Cliff Lee Has Most Philadelphia Phillies Shutouts Since Steve Carlton

Cliff Lee threw his fifth shutout last night to defeat the Giants and give the Phillies their seventh straight win.

With his fifth shutout, he has become the first Phillie since Steve Carlton to record five in a season.

Of course, whenever anyone comes close to Carlton in any statistic you have to look at how great this achievement really is.

According to Baseball Reference, Carlton had six in 1982, so Lee has not really caught him yet. Carlton's career high was eight during that miraculous 1972 season.

Comparing those two years—1982 for Carlton and 2011 for Lee—it is a little bit difficult since Lee still has 51 games left. Let's try anyway.

That season, Carlton went 23-11 with a 3.10 ERA and 19 complete games. He also accumulated 275 strikeouts over 283.2 innings.

So far this season, Lee is 11-7 with a 2.97 ERA and five complete games. He has 167 strikeouts in 164 innings and actually only has a WHIP of 1.10. Carlton was up at 1.27 in 1982.

Obviously, times have changed since 1982. A number like 19 complete games in a season really doesn't happen anymore. Carlton's numbers would be extremely tough for anyone to match on a modern-day workload.

This comparison is definitely not meant to discount what Lee has done so far this season. He has been the man pitching at home. Although Citizens Bank Park is definitely a hitters' park, he is 8-2 with a 2.23 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP.

According to FanGraphs, in terms of wins above replacement, he is the eighth most valuable pitcher in baseball right now.

Interestingly, Roy Halladay is ranked first and Cole Hamels is seventh. What a staff...

After another great performance last night, the Phillies continue to have the best record in baseball and Lee has been a large part of that success.