Checking in on the Starters

by jscape2000 on May 15, 2008 12:14 AM EDT in Analysis

	IP/GS	WHIP	K/9	ERA
League Average	5.2	1.36	5.80	4.22
Wang	6.2	1.17	5.80	2.90
Pettitte	5.2	1.45	5.94	4.40
Mussina	5.2	1.17	4.35	3.99
Hughes	3.2	2.14	5.32	9.00
IPK	4.0	2.03	6.08	8.71
Rasner	6.0	0.83	3.75	3.00

Talk about fun with numbers:

After tonight's strong showing, Mike Mussina and Chien Ming Wang have the same WHIP.

Wang's K/9 is precisely league average.

If you predicted that Mike Mussina's ERA would be less than half of Phil Hughes' ERA on May 15th in the pre-season polls, you win the prize.

MattHaggs reminded us that this year's pitching has actually been better than last years; if we can right the ship for either Hughes or Kennedy, and get Pettitte over his current hiccups we're in good shape (as soon as the offense starts hitting).

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Raise your hand if you thought Moose would be tied for the AL lead with 6 wins on May 14.

I said many times during the offseason that the Yanks needed Moose to eat innings and keep his team in the game because of Hughes and Kennedy and their innings limits.

Little did I know that not only would Moose would pitch this well, the offense would struggle this badly, and Kennedy and Hughes would combine for zero wins through the first 40 games.

Good for Moose. It’s a great start for a guy that most Yankee fans would have given away to an NL team for a bag of balls back in March (or following his starts against the Red Sox).

He’s going to have some rough outings this season, but the guy has proved he’s not finished.

by anaconda on May 15, 2008 12:29 AM EDT 0 recs

Dare we say it?

Could Moose finally collect 20 wins?

I, for one, would love to see that happen.

I always feel pressure. What I don't have is fear. -- El Duque

by LateInningRelief on May 15, 2008 10:13 AM EDT up 0 recs

Across baseball

HRs are way down from last year. Last year HRs were way down from the year before. Does anyone know how to look up what the total runs or total ERA were at this point last year, so we can compare to this year?

Is this PED washout, or something else, or nothing significant?

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

by Cbeck3 on May 15, 2008 4:15 AM EDT 0 recs

Check out

http://www.Baseball-Reference.com

See where it says “Splits Bat Pitch” above the league standings? You can see a month-by-month break down back to 1956. On the Tool Bar in the splits page you can also jump between leagues or both combined.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on May 15, 2008 4:39 AM EDT up 0 recs

Thanks

Last year 8486 games with 2256 HRs or .266 HR/game.
This year 2048 games with 471 HRs or .230 HR/game

March april 2007 1342 games with 335 HR or .250 HR/game
March April 2008 1445 games with 392 HR or .271 HR/game

May 2007 1432 games with 392 HR or .274 HR/game
May 2008 (to date, how up to date?) 601 games with 129 HR or .215 HR/game

There is a statistical test for differences in averages called the student t test.
It says that the probability all these numbers are from the “same population” is about 36%.

In other words, the difference is not statistically significant.

I think it may be something to watch as the year goes on.

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

by Cbeck3 on May 15, 2008 4:51 AM EDT up 0 recs

I've linked to this

Bill James interview with the NYTimes a few times already, but it’s worth linking again:
One of his points is that you have to remember that there’s no way to isolate a single root for any change you see across the entire sport. Your March/April split shows more homers/ game than last season- May could simply be the regression from that.

I’d add that since no test has been (or can be) developed to test for all the drugs out there it’s not even worth looking for decline across the sport. Even if we saw it, it could mean that the pitchers have simply found a more effective steroid than the hitters.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on May 15, 2008 5:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

There was an awkward moment in the booth last

night. Leiter and Singleton were yapping about this and that, and they put up the graphic a couple times about the Rays starters, because they have been outstanding during this win streak. Then they showed another team in the AL central (I forgot which one) that had a shorter but similar in nature streak.

Ken goes, “where have all the hitters gone?” and it sounded like Al wanted to answer that question but stopped himself.

Crowds are won and lost and won again, but our hearts beat for the diehards.

by Edwantsacracker on May 15, 2008 9:41 AM EDT up 0 recs