Keith Law On Aaron Harang & Jay Bruce / Keith Law's email address

[kfm]

I recently emailed Keith Law on his comment that Aaron Harang is a fourth starter.

This guy clearly does not have a clue. The Reds have a terrible record but somehow when this guy starts they are 18 and 6. He plays in a hitters ballpark, with lousy defense and a horrible bullpen and yet he still puts up great numbers.

[UC_Ken]

Law actually makes some legitimate points. But his points would be good for arguing Harang isn't a true ace, rather a #2. To use those numbers to say he's a #4 is a major stretch.

[Muggerd]

Writers hate the NL central but they dont realize that its not the batting that makes the central awful its the pitching. If anything the west is one of the worst hitting divisions in baseball yet Penny, Peavy, and that group get all the recognition.

[UC_Ken]

Actually there is a staff that Harang would be a #4 on. The NL All Star staff. But the managers weren't smart enough to put Aaron on the team.

[I(heart)Freel]

I recently emailed Keith Law on his comment that Aaron Harang is a fourth starter. This is what he had to say

"Thanks for your note. I've seen Harang pitch a few times, and I think those stats are largely the product of the awful competition he faces. The NL Central is terrible, easily the worst division in baseball, and he gets to face those lineups four or five times a year. He's made 23 starts this year, 13 within the division. If he was in the American League, he'd be a fourth starter."

This guy clearly does not have a clue. The Reds have a terrible record but somehow when this guy starts they are 18 and 6. He plays in a hitters ballpark, with lousy defense and a horrible bullpen and yet he still puts up great numbers.

Funny.

Chris Carpenter won hisself a Cy Young pitching in this division.

Roy Oswalt... 4th starter in the AL?

Keith Law is a hater.

But honestly, I'm most annoyed and frankly disappointed that not one of our our local sportwriters gave Aaron so much as a 10th place vote last year.

That's ridiculous. How can the guy get any love outside the city if the people who should advocate for him don't either?

[Muggerd]

Funny.

Chris Carpenter won hisself a Cy Young pitching in this division.

Roy Oswalt... 4th starter in the AL?

Keith Law is a hater.

But honestly, I'm most annoyed and frankly disappointed that not one of our our local sportwriters gave Aaron so much as a 10th place vote last year.

That's ridiculous. How can the guy get any love outside the city if the people who should advocate for him don't either?

Im sorry to break it to you but baseball writers have egos and are as cliquey as high school kids. They all try to impress each other and are as uniform as it gets some times. I hate sports writers. :thumbdown

[jmac]

Writers hate the NL central but they dont realize that its not the batting that makes the central awful its the pitching.

Exactly.

[roby]

Harang is the best thingt to happen to the Reds in a long, long time. He is ever improving...is solid and strong...and, in my opinion IS a #1.

[Degenerate39]

American League East:
Red Sox- He'd be behind Beckett for sure but I think he'd be ahead of Dice-K and Schilling. So I give him a #2
Yankees- He's having a better year than any Yankee starter so #1
Blue Jays- Roy Halladay is having a good year and AJ Burnett isn't doing too hot and I think he's on the DL so Harang is #2.
Devil Rays- Easily #1
Orioles- Erik Bedard is having a good year so I'll give him the benefit and say Harang is #2

Central
Indians- Sabathia is this teams Ace obviously but I think Harang would be #2
Tigers- No way he beats out Bonderman and Verlander so he'd be #3
Twins- Santana is the Ace so Harang is #2
White Sox- This one is questionable but I'll say Harang is the ace and Buehrle is number 2. So Harang is #1
Royals- #1

West
Angels- It's a tough one with Lackey being 14-6 so I'll say Harang is #2
Mariners- Harang is having a better year than King Felix so I'll say #1
A's- Another toughy Haren is 13-3 so I'll say he's the ace here. Harang is #2
Rangers- #1

1- 6
2- 7
3- 1
4- 0
5- 0

There's only one team where he'd be the third in the rotation to me. 6 out of 14 teams he's the Ace. 7 out of 14 teams he's the #2 guy. 1 out of 14 teams he'd 3rd in the rotation. And 0 out of 14 teams he's the 4th or 5th guy.

So to me Mr. Law is way off

[757690]

His point was that by being in the week NL Central, his stats are inflated. That might be valid if it was true.
Harang is 4-2 with 3.01 ERA against teams outside the division, and he's had quality starts against,

Mets
Indians
Diamondbacks
Dodgers
Mariners
Padres

The next time Keith Law opens his mouth, he should do a little research.

[BoxingRed]

Aaron Harang is the new Mario Soto.

[REDblooded]

Keith Law is a pompous jerk. He's the one sportswriter that makes me laugh based on his ignorance alone. I think he must've pleaded for the Reds GM job at some point and was shot down cold.

[UC_Ken]

His point was that by being in the week NL Central, his stats are inflated. That might be valid if it was true.
Harang is 4-2 with 3.01 ERA against teams outside the division, and he's had quality starts against,

Mets
Indians
Diamondbacks
Dodgers
Mariners
Padres

The next time Keith Law opens his mouth, he should do a little research.

Hmmm, seems to me these teams all have something in common, they're all playoff contenders. But Harang only beats up the bad teams.

[Muggerd]

Guys if you get a chance look up harangs stats in interleague play and his record inside/outside of the division.

Ill give you a hint. Hes got an era the last 2 years of about 2 in interleague.

He does best against the NL west also.

He does the worst against the cubs and pirates

Keith Law is smart

[durl]

It appears that Law is merely making stuff up and not looking at what's really happening.

757690 makes a good point. Let's follow up on it, shall we?

Harang has wins against the Dodgers, Mets, Giants, Seattle, Texas, Houston (2), Pittsburg (2), Chicago, and St. Louis. Almost half of his wins are against opponents outside the NL Central. His last 5 wins have been against non-division opponents.

But the guy should have won more games (as we all know). Look at some of his No Decision games:

7/23 Milwaukee: 10 IP (TEN!!!), 1 ER
7/18 Atlanta: 7.2 IP, 2 ER
7/8 Arizona: 8 IP, 1 ER
6/10 Cleveland: 7 IP, 0 ER
5/25 Pittsburg: 8 IP, 2 ER
5/15 San Diego: 9 IP, 1ER
4/18 Houston: 6 IP, 1 ER

It's obvious that Harang does quite well against teams that are not so "awful."

Harang has pitching 12 games against the NL Central and 12 games against other divisions:

NL Central: 76 innings, 33 runs. ERA: 3.90
Others divisions: 84.1 innings, 27 runs. ERA 2.89

Harang has allowed ZERO earned runs in 4 games. 3 of those have been against non-NL Central teams: Dodgers, Mariners, and Indians. (The NL foe was Chicago.)

Law's comments simply don't hold up on this issue. He really should look at the data before providing analysis.