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July 2009 - Posts
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It took me two weeks of listening, reading, and thinking, but here it is. *** Lucrative as it appears, fashionable, cutting edge, provocative -- the music industry itself is little concerned with process. Driven by sales, trends, airplay, artists usually appear with as few warts as possible, using the airwaves as a conduit to brandish thoroughly finished products. Even the recording process itself seems archival, aged -- a finite medium such as tape is dated as soon as the playback hits the speakers. Mastered, packaged, even with the greatest of possible concepts, art, and song structures, the product does not suggest process. Process itself is betrayed by business, where contractual obligations simply do not have time for becoming, for unfolding themes, or meandering. Enter Capitol Records, 1997-2005, The Dandy Warhols' playground for eclectic pop, electrifying drones, disregard for genre, and a penchant for sheer creativity and exploration. While the surface showed disappointing American promotion and radio play (and ultimately, some disappointing sales), alongside cultural hits -- Veronica Mars or Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans should know what I'm talking about -- the Dandys were busy recording album after album behind the scenes, mixing them, and experiencing rejection from the label. With the release of documentary DiG! and The Black Album, fans readily learned that The Dandy Warhols Come Down (1997) required a second attempt from the band. As for the slick, playful Welcome to the Monkey House (2003), I suspect that significantly fewer fans knew that the Dandys' original mix was rejected by Capitol. Process. Usually fans gain little insight into music recording processes -- save for rumors of secret shelved concept records, some collecting dust, others ritualistically burned. Until now. The Dandy Warhols Are Sound (July 14, 2009), their second Capitol Records rejection, their original mix and conceptual vision of Monkey House. Where the original alienated some fans with its dance / new wave sound -- for some fans took the Dandys not as eclectic and playful, but rather cornered them with expectations that the band stick to the psychedelic or standard rock aspects of their sound -- Are Sound sparkles with visions of Odditorium or Warlord of Mars (2005) while developing the landscape cleared with Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia (2000). The link between those two records should have been clear to those paying attention -- the Dandys reclaiming more adventurous sonic territory in the 2005 release after clearing out their earlier layered recording techniques in the airy 2000 release. With a clear conceptual link in place developing the band's eclectic dance sound while utilizing the tools from their psychedelic catalog, the arrows should clearly point to Earth to the Dandy Warhols (2008), the band's first independent release in over a decade. One might venture to call that studio release the Dandys' mature statement or development of their sound, which seemed to point in the direction of combining new wave or dance elements with their dense, meandering drones. If you didn't catch it the first time through the Dandys' catalog, buy Are Sound and listen to all of their records in order. The development of the band's early, eclectic sound morphs into a smooth incorporation of their playful genre-bending, and what might have seemed to be bizarre risk-taking in the later records (such as Odditorium) now seems to be a rather clear development or expansion of an earlier theme. That earlier theme, of course, is now clearly, readily available in Are Sound. Under the auspices of Beat the World Records, the Dandys' preferred mixes of the Monkey House material only sometimes seem unfinished or unpolished. More often than not, the unfinished sense of the record come from intriguing song structure changes between this and the "official" Capitol version, as well as from the completely different, new tonal worlds that appear -- those worlds previously left unheard on the official release. Where the dance songs on Monkey House sound crowded and hectic -- certainly dense, thorough, intense, layered, the mixes on Are Sound feature more "air;" they are more open, with more acoustic instrumentation, different guitar sounds, different accents that were not fully featured on the official version. This is what makes the subversive version, the hidden version, the band's version, so much fun. What was buried before is now revealed -- woodwinds on "Scientist," backwards guitar and sick, rhythmic synth on "We Used to be Friends," haunting acoustic guitar on "Heavenly" and "I am Over It" (perhaps the biggest gem unearthed with the new mixes). There is enough that is different here to justify buying this record on its own -- it stands not as an artifact, but as an artistic statement, a statement of conceptual direction straight from the band. If you're looking for a key to their two latest records, this is it; what's best is that the key comes not in the form of The Dandy Warhols For Dummies, but rather with the interpretative depth of the Rosetta Stone. The key is not merely handed to you, but is buried in the sounds, the parts, the song structures, as signs to be