends, is mind-boggling.

If Minor can continue to pitch solidly all season, expect him to remain near the top of that WAR leaderboard. If he can fend off Trout, though, then Sabermetrics are broken. I simply have so many questions here.