Knuckle Curve » colby_lewis http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve Major League Baseball News from Spring Training to the World Series Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:55:57 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Worst of the Worst http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/ http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 17:49:48 +0000 Geoff Young http://www.knucklecurve.com/worst-of-the-worst/ Post from: Knuckle Curve

]]> With the season winding down, I got to wondering who’s stinking up the joint? Here are the players with the lowest OPS+ by position (minimum 430 PA, roughly what it would take to qualify for the batting title if the season ended now) and the pitchers with the highest ERA+ (minimum 140 IP for starters, 40 G for relievers):

Worst Position Players of 2007
Pos Name Team(s) BA OBP SLG OPS+
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007.
C Jason Kendall Oak/ChN .245 .300 .313 63
1B Lyle Overbay Tor .239 .317 .397 85
2B Josh Barfield Cle .245 .273 .326 59
3B Nick Punto Min .199 .286 .255 46
SS Tony Pena KC .256 .276 .334 56
Omar Vizquel SF .239 .299 .295 56
LF Jason Bay Pit .253 .331 .424 95
CF Juan Pierre LA .290 .323 .347 73
RF Delmon Young TB .293 .322 .416 92

Quick comments:

  • Kendall and Pierre have humongous contracts. Kendall’s is up at the end of the ‘07 season, but the Dodgers get to pay Pierre a total of $36.5 over the next four years. Good times.
  • Punto’s futility at the plate borders on the historic. Since 1961, only seven players have had a worse OPS+ while qualifying for a league’s batting title; the most recent was Neifi Perez, playing for the Kansas City Royals in 2002.
  • There aren’t really any bad-hitting corner outfielders. It’s surprising to see Bay at the bottom of the left fielders. We’ll cut Young some slack due to the fact that he’s starting in the big leagues at age 21. That makes up for a lot.
Worst Pitchers of 2007
Pos Name Team(s) W-L ERA ERA+
Statistics are courtesy of Baseball-Reference and are through games of September 9, 2007.
RHSP Adam Eaton Phi 9-8 6.28 72
LHSP Scott Olsen Fla 9-12 5.76 73
RHRP Jose Mesa Det/Phi 1-3 7.36 61
LHRP Jay Marshall Oak 1-2 6.75 65

Kip Wells (6-16, 5.65, 76) could overtake Eaton, while Olsen’s lead over Dontrelle Willis (8-15, 5.27, 80) appears to be safe. Eaton is on pace to become the first pitcher to finish with a winning percentage while being at the absolute bottom of the ERA+ pile since Colby Lewis (10-9, 7.30, 68) did it in 2003 while “pitching” for the Texas Rangers.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

]]> http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/worst-of-the-worst/feed/ 2 What, You Expected Him to Get Batters Out? http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/what-you-expected-him-to-get-batters-out/ http://www.everyjoe.com/knucklecurve/what-you-expected-him-to-get-batters-out/#comments Wed, 23 May 2007 16:10:40 +0000 Geoff Young http://www.knucklecurve.com/what-you-expected-him-to-get-batters-out/ Post from: Knuckle Curve

]]> You may have missed it in the all the hoopla surrounding, oh, pretty much anything else going on in the world, but right-hander Colby Lewis got the start Tuesday evening for Oakland. Lewis hadn’t made a big-league start since 2004, when he still wore a Texas Rangers uniform.

The previous year, Lewis’ only full season in the big leagues, he went 10-9 in 26 starts with a 7.30 ERA. He finished in the top 10 in walks allowed (and just missed the top 10 in earned runs allowed) despite throwing only 127 innings.

On Tuesday, against the American League’s worst offense (White Sox), Lewis coughed up 10 runs in 3 1/3 innings. He faced 23 batters and recorded 10 outs, striking out none.

Welcome back, kiddo.

Let me be clear: This is not Lewis’ fault. He’s pretty clearly demonstrated in the past that he isn’t a big-league pitcher. His numbers at Triple-A Sacramento (2.31 ERA, 8.35 K/9, .203 BAA) have been solid, but still.

Maybe the A’s thought he could be the pitching equivalent of Jack Cust? Sometimes there is no lightning, only bottle…

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