Went to the Orioles/Mariners game last night and watched Brad Bergeson shut Seattle down over 8 strong innings. i was actually surprised that Trembley didn’t let Bergeson try for the complete game, considering that getting through 8 only took him 97 pitches. Sherrill made things a bit interesting, giving up a run and allowing the tying run to come to the plate, but managed to get the save, and the Orioles won 3-1.
It was Melvin Mora t-shirt night at Camden Yards, and it looked like he was going to celebrate with a home run, but it was reviewed and Mora was given out on a call of fan interference.
Three-way tie for second in the NL Central between the Cards, Cubs and Reds. The Reds squeaked out a win against the mighty Nationals 3-2 last night. Yay.
Actually, his W-L record for his whole career is “hovering near .500,” at .535. His career ERA is 3.87, his career WHIP is 1.294, and his career ERA+ is 110. (average = 100).
His best W-L year was 2008, when he went 18-10 despite putting up ERA, WHIP, and ERA+ numbers that were slightly worse than his career average.
His best season for those three stats was 2002, when he posted an ERA of 3.30, a WHIP of 1.189, and an ERA+ of 122. And he went 12-9, which is pretty much what he’s on pace to do for the Yankees this year.
Winning percentage is a really bad measure of a pitcher’s quality.
So is his availability during free-agent season. Being one of the few people at a key position with any talent at all out there on the market is the way to *really *skew perceptions of your ability.
For another example: Sabathia hasn’t done shit in the postseason before, and wearing pinstripes won’t change that and more than it’s made Burnett be more than he’s shown himself to be in previous years.
I understand that, but his career stats are actually pretty good, right, especially his WHIP? I think that in the specific case of AJ it’s the best stat that shows how wildly inconsistent he is.
While I agree that measuring a pitchers success via wins and losses is silly, I’m not sure I see your point.
When it comes down to it, AJ Burnett is an often injured, slightly above average pitcher. Period. Heck, a 1.29 career WHIP puts him 424th all time. His 110 Adjusted ERA plus puts him the low 300s all time. His 2.22 K/BB puts him at 160th all time. These numbers aren’t in line with his Salary but he plays for the Yankees so who really cares what his salary is, the Yanks probably don’t.
He’s not an ace and isn’t even a number 2 guy (which I don’t think he is supposed to be) but he’d be a good guy to fill out a rotation somewhere between 3 and 5 depending on the strength of the particular rotation.
Maybe I’m making your point, maybe I’m not. I can’t be sure.
Well, I didn’t say I thought the other system’s were legal either. However, the path to free agency is much more difficult in baseball than in football and basketball (I don’t know too much about hockey). It can be a good decade before amateurs actually get to choose where they want to go.
Yeah, perhaps I was too hard on the guy. As someone who has watched him in Toronto the previous few seasons, he really is an infuriating pitcher to watch (it’s a good thing I’m not a Jays fan or it’d drive me insane). There are days where he looks like the best pitcher in baseball. Then the very next start? He gets through an inning and a third. Then he goes and pitches a few good starts in a row and then his arm hurts and he misses a few starts.
I really don’t know where you put him in the rotation but considering his above average stats I suppose I can compromise and say 2 or 3.
Well it certainly was fan interference. Guitierez would have definitely had that. He has been a lot of fun to watch this year. As someone mentioned upthread we have some great pitching but except for a couple of exceptions we can’t hit. I’m always amazed when I watch other teams play the Mariners and they take pitches and get walks. Walk? What’s that?
Well we’re at .483 and only five back a third of the way through June. Felix is on the mound tonight so what the hey… better than last year!
Ooooh, two home runs! Wow! He’s old (for a player of his type), fat, over the hill and off the juice. You don’t need stats to see that. Oh, I’m sure he’ll come back a bit… he can’t hit .190 all year. His years of being a legitimately good player are behind him. He’ll be out of baseball in a couple of years.
As to the AJ Burnett issue, of course the guy’s ridiculously overpaid. Actually, he’s been better so far than you can expect over the course of his contract, because he hasn’t yet come down with any phantom injuries. At least he’s been showing up and trying. That won’t last.
Well that was embarassing. But the point stands. It was a good call. What defies logic with this team is how Lopez and Betancourt get all this playing time.
Rangers and Blue Jays rained out. Ugh, that will be a hard game to make up. I don’t think they’d try to get a doubleheader in tomorrow and I doubt the Blue Jays come back to Dallas this year.
