Quote Originally Posted by Falls City Beer View Post
Really? So how do you explain the Reds' pitching being 14th out of 15 in the NL in RA?
Matt Belisle: 29.2 IP, 7.28 ERA
Josh Fogg: 25 IP, 9.00 ERA
Mike Lincoln: 21.2 IP, 6.65 ERA
Todd Coffey: 15.1 IP, 6.46 ERA
David Weathers: 16.1 IP, 4.96 ERA

That's 108 innings of suck. A 7.08 ERA over those 108 innings. Those innings are relevant when looking at how the Reds have performed in 2008, they are not relevant when looking at how the Reds are going to perform in 2009/2010. None of those guys are going to be around then (save maybe Belisle in the bullpen). The flip side of this is that the good numbers Affeldt and Mercker have also shouldn't be considered.

If you want to evaluate the Reds' chances of being good in the future you need to look at the players who are still going to be here:

Aaron Harang
Edinson Volquez
Bronson Arroyo
Johnny Cueto
Francisco Cordero
Jared Burton
Bill Bray

Those seven have combined for 313 innings of 3.76 ERA. It's not a full pitching staff, but it's a nice start. Those are the guys who will throw the lion's share of the innings over the next few seasons. It illustrates that the problem with the Reds staff is not that our best pitchers are worse than other teams' best pitchers, it's that our bad pitchers are worse than other team's bad pitchers.