connected as you find them, in the later material, or developments of earlier themes, or both. One particularly intriguing line runs from "Godless" or "Mohammed" through "I am Over It" to "Holding Me Up." Or, "I am Over It" through "Holding Me Up" to "Beast of All Saints" or even "The World The People Together" (the reason I say this is that I previously thought that "Holding Me Up" was the most important song in the Dandys' catalog, beautifully displaying the depth of their sound, their meandering style, their effortless acoustic rhythm, their brooding synth sound). Beneath lush, layered acoustic guitars, with meandering strumming (as opposed to percussive, relentless strumming), rest strong synth lines, along with a steady drumbeat, and the characteristic hushed vocals. Sprinkled throughout are atmospheric guitar lines, sparse, creating a wide landscape that draws fully on your imagination, your knowledge, and your sensory experience. While some hold the band to their psychedelic pop origins, the development of their dance, psychedelic, new wave sound in their last three records is truly psychedelic. A full engagement of musical technology (in the Byrds' tradition), a full engagement of your senses and sensory experience, a full engagement with your soul, playing on the tension of your body -- a body which cannot release your soul, and yet is not a prison. It's deceptively calm, not psychedelic-crazy, but it leads your soul along a path that visits multiple worlds. Through the timbre of the voices, the space of the instruments, and the arrangements, the path travels as far as you are willing to follow. *** I have always said to friends that music critics don't like the Dandys' recent records because music critics cannot distinguish pretention from talent -- or worse, they cannot tolerate pretention, at the cost of missing the treasures of the talent involved. Even more, where criticism longs for boxes and labels, the Dandys move around the sonic spectrum, resulting in a particularly rewarding, playful challenge to your imagination. Should you choose to accept it.
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This is really a series of mid rotation and replacement starters:
52 NL starters have pitched 100 innings thus far. Ranked by runs prevented (against league average), Chad Gaudin is 40th, Kevin Correia is 42nd, and Braden Looper is 44th. If a league’s talent pool – from which a 5-man rotation was drawn – were prorated for 52 starters instead of 80, each of these starters would qualify as 5th starters. Of course, the actual talent pool isn’t prorated so rigidly, and really, the fact that these pitchers have already pitched 100 innings proves that they are not really 5th starters.
(Of course, when divided among 16 teams, a list of 52 pitchers is more accurately divided into spots 1-to-3, because it is simply impossible for 52 pitchers to provide 5 options for each NL team).
In fact, when people say that the Brewers have a rotation of 5th starters, I don’t think they realize how false that is, or just how bad a fifth starter actually performs. When all is said and done at the end of the season, list all the pitchers by innings-pitched cut-offs, and you’ll notice that by the time you get to 5th starters, you’re either dealing with replacements, pitchers who were injured, young rookies that are struggling, or regular old journeymen.
I know the 5-man rotation is the prototype from which everyone works, but I’m not sure that true 5th starters actually exist; and if they do, they are really bad pitchers. Thoroughly below average.
Realistically, this series is a display of 3rd and 4th starters.
Braden Looper (3-1, 5 GS, 4.45 runs average, 6.06 IP/GS; 2 quality starts) @ Chad Gaudin (0-3, 5 GS, 4.55 runs average, 5.94 IP/GS; 3 quality starts)
Back and forth it seems, each start, but that’s about right for Looper, who is providing the Brewers with passable middle rotation depth at the moment. As far as stretches go, he recovered from his May and June, and his July is much better; whether or not he returns to his April form remains to be seen, but he is improving and providing the Brewers with much-needed innings.
Gaudin is working as a full time starter for the first time since Oakland traded him. The fastball / slider righty is putting together a decent performance for the Padres, but not receiving much by way of support recently.
TBA @ Edward Mujica (0-0, 5 G, 7.3 IP, 5 R; 0 quality starts)
This is Jeff Suppan’s start. I seriously have no idea who will start right now.
Edward Mujica makes the first start of his MLB career on Saturday. The reliever is going through a bit of a rough stretch recently, but he throws hard and features sliders and splitters as his secondary pitches. If you want to impress your friends, tell them that the last time that Mujica started was in 2004, when he played for the Lake County Captains in the South Atlantic League. That year he went 7-7 in 26 G, 19 GS, with a 4.65 ERA.
Carlos Villanueva (0-3, 5 G, 1 GS, 8.7 IP, 13 R; 0 quality starts) @ Kevin Correia (2-2, 5 GS, 27 IP, 18 R; 2 quality starts)
The manner in which Villanueva is used in 2009 perplexes me greatly. Here’s one of the Brewers’ best relievers of the last couple of seasons, who also happens to serve as a starter / swingman (successful in 2007, not so successful as a starter in 2008); nonetheless, a strong depth arm.
