Comments on: Game 76: Cardinals at Tigers

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:41:38 +0000

By the way, I don’t want to make it seem like I think Galarraga sucks. He’s obviously got the ability to get big league hitters out, which is saying something. He’s just not the #2 starter that some fans (no one here, of course) make him out to be. He’s a competent back of the rotation guy, which you need.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:39:16 +0000

Sean: I’ll put it to you this way. The first time I ever saw Verlander pitch live (‘06 vs. Texas), I said “Crap on a crutch, this guy almost unhittable”. The first time I saw Battlestar, I said “Well, he’ll be OK for a couple starts until Willis is back”. Big difference. Of course, I’ve changed my tune slightly. I don’t want D-Train within 1200 miles of Detroit for a while…

By: Mark in Chicago

Mark in Chicago — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:35:04 +0000

Sean,

Welcome to reversion to the mean. As good as he is now, be prepared for some stretch where he’s about as bad.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:28:48 +0000

Chris: Oh, that was Chief iwth WHER. I’m always getting you two mixed up, since I can only read as far as the first letter of poster’s names.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:27:05 +0000

I don’t know. Projecting 1-6 with a 5+ ERA for the rest of 2008 seems a bit hard on Battlestar. I’ve read a number of game threads while he was pitching, and I get a good impression about his pitching. Does anyone see anything terribly wrong with him as a pitcher as opposed to worrying about inevitable statistical trends? I wouldn’t know – I’ve only seen a few clips. And to tell you the truth, I probably wouldn’t know anyway.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:24:32 +0000

I don’t know. I’ve never heard of WHER. I don’t know wher that came from…

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:21:18 +0000

You’re right, Mark, I misread BGs walks. 5 to 3 K/BB.

Chris, making BGs WHER = 3 puts his ERA at 3.19 as opposed to the current 3.03. Right?

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:07:25 +0000

Mark: Agree on all counts.

By: Chief Monday

Chief Monday — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:06:28 +0000

You should look at WHER (walks+hits/ER) also to determine how lucky or unlucky a pitcher’s ERA is. League average is about 3.

By: Sean C. in Illinois

Sean C. in Illinois — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:04:56 +0000

Boy, I’m overmatched on this pitching stuff, and now you guys are ganging up on me. I’ll confess to being an optimist on Battlestar, and I think he’s a different type of pitcher with a very different makeup when compared to Zach Miner.

I’ll be back with some interesting numbers that don’t make any case one way or the other. I noticed them looking stuff up on Battlestar, et al.

By: Mark in Chicago

Mark in Chicago — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:01:50 +0000

Agree Chris. If there’s one guy ever to buck the trend, I hope it’s Battlestar. But as you eloquently point out, it doesn’t look good.

Nothing wrong with a league average pitcher, you need those guys on your staff. Especially for the minimum salary and under club control for a few more years.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:56:13 +0000

Oh – I should also note that I’m rooting for BG to prove me wrong.

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:54:11 +0000

Mark: His 1.69 K/BB ranks 79th in the league. His BB/9 of 3.66 is 84th, and his K/9 of 6.18 ranks 55th. Only his batted ball numbers/ERA are solid. Or I should say that his ERA is solid because of the batted ball numbers, at least in my opinion. Everything else on the guy is middle-of-the-pack or below that. So in the end, his ERA will also follow suit. I say he finishes somewhere in the low 4’s, with a .500-ish W/L.

By: Mark in Chicago

Mark in Chicago — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:51:15 +0000

Sean,

…and what Chris said. (damn I’m long-winded)

By: Chris in Dallas

Chris in Dallas — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:48:52 +0000

Interesting notes on Battlestar to follow. There are 112 pitchers with 70+ IP this season. Of those, BG ranks 8th best with a 1.07 WHIP. That shows he’s been good at keeping runners off of the basepaths, and I can’t argue with that not being a good thing. Problem, though: his % of stranded baserunners is 70.3%, which ranks 70th in the league. In other words, he’s not terribly good keeping guys from scoring once they reach base. If you are of the opinion that his BABiP will correct itself and more runners will reach, than he better do something with that LOB% or he’s going to give up a buttload more runs. At least that’s how it looks from here.