Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 17, 2008
Battling for Fifth

Bill Plunkett looks at the competition between Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana to fill in for Kelvim Escobar. Saunders isn't happy with his yo-yo life:

Garland's acquisition puts Saunders on the bubble again. The left-hander has made 33 starts for the Angels over the past three seasons - going 15-8 with a 4.71 ERA in the equivalent of what would be a full season's work for a starting pitcher. But he has also spent each of those seasons bouncing on a string between the majors and Triple-A, sent back down each time his temp services were no longer needed.

"(Being) the odd man out - it kind of sucks," Saunders said. "It's not fun, I'll tell you that. I've been on a yo-yo for two years. It's never fun being in the big leagues and getting sent down. It's really tough. It's hard to explain the feeling you get when you're doing well and kind of get floored back down to Triple-A.

"It's like getting a promotion at your job. You get to be manager for a while, then they send you back to the mailroom."

Saunders looks like he gets great run support. That's a high ERA for a 15-8 record. In picking between Joe and Magic, Ervin gets the edge on strikeouts, although Saunders posted better FIP numbers the last two years. Saunders should probably get the nod, however, since he is more consistent. His home-road numbers are pretty even, while Santana pitches poorly away from Anaheim.


Posted by David Pinto at 09:29 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
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