In 2009, Villanueva was not stretched out in Spring Training by Macha, which seemed to be a really confusing move to me at the time. Why wouldn’t you use that time to get the kid innings, in order to build his endurance and get him ready to take whatever role was necessary? Instead, Macha took Villanueva’s multi-inning, multi-situation record and basically turned him into a one-inning reliever; subsequently, Villanueva has pitched on 0-to-1 days rest almost twice as frequently as he did in 2008 (as for 2007, Villanueva pitched more on 1-day’s rest in that season, but did not pitch nearly as much on 0 day’s rest).
Now, with the depth quickly eroding as Seth McClung turned back into Seth McClung and other AAA options failing, the Brewers are stuck in the rather difficult position of using an unprepared Villanueva as a starter: and my simple question is, how does a major league coaching staff and front office allow a player to be so blatantly misused? (1) How do you not stretch Villanueva out at some point, either in spring or out of the bullpen? (2) How do you justifiably change the work patterns of one of the best, most flexible rubber arms in the NL?
Both factors, of course, influence Villanueva’s performance because at the bottom of it, relievers are nothing more than their usage patterns.
Correia is turning a surprisingly good campaign after moving from San Francisco, putting together the best prolonged stretch as Major League starter in his career. The righty throws mainly a slider as his secondary pitch, to work off of his low-90s fastball, and he also features a curveball and change up (used much less frequently). With the Padres struggling, Correia might be a last second low rotation prize to a contending National League team, and some rumors even have him headed to Milwaukee (hopefully that's my first and last citation of MLBTrade Rumors, ever).
Which is a good thing. The Brewers could use a pitcher having a career year this year.
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Craig Stammen (2-2, 5 GS, 2.89 runs average, 6.86 IP/GS; 4 quality starts) @ Jeff Suppan (0-2, 5 GS, 5.85 runs average, 5.54 IP/GS; 2 quality starts)
Quick, get ready to keep this straight: the Nationals’ rotation features three semi-familiar faces, pitchers that they just called up in the last couple of weeks to replace injured starters such as Jordan Zimmermann and Scott Olsen (just when you were getting used to the old rotation, too). The righty is making his major league debut this season, and is not one of the recent rotational band-aids. He is a fastball-pitcher; the majority of his pitch selections are either a 2-seam or 4-seam fastball, averaging around 89 MPH. With injuries thinning out a surprisingly crowded rotation, Stammen has a chance to continue his AAA success at the big league level this year.
I’m not saying anything about Suppan. I refuse to. Everytime I say something nice, a terrible outing follows. So, I’ll just say that Suppan is a veteran righty junkballer that needs to use each pitch in his arsenal to record outs, pitching off the plate with his cutter, slider, sinker, change up, and curveball. There. I said something about Suppan.
Collin Balester (0-1, 1 GS, 9.00 runs average, 3.00 IP/GS; 0 quality starts) @ TBA / Tim Dillard (0-0, 0 GS)
It’s Balester time – the young righty is back in the Nationals’ rotation for the first time since last year, and he is going to fight for a rotation spot with Zimmermann and Olsen out. Balester seems to be one of the young, fan favorite pitchers for the Nationals, and his approach is no-nonsense, all power. He throws a low-90s fastball along with a curveball, and that’s about it; there isn’t any other smoke, or no more mirrors for the righty. In a lot of ways, the 23-year-old could be the future face of the Nationals’ rotation; now it’s just a matter of when and how he delivers.
According to MLB.com, this rotation spot is not going to Mike Burns, leaving Dillard to be the logical choice after his call-up from Nashville. The righty is experiencing success in the starter’s spot after moving from the bullpen this season, and the hard sinkerballer will probably make his major league debut this series. Look for Dillard to throw mostly fastballs, along with his slider.
Garrett Mock (0-2, 2 GS, 12.42 runs average, 4.35 IP/GS; 0 quality starts) @ Manny Parra (1-0, 3 GS, 2.50 runs average, 6.00 IP/GS; 2 quality starts)
Yet another replacement starter, Mock was also a familiar face from 2008, when he made his successful debut with the Nationals. According to the Washington Post, Mock is a power pitcher with four pitches, and he will alternate between two fastballs, as well as a meat-and-potatoes repertoire of secondary pitches. For an interesting look at Mock’s life, check out this article from the Washington Post on Mock’s off-season exploits coaching young baseball players.
