One Of These Pitchers Is Not An All-Star
Posted by ubelmann on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Pitcher A:
121.7 IP
2.96 ERA (5th in NL)
3.54 xFIP (4th in NL)
8.4 K/G
2.5 BB/G
45% GB%
141 career ERA+
Pitcher B
132.7 IP
3.66 ERA (17th in NL)
4.22 xFIP (18th in NL)
4.6 K/G
2.1 BB/G
55% GB%
111 career ERA+
Pitcher C
35.0 IP
4.37 ERA (not even qualified for leaderboards)
3.73 xFIP
10.0 K/G
4.1 BB/G
49% GB%
105 career ERA+
That's right, Johan Santana (Pitcher A) is not an All-Star, while Aaron Cook (Pitcher B) and Brian Wilson (Pitcher C) are All-Stars. And it's not even because each team needs an All-Star--the Rockies already have Matt Holliday on the roster and the Giants already have Tim Lincecum on the roster.
With Cook, it's easy to see why he was selected, even if it was silly. He's got a bunch of wins, so he gets the nod even though he's mediocre through and through.
When I saw Brian Wilson on the first All-Star roster I ran across, I naturally assumed that it was some kind of typo. And it was, kind of, because Wilson was listed as a starter. I figured that maybe Jonathan Sanchez or Matt Cain had gotten some love from the players (though it appears that they really haven't been all that great this year, even though I'd heard a lot of hype for them), and someone mistakenly put the wrong Giants pitcher on the roster. But no. I looked at a different roster, and there he was--Brian Wilson. Who the @#%* is Brian Wilson? I wondered aloud. Did the players get confused when they were reading the ballot and assume that they were choosing between Abraxas and Pet Sounds?
And then, there it is. Brian Wilson leads the NL in saves, with 24. Sometimes I think saves really do make people stupider. With the game on the line, who would the NL players rather have on the mound--Johan Santana or Brian Wilson?
In conclusion, Just Say No To Drugs.
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After learning which Twins were selected, I checked the Mets site to see if any Mets other than Santana made it. I think it wasn't until the third time reading it that I realized just Wagner was going. I was a bit stunned to say the least.
Jonathan Sanchez has had 3 awful starts (21 runs allowed in 13 1/3 innings) and a bunch of very solid starts. Cain has had one truly horrible start (9 runs, 2 HRs in 3 2/3) and another where he gave up 4 jacks (6 runs in 7 innings) plus several dominating outings. But mostly he's been mediocre.
I saw Cain pitch while I was in Cleveland for SABR and he could not put hitters away. At one point, I think he had faced 13 hitters and allowed 12 2-strike foulballs. His pitch count was obviously really high because the Indians just kept fighting off his pitches.
If the NL prefers to keep handing over the game each year, sure, what the hey -- add someone else instead of Johan.
SMiLEs all around.
