It’s not just Steven Wright’s knuckleball that makes him so effective. Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said last week that Wright is, for instance, tougher to hit against than former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield because of Wright’s ability to camouflage his fastball and make it look as if a knuckleball is coming.
If Wright finishes the second half the way he pitched in the first (an American League-best 2.68 ERA), here’s how his 2016 season would project to stack up against other knuckleballers over the last 50 years — as ranked according to ERA+ (a metric that adjusts ERA compared to the league and pitcher’s ballpark, with the average set at 100):
Pitcher Year Team(s) IP ERA ERA+
1.