Is Parra back, or is Parra back? The Brewers’ hard-throwing lefty is putting together a strong campaign since returning from AAA. His worst return outing occurred in his last start, but even that 5 innings, 4 run performance is enough to keep the Brewers in the game. The one thing that strikes me with Manny is that he throws his fastball less than 60% of the time; now that he is returning from AAA with a more aggressive attitude, let’s watch and see if that figure rises.
J.D. Martin (0-1, 2 GS, 7.50 runs average, 3.00 IP/GS; 0 quality starts) @ Yovani Gallardo (1-3, 5 GS, 3.86 runs average, 6.06 IP/GS; 3 quality starts)
The final replacement of the series, Martin pitched two scoreless before rain halted his last start against the Padres. It’s only two starts thus far, but this righty doesn’t mess around – according to FanGraphs, Martin selects a fastball 89% of the time. His main selection looks to be a high 80s fastball, and his second selection is a mid-80s cutters. If I didn’t know any better, I’d suggest that that sounds rather like a younger, hard-throwing version of Mark DiFelice.
Isn’t it beautiful when Gallardo shows his potential and executes that potential with a strong outing? The righty pitched a fine outing against the Braves in his last start, working into the 8th with an acceptable pitch workload, good efficiency, and great results. In a lot of ways, it seems that Gallardo is one of the most hopeful aspects of the Brewers, an indication of future pitching prosperity at a time when the pitching rotation seems in shambles. In that regard, Gallardo remains one of the top NL aces with 100 or more innings (judged by runs prevented).
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Enjoy some Atlanta psychedelic while watching this series:
All the Saints
The N.E.C.
Deerhunter
The Coathangers
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Javier Vazquez (3-1, 5 GS, 1.34 runs average, 6.74 IP/GS; 4 quality starts) @ Manny Parra (1-0, 2 GS, 0.69 runs average, 6.50 IP/GS; 2 quality starts)
It’s good to be home sometimes, isn’t it? Or, I think it’s good for Javier Vazquez to come home, return to the National League after his stint in the junior circuit. The righty is reclaiming some of the magic he had early in his career in Montreal, working his strong riding fastball and meat-and-potatoes secondary repertoire for quality innings in Atlanta. Vazquez seems to me to be a forgotten pitcher, sometimes, when people speak of solid pitchers in the big leagues. While he is not your prototypical ace, he is a good example of a quality pitcher that can pitch like an ace sometimes, and has also simply had some solid, straightforward, average seasons. A quality innings eater, rather than an innings eater.
Since he returned from Nashville to work on his pitching approach, Parra is a different pitcher – sort of. His “debut” following his minor league stint was a strong and efficient seven inning affair during which Parra did not allow a single run. His second start was almost as good in the results department – 6 IP, 1 R – but not so good in the efficiency department (124 pitches in 6 innings). At the end of the day, Parra’s return is crucial because he allows the Brewers to feature one less replacement starter at the moment. If he continues this type of performance, that’s all the better.
Tommy Hanson (3-0, 5 GS, 2.40 runs average, 6.00 IP/GS; 3 quality starts) @ Yovani Gallardo (1-3, 5 GS, 4.10 runs average, 6.14 IP/GS; 3 quality starts)
I suppose his debut was a fluke. After the Brewers beat up the Braves’ top righty prospect – and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Hanson went on a tear. This kid simply throws hard; his fastball averages 93 MPH, and he prominently features his sharp slider and curveball combination, providing two good changes of speed from that hard fastball. As if the Braves’ rotation needed it, Hanson provides another strong arm for their pitching staff, and alongside their collection of current aces, Hanson stands as a reminder of the future.
I know I’ve written about this in a few different previews, but it never ceases to amaze me, so I’m not ready to stop talking about it, yet: Yovani Gallardo is an inefficient ace. Now, this concerns me because he hardly pitched any innings last year, and the last thing an arm pitching without a foundation workload needs is the chance for adding stress to the arm.
So, some facts:
-16 of Gallardo’s 19 starts feature 100 or more pitches, with 7 of those starts going 110 or more pitches.
-12 of Gallardo’s 19 starts are inefficient starts, meaning that he averages more than 16 pitches per inning.
-Of those 12 inefficient outings, eight of them are outings in which he does not complete 6 innings, but still manages to throw at least 93 pitches.
