|
Written by Craig Brown
|
|
Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:00 |
|
OK… Time to resume our look at the Royals All-Decade Team of the Aughts. Today, we shine the spotlight on the starting pitchers. The charge here is to pick five starters who belong on the All-Decade Team. In the ‘00s, the Royals trotted 67 different starting pitchers to the bump. You would think with such quantity, it would be fairly simple to find five quality starting pitchers to include on our team.
You would be incorrect.
We all know it was a lean decade as far as pitching. However, when you look at the numbers from the starters over the last ten seasons, it really begins to sink in at how horrific the rotation was through the entire decade.
We’ll get to the best in a minute. First, I just have to throw some names out there. Anyone remember Brett Laxton? The Royals got him from Oakland in exchange for Jeremy Giambi in February of 2000. He made one start for the Royals, going 3.1 innings and giving up six runs on eight hits. He was out of professional ball by 2002. Or there was John Thompson. The former Brave farmhand (shocker) was one of Dayton Moore’s first acquisitions in 2007. He started two games for the Royals in what was his final professional season. How about Joe Mays? Man, I really hated that guy. Six starts and a 10.27 ERA before he was mercifully released by the Royals.
And who could forget Eduardo Villacis. He made his first and only start in the majors for the Royals in 2004 against the New York Yankees. Yeah, it didn’t go so well. He was pitching in the Independent Leagues the next season.
It’s kind of sad that the franchise has devolved into this craptastic decade of starting pitching. This was the organization who built their foundation on starting pitching. From Steve Busby to Paul Splittorff and Dennis Leonard to Bret Saberhagen and Mark Gubicza to Kevin Appier and David Cone, the Royals have rarely been without an ace. That wasn’t the case for the first several years of this decade.
To narrow the field (and to make sure we didn’t mistakenly tab Wes Obermuller) I decided that a pitcher had to appear in at least 32 games for the Royals and at least 60% of those games had to be starts. Again, that seems like I’m casing a wide net, but there’s simply been a ton of turnover with this team over the decade. I initially thought I’d set the bar at 50 appearances, but the field was way too limited.
There were a couple of pitchers who were easy selections. Off we go…
Zack Greinke 2004-2009
888 IP, 3.73 ERA, 1.269 WHIP
120 ERA+
This one is kind of a no-brainer, isn’t it?
What a roller coaster this decade has been for the kid. We all know the story, but here it is in a nutshell: First round draft pick in 2002, really strong rookie season in 2004 (3.97 ERA and 120 ERA+ in 145 innings), a disastrous 2005, a lost 2006 when he was away from the team and a wobbly start to 2007 that was salvaged by a stint in the bullpen. Then, he delivered two of the top five seasons in 2008 and 2009 by a Royals starter this decade.
Whew.
It took awhile, but it was worth the wait.
Paul Byrd 2001-2002
321.2 IP, 3.95 ERA, 1.225 WHIP
ERA+ 125
Do those numbers surprise you? I ask because they caught me off guard. Maybe that’s because the early part of the aughts are kind of the “Lost Decade” for Royals pitching. Those were the days when the offense was scoring runs and the bullpen (or starters… but it was mostly the bullpen) was allowing many more.
Byrd’s ERA+ is the highest among Royal starters this decade and he’s the only pitcher with a winning percentage greater than .500. (No, I haven’t shifted my position and decided that wins for a starter are a relevant stat. However, I do find it interesting that only one starter this decade has more wins than losses. Carry on…) Also, Byrd’s opponent’s OBP of .302 is the lowest among Royal starters. That’s because his control was outstanding - just 60 walks in over 320 innings.
Arguably, the best season of Byrd’s career was in 2002. The guy has played for seven teams covering 14 seasons and his best stretch of games came while he was wearing a Royals uniform. That never seems to happen.
Gil Meche 2007-2009
555.1 IP, 4.12 ERA, 1.367 WHIP
ERA+ 108
In my mind, Meche represents the tightrope all general managers walk. “He’s overpaid!” Screamed many when the Royals signed him to a five year, $55 million deal. However, through the first three years of his contract, he’s provided the Royals a WAR of 10.9, which Fangraphs calculates as being worth $47.5 million. So the Royals have another two years where they need $7.5 million worth of production and they’ll have broken even. Not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.
This ignores the fact that Trey Hillman abused the crap out of him last summer. What happened to Meche in this day of pitch counts and care in between starts is stunning and proved that the Royals in many ways remain in baseball’s dark ages. Hopefully, Meche will return to the Royals in February healthy and ready to resume his rivalry with Greinke.
Regardless of how SABR Trey handles him, to date this was Dayton Moore’s finest moment as Royals General Manager.
Brian Bannister 2007-2009
501.2 IP, 4.83 ERA, 1.363 WHIP
ERA+ 92
That’s not an attractive ERA+, but Bannister can stake his claim as one of the Royals top starters of the decade. Among 17 pitchers who qualified under my guidelines, Bannister ranks fifth with a .326 OBP against and third with a .429 slugging against.
He’s done well in the control department as well, issuing a decent 2.7 BB/9, which is the fifth best rate among our 17. That means his WHIP is healthy in comparison to his competition. He’s third, behind only Greinke and Byrd in the rate of baserunners allowed. And while Bannister doesn’t strikeout a ton of batters, his 1.89 SO/BB ratio is the fifth best rate by a Royal starter this decade.
If Meche was Moore’s best free agent acquisition, Bannister has to be his best trade.
Jeff Suppan 2000-2002
643.1 IP, 4.87 ERA, 1.433 WHIP
ERA+ 102
Apparently, every rotation needs an “innings eater,” so Suppan will be ours. His 100 starts and 643 innings are second only to Greinke among Royals this decade.
Suppan seems quite representative of Royal starters in this decade - a low strikeout rate (5.0 K/9) coupled with an above average walk rate (3.2 BB/9) and the ability to get hit. It was all about pitching to contact and when he wasn’t walking batters, Suppan was certainly letting the hitters get their bats on the ball. He surrendered 94 home runs this decade. Ouch.
I’m not happy about including him on the All-Decade team, because he just wasn’t that good. Then again, who did you expect? Darrell May? I don’t think so.
|
|
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 
Comments
It's weird to see how little the 2003 winning-record team did. I remember Runelvys Hernandez, Jeremy Affeldt and Miguel Asencio being practically unhittable for a month, and later, great performances from Kyle Snyder and Jose Lima, plus All-Star level bullpen work from Mac the Ninth (a nickname I will always love). A bunch of flukes in a fluky (but happy) year, no one who pitched for us in the one winning season will make an all-decade team.