Originally Posted by
Falls City Beer
Wandy Rodriguez had a better season last year than 4/5th of the Reds' rotation. Just sayin'.
Code:
NAME W L IP H9 BB9 SO9 HR9 BR9 WHIP
Wandy Rodriguez 9 7 137.3 8.91 2.88 8.58 0.92 11.7961 1.31
Brandon Backe 9 14 166.7 10.91 4.16 6.86 1.94 15.066 1.67
Brian Moehler 11 8 150.0 9.96 2.16 4.92 1.20 12.12 1.35
Chris Sampson 6 4 117.3 9.05 1.76 4.68 0.61 10.8153 1.20
Well, you got me on Wandy. I just pulled his name out as I don't remember him being a particularly effective pitcher. My mistake.
But my question still stands. If Ausmus is such a wizard, why did he leave Backe, Moehler and Sampson hanging in the breeze? Did his mojo get used up helping Wandy? Did Backe poop in his locker?
Here's the team info for 2007 for pitchers not named Roy O or Wandy R.
Code:
NAME W L IP H9 BB9 SO9 HR9 BR9 WHIP
Matt Albers 4 11 110.7 10.33 4.07 5.77 1.46 14.3946 1.60
Woody Williams 8 15 188.0 10.34 2.54 4.84 1.68 12.8777 1.43
Chris Sampson 7 8 121.7 10.21 2.22 3.77 1.48 12.4274 1.38
Where was the Ausmus effect in 2007? Did he take the year off? And check out Sampson. That poor guy stunk for 2 years in a row and Brad didn't lift a finger to help him. I guess you could argue there was an improvement in numbers but Brad better pick up the pace or Chris will be getting AARP before he becomes an effective pitcher.
My point remains that while having an experienced catcher is nice, it's just not worth sacrificing all offensive output to get him. And it's so hard to trace any pitching improvements solely to the catcher (did the Pitching Coach sleep through the year?) that it's really a mystique and romantic notion than reality.