Now, I will admit that Gallardo does not have too many of those 115 or 120 pitch outings that really jump out at the eye. But, doesn’t the fact that he needs 93 or more pitches to record between 5 and 6 innings of work seem problematic? It seems to me that sometimes Gallardo strikes out too many batters, for instance, requiring deep counts to do so. It also simply seems that Gallardo works deep into counts in general, rather than working to record an out early in the plate appearance; now, I’m sure that’s not his stated objective (to throw more pitches), but at this point in the season, I am not willing to write his inefficiency off as a fluke. Rather, I consider it to be something that is troubling and indicates that with his pitch workload he is giving himself more opportunities to pitch in stressful situations or pitch in situations in which his arm is tiring.
Derek Lowe (2-1, 5 GS, 3.38 run average, 5.86 IP/GS; 4 quality starts) @ Braden Looper (4-0, 5 GS, 3.81 runs average, 6.14 IP/GS; 4 quality starts)
Derek Lowe is such a prototypical sinkerballer. Sinker, slider, sinker slider; the majority of his pitches are accounted for by his riding and sinking fastballs, and then a slider (sometimes a cutter). Sometimes the most simple and straightforward things in life are the best.
Unlike Jeff Suppan, who goes out and sucks everytime I say something nice about him, Braden Looper returns the favor in further good outings, so I will continue to praise the splitterballing expert, his aggressive approach, and his recent stretch of strong outings. Looper is quickly reestablishing himself as a very strong middle rotation option, and if he continues to work towards the upper ranges of #3 starters, the Brewers will find a much needed remedy to their pitching woes.
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I have not done one of these surveys in a while.
True Outcomes Comparison (stats from Baseball-Reference, probably through Saturday)
Brewers batting (3505 PA): 103 HR, 360 BB, 708 K (41 HBP)
Brewers pitching (3506 PA): 117 HR, 334 BB, 637 K (38 HBP)
This pitching staff is really smitten with the home run! To give you an idea, or a frame of reference, only one offense in the entire NL hit more home runs through Saturday. That’s the Phillies (ironically, they also have the only pitching staff to have allowed more home runs than the Brewers’ staff).
The NL, by the way, features a really depressed run environment in 2009. Compared with last season, NL teams are on pace to average 30 fewer runs per team. In this type of atmosphere, the Brewers’ strong runs-scored-per-game rate is significant, but perhaps the pitching looms ever larger. After having a strong pitching staff in 2008, the Brewers’ runs-allowed-per-game pace is barely even average for the inflated 2008 runs environment.
Of course, I’m still not certain that any of this could have been foreseen. Manny Parra really fell off with a poor stretch of ineffectiveness, and was pitching below his 2008 levels before he was demoted to the minors. Dave Bush’s injury and ineffectiveness due to injury does not help, and Seth McClung’s return to his normal self certainly does not help. With Ken Macha refusing to stretch out Carlos Villanueva, and basically using him as a one-inning set up man, that fully exhausts what seemed to be strong pitching depth prior to the season (of course of course, name me one team that can readily withstand simultaneously losing two starters).
I’m probably easy to peg as some kind of patsy by not blaming this fully on Doug Melvin, but at some point I still think that the players on the field need to shoulder the blame, and in that case I target Parra’s approach and Bush’s injury as unforeseen roadblocks to 2009 rotational success. Braden Looper’s regression / return to reality is another culprit (until recently). I find all of this ironic, by the way, given that the most bemoaned member of the rotation (Jeff Suppan) is really the only pitcher for the Brewers to improve on his 2008 campaign. That’s just baseball setting out to prove that you cannot and will not ever figure it out.
People like to pat themselves on the back that they saw that the Brewers had no pitching for 2009, but any idiot or frontrunner or ESPN analyst could say, “losing Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia will hurt the Brewers.” The Brewers’ pitching wasn’t going to be nearly as bad as this; this is not even a compilation of average pitchers any more, which is exactly how this gang of pitchers pitched in 2008 (especially Bush and Looper, two of the best #3 starters in the 2008 NL).
You can say that this is a lesson that pitching staffs need aces (I think that’s kind of like saying that Albert Camus’ Stranger is about murder), or you can say that this is a sign that the Brewers’ pitchers are indeed better than they are currently pitching (and are therefore poised for a rebound). Right now I am simply shocked, in a way, at how it has turned out, and simply want to capture that this was not the foreseen pitching staff, for whatever reasons (pitching coach changes, individual approaches, natural regression, whatever).
