Thursday, June 5, 2008

Moose impresses but not an All-Star

I'll be the first to admit it: After his dismal 2007 and his first few starts of 2008, I thought Moose was done. But, he's taken a page out of the Maddux Pitching Manual and has evolved into a different pitcher.

Let that be the lesson: It's not the speed, it's the location and the CHANGING of speed.

Without a fastball that can reach 90 mph any longer, Moose has gone the opposite direction, going slow, slower and even slower (that looping 63 mph eephus-like knuckle-curve or whatever it is).

Moose had a good night last night, lasting 6 IP, surrendering 5 hits while striking out 6 and walking just one. He looks confident, calm. Now, the YES Network guys, mostly Michael Kay, are claiming that Moose is an all-star this year, but with all due respect to his 9 wins, Moose is not an AL all-star pitcher. His ERA (4.01) ranks just 25th in the AL. Yes, his 9 wins has him tied for first but most sane minds can recognize that wins are not the single best barometer.


If I had to pick six-seven starters for the all-star game, my choices would be:
  1. Cliff Lee (9-1, 2.45 ERA) *starter*
  2. Dice-K (8-0, 2.53 ERA)
  3. Roy Halladay (7-5, 2.94 ERA)
  4. Joe Saunders (9-2, 2.63 ERA)
  5. Ervin Santana (8-2, 3.02 ERA)
  6. Shaun Marcum (5-3, 2.63 ERA)
  7. Javy Vazquez (5-4, 3.43)
Data source: ESPN.com
Interesting that the logical big-name guys (Beckett, Sabathia, Verlander, Bedard) are not having great years. Beckett's doing well and I think he could easily be on this list (6-4, 4.07 ERA, 80 K in 73 IP) but his ERA ranks him one behind Moose. I also think King Felix, despite a poor 3-5 record, albeit with a nice 3.29 ERA, could be on the team if Ichiro is not voted a starter. I would have also pegged Wang an all-star but the last month has not been kind to him. Go figure.

Who would you put on this list and who would you take off?

7 comments:

tadthebad said...

Jason,

Boston fan here. You're much too kind to Daisuke. Check out his walk total...frightening. I think he's had at least a couple games with >6 walks. Not good. I'm not sure, at this point anyway, that any of the Sox' starting pitchers deserves to be an All-Star.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

Ya know Tad, I saw that and it gave me pause... but he is 8-0 and I know that flies in the face of my comment about the value of wins. he's also got a low era despite the walks.

that's what bothers me about Dice: he's a nibbler. I didn't expect that. It's not a fun game to watch. I'd rather watch guys just come at the hitters than trying to hit the black every pitch.

So if you take Dice off, who goes on?

tHeMARksMiTh said...

Contreras and Danks have done well (both have below 3 ERAs). Maybe not Danks because he hasn't pitched on average more than 6 IP. Contreras on the other hand has almost an average of 7 IP per start. People have overlooked the start of the White Sox, and pitching has been the reason for their first place spot.

Jason @ IIATMS said...

Mark,

I agree. I toyed with Contreras more than Danks as Contreras has been more dominant and K's more. Danks had just 1 K last night, for example.

I know this as I have both of them on my fantasy team.

Ron Rollins said...

So where's Grienke's name at?

Jason @ IIATMS said...

you know, Ron...thats a good point. He's got a good shot at being their rep, unless they load up on RP and pick Soria.

Good catch.

Ron Rollins said...

You're right, Soria will probably get it. But he hasn't pitched enough games, to me.

Hey, if Francona needs a defensive replacement for SS, I'm sure Hillman will do his best to push Pena for the slot.