Inside the numbers
04/23/2003
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
So Yankees starters Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens, David Wells, Andy Pettitte and Jeff Weaver are a combined 15-0 through Tuesday night's win over Anaheim? Big deal.
Detroit starters are a combined 1-14 following Tuesday's loss to Oakland. That's impressive.
So Texas closer Ugueth Urbina has saved 87.5% of his team's wins this year? Big deal.
Detroit closer Matt Anderson has saved 100% of his team's wins this year. Yep, all one of them.
Ah yes, stat hunting, a revered hobby for any baseball junkie, especially in the early stages of the season when you'll discover oddities like J.T. Snow having nearly as many RBI (21) as Paul Konerko (8), Chipper Jones (7), Mike Piazza (4) and Lance Berkman (3) combined.
Incidentally, Snow, on pace to hit nine homers and drive in 179 runs, totaled 53 RBI in 143 games last year while the foursome of Konerko, Jones, Piazza and Berkman plated 430 combined runs in 2002 and 421 two years ago.
As for Berkman, who went .331/34/126 in 2001 and .292/42/128 last season, his current stat line is pitiful: .229, one home run and three RBI. Sure, he's been out the past five games with a minor elbow problem, but "slugging" middle infielders like Eric Young (two home runs, seven RBI), Rafael Furcal (one homer, five RBI), Jerry Hairston (two homers, seven RBI) and Mark Grudzielanek (one home run, eight RBI) have all been more imposing run producers than Berkman thus far.
And speaking of offensive underachievers, Jermaine Dye, Edgardo Alfonzo, Torii Hunter, Jason Giambi and reigning AL MVP Miguel Tejada are all hitting .200 or worse, although none of these struggling stars can match Montreal catcher Michael Barrett's early season futility: four hits in 46 at-bats for a .087 average.
Meanwhile, Carlos Baerga and Ramon Hernandez are both hitting better than .400. Go figure.
Of course, you'll find plenty of intriguing tidbits on the base paths too, where the Angels and Giants are currently tied for second in the majors with 15 team steals. The first-place team, you ask? The Florida Marlins...
... with an implausible 41 steals in 50 attempts through 21 games. You'd expect to see speedsters Juan Pierre (eight stolen bases) and Luis Castillo (six) swiping some bags, but how about Juan Encarnacion (eight), first baseman Derek Lee (eight), catcher Ivan Rodriguez (five) and even third baseman Mike Lowell (two)? The 6-5, 248-pound Lee may be the biggest surprise of the bunch, having as many steals thus far as the A's, Tigers and Blue Jays combined. In fact, there are a total of 13 teams with eight or fewer stolen bases, led by Toronto's one steal on six attempts.
Not coincidentally, the two teams that have surrendered the most stolen bases in baseball both reside in the NL East: the Phillies (27) and the Mets (23). The Marlins are responsible for 15 of those 27 steals against Philly and 18 of New York's 23 against, including 12 on 14 tries in back-to-back games on April 18 and 19.
Poor Mike Piazza, who also leads all catchers with five errors after collecting a dozen last year. But that's nothing compared to the seven errors Tejada and Pirates third baseman Aramis Ramirez have committed thus far, a total that matches the number of blunders made by the entire Twins team and stands just two shy of the totals turned in by Philadelphia and Seattle.
But what the Mariners have gained in team defense, they've given back with bullpen blowups. Closer Kaz Sasaki is halfway to his total of eight blown saves from 2002, saving just four of his eight chances on the year. But Armando Benitez can match that ineptitude, coughing up four of his nine save opportunities to help lead the Mets to an early 8-12 hole.
Still, the other New York team only finds itself four games behind the Expos in the NL East and three behind the Braves, who have witnessed a complete meltdown from future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux. Entering his 17th season with a career 2.83 ERA, Maddux showed no signs of slowing down at the age of 37. But five starts into the 2003 campaign, the four-time Cy Young winner is 1-3 with an ERA of 7.52 and an opponents' batting average of .333.
Maddux isn't the only ace getting lit up. Randy Johnson was 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA before hitting the DL with a swollen knee; teammate Curt Schilling has only one win in his four starts with a 4.28 ERA; Toronto's Roy Halladay is 0-2 with a 4.96 ERA; Mark Mulder's sporting a 5.04 ERA; even Pedro Martinez has looked mortal at times, allowing 10 earned runs in just over four innings of work to Baltimore earlier this month and then walking six batters in seven innings his last time out.
So who exactly has been effective on the hill? Ten starters currently own sub-2.00 ERAs, but only Mussina and the Cubs Mark Prior seem to actually belong there. Former #1 pick Kris Benson is 2-2 with a 1.97 ERA after going 9-6 last year with a 4.70 ERA for the Pirates; Cubs youngster Carlos Zambrano is 3-1 with a 1.85 ERA; Tomo Ohka has been terrific for the Expos, going 2-2 with a 1.78 ERA; Jeff Suppan and Esteban Loaiza own 1.37 and 1.24 ERAs, respectively, to match their identical 4-0 records; KC's Runelvys Hernandez also boasts a 4-0 record, and his ERA sits at a paltry 1.10; apparently, nobody's told Shawn Chacon that Colorado starters are supposed to fail, because he's 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA; and then, there's St. Louis veteran Woody Williams, who hasn't allowed a run in nearly 20 innings of work while winning all three of his starts.
So let me make sure I understand this... . Maddux, Johnson, Schilling, Halladay and Mulder are all getting shellacked while Suppan, Loaiza, some dude named Runelvys and a Rockies pitcher are all scattered throughout the league leaders?
I don't get it.
And could someone please tell me how the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks are both 7-13, the Royals are 15-3 and the Pirates are actually above .500?
But it's still early, much too early to really put any stock in these stats. Now, if Johnson and Schilling are still sucking wind at the All Star break and the Devil Rays are ahead of the Blue Jays in the standings, then I'll start to panic.
Until then, I offer these words of advice to all Kansas City fans: enjoy it while it lasts. Cleveland started last year 11-1 while tearing through the AL Central early on.
And the Tribe finished the season at 74-88.
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