Last 5 Games Started (unless otherwise listed)
Mike Burns (2-2, 4 GS, 6.86 runs average, 5.25 IP/GS; 1 quality start) @ Ross Ohlendorf (1-2, 5 GS, 4.85 runs average, 5.94 IP/GS; 2 quality starts)
Preparing to make his fifth start, Burns might have more of a future with the Brewers in 2009 than originally expected. With Dave Bush receiving an MRI on his right shoulder and elbow, experiencing setbacks on his minor league rehab, Burns might find his stay in the rotation lasting for at least a few more starts. Burns himself recovered nicely from his poor outing in Chicago, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings against one of the best offenses in the league, the Dodgers. As far as his approach goes, the only issue for Burns is walking the line between throwing strikes and pitching too aggressively.
Perhaps you’d call it a breakout season for the 26 – soon to be 27 – year-old righty. After spending 2008 with the Yankees and Pirates, splitting time with both organizations in the minors and the majors last year, Ohlendorf settled nicely into the Pirates rotation. The righty works his 90 MPH fastball and two-seamer along with a change up and a soft slider, keeping batters off balance to the tune of solid middle/low rotation production, in a bid for his first full MLB season.
Braden Looper (3-0, 5 GS, 4.85 runs average, 5.94 IP/GS; 3 quality starts) @ Virgil Vasquez (1-3, 4 GS, 6.53 runs average, 4.83 IP/GS; 2 quality starts)
After some difficult stretches of ineffectiveness, it seems to be the case that Looper’s approach and results are coming together, allowing the Brewers to stay close in his starts, giving the team a chance to win each time out. Of course, you’ll say his 6.28 runs support per 27 outs certainly helps him along, and I agree, but isn’t it nice to see more quality outings from Looper anyway?
By the way, in case you’re looking for compiled pitch f/x data, not unlike the stuff Josh Kalk kept last year on his blog, check out FanGraphs’ players pages and click under the “Pitch F/X” setting, to receive pitch selection percentage, velocity, and horizontal and vertical movement, as well as graphs for each (hence the website’s name). Really great site. In fact, I’m not sure why you don’t spend all your time at FanGraphs. Anyhow, this answers my observation/complaint from a few previews that it’s impossible to find two-seam fastball classification with pitch f/x data. Turns out that I can’t read website headings very well.
After spending several years working in the Tigers’ minor league system, Vasquez was selected off waivers three times in a three month period following his 2008 campaign, finally landing in Pittsburgh as a low rotation option. The righty spent most of his 2009 season in AAA, until the Pirates called him up as a spot starter. Vasquez will fight for his low rotation spot with 4-seam and cut fastballs that work in the high-80s, along with a slow curveball, mid-80s slider, and a change up to boot. There is some possibility that he will not make this start, with lefty Tom Gorzelanny a potential option to replace the replacement (according to MLB.com).
Jeff Suppan (0-3, 5 GS, 6.14 runs average, 5.85 IP/GS; 2 quality starts) @ Paul Maholm (2-1, 5 GS, 4.75 runs average, 6.06 IP/GS; 3 quality starts)
Don’t let any of this data that I am spewing at you convince you; I am going to completely change it up and point out that Suppan pitched incredibly well his last three starts after two very rough starts against Minnesota and St. Louis. Of course, all Suppan has to show for his 3.85 runs average, 6.23 IP/GS performance in July is a loss and two no-decisions (the Brewers at least won one of the no-decisions). Perhaps this is why people do not think Suppan is any good; the man pitched 7 quality starts this year thus far, and picked up only 3 personal wins for his efforts in said starts. Perhaps if he had a gaudy W-L record when he pitched well, his efforts would be better recognized.
At any rate, Suppan is pitching very well in 2009. Certainly better than 2008.
I really thought it would happen. I was going to bank on it. After finishing as one of the NL’s 2008 aces – perhaps the most unheralded ace in the NL, everything tumbled out of Maholm’s control; his May and June campaigns really put a damper on his repeat bid as one of the NL’s best pitchers. Some might say that I foolishly overlooked the sneaky lefty’s career to that point, and could not sense the impending doom of his hits allowed total, and the effect that that might have on his total runs allowed. That’s probably correct – but still, the world needs more prominent junkballers, guys who hardly throw their fastball 50% of the time, and augment that pitch with a gang of sliders, changes, and curves. Well, maybe not, but still. It’s Paul Freaking Maholm! You know? Maybe you don’t. Perhaps you were right all along. But can’t middle rotation starters have their glory as aces sometimes, too?
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