Well, we’ve passed the fifteen game mark, and so it’s time for another 360 degrees. The purpose of this feature is to chart the progress of our starting staff throughout the year. This trip features games 11-15 on the season. The two of those games were against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the last three were against the Seattle Mariners.

Looking at a five game snapshot doesn’t really tell us a whole lot, but part of the intention of this feature is to show how the rotation is faring as time goes along (and to look at the last five games). This time through the rotation, the Twins won four of five games and the collective ERA for the starters was down as compared to last time. Remembering that last time included a couple of games against the Yankees in which A-Rod went nuts, one shouldn’t be too excited about this decline in ERA, considering the reduced level of competition and some of the deterioration in peripherals.

Let’s go to the numbers.

A little bit about the numbers.

FIP – Field Independent Pitching. This is a calculation that attempts to quantify the pitchers contribution independent of the fielding behind him. It is calculated as follows:

FIP = 3.20 + ((BB+HBP)*3 + HR*13 – 2*K)/IP

The 3.20 provides a scaling factor so that FIP is a number that approximates an ERA.

Game Score. Found at ESPN.COM. Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.

DefEff – Defensive Efficiency. Is the ratio of balls put into play that are converted into outs. A defensive efficiency of .700 is about average. Last year, the Twins defensive efficiency was exceedingly poor over the first couple of months and then improved drastically. Was it improved pitching (i.e. the improvement of Santana and the insertion of Liriano into the starting rotation)? Or was it the defection of the Cubanistas? Note that the defensive efficiency numbers here represent only the at bats when the starters are in the game.

Ponson’s effort was a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have to like the six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Plus, the two runs allowed was good. But, Ponson had a high hit total, including five extra base hits (although no home runs). The net result was that the D-Rays had a Pujols-esque 1.032 OPS while managing only 2 runs. But, that 2.08 FIP looks nice.

Booferdoodle had it all working for five innings. He walked a few, but he had an impressive 8 Ks and his breaking ball was fantastic. It all came crashing down in the sixth inning, though, as Bonser allowed a pair of home runs and couldn’t get out of the inning. So, despite the great start, the final line doesn’t look look very good at all.

Ramon Ortiz righted the ship against the Mariners and allowed just two runs over seven innings. However, all is not necessarily well, because although Ortiz didn’t walk anyone, he didn’t strike out anyone, either. Furthermore, Ortiz gave up a pair of home runs, so that FIP was uk-gly. Ortiz gave up eight hits despite having a defensive efficiency of .760 behind him. He’s 3-0 and the ERA is low so it’s sunny right now, but there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Carlos Silva provided another good outing, going 6.3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out four and walked just one. All three runs scored on a single play – a three run home run. Ortiz’s luck was not shining on Silva, but considering what a train wreck this guy was last year, we’ll take this type of outing every single time.

Then, there’s Johan Santana. Santana gave up a home run, but with 7Ks and a single walk in 7 innings, along with just three other hits… it doesn’t go down as a classic Santana outing, but it’s a very fine outing nonetheless.

The third winner of the 360 Degree Hot Pitcher Award is Johan Santana for his routinely fine effort against the Mariners. Through three trips in the rotation, Santana has won the 360 Degree Hot Pitcher Award three two times and Ramon Ortiz has won it once.

Collectively, here’s how the starters looked.

You will note that the total innings pitched has been almost identical every time out. We’ve seen an increase in OPS against and its components, the FIP has moved up, but it seems to me that collectively may not be the best way to look at things. What happened this time out is that they got three quality starts and that’s going to be enough most times through the rotation, considering the great bullpen the Twins (supposedly) have.

Now, I wonder if I should start some bullpen watch, given the last few games.

Update: I had a problem in a spreadsheet on my FIP calculation (BB*2 instead of BB*3) on the Game Log page. In addition, I changed the formula to include HBP, which I had inadvertently missed before. The numbers on this post reflect the corrections.