Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
May 31, 2006
Games of the Day

One game really stands out on this Wednesday. The Diamondbacks and Mets send their aces to the mound in New York and Brandon Webb faces Pedro Martinez. Webb is 8-0 in eleven starts. His batting average allowed is about the same as last year, but he's lowered his OBA allowed about 25 points. He's walked just 9 in 82 2/3 innings. But that's not the whole story. With the great defense behind him, he's already induced 14 ground ball double plays after getting 30 last season. The few runners reaching base against him often get wiped out, effectively lowering his OBA allowed.

After winning his first five starts, Pedro is 0-1 in his last five. He easily could have won them all. Pedro's ERA over the first five starts was 2.94. Over the last five it's been 2.65 with a higher strikeout rate, a better walk rate and fewer home runs. He needs more support from his offense and bullpen.

The man who hung the loss on Pedro last time out was Josh Johnson of the Marlins who gets another test today as he faces Jason Schmidt of the Giants. In 107 at bats against Johnson, the only extra-base hits opposing players have garnered are two doubles. Schmidt is going deep in games, averaging over 7 1/3 innings per start. He's walking a few too many, but hits against him are rare so the free passes aren't hurting him too much.

Enjoy!


Posted by David Pinto at 09:06 AM | Matchups | TrackBack (0)
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