 
Ravine
Member
Username: Ravine
Post Number: 2252
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Monday, April 28, 2008 - 4:02 pm: |    |
Some of you may have noticed that one guy, in baseball, already has six Wins, even so early in the season as it is. I really, really love baseball, so I already knew of this guy and his prowess, but when my son asked me, some months ago, to help him with the draft in a fantasy league, I learned a bit more, and now, I would like to introduce Brandon Webb to those of you who may not keep up with the National League, in which he has spent his young career.
Brandon Webb, of Ashland, Kentucky, is about to turn 29 years old. He is right-handed, and listed at an imposing 6'3"-230 lbs.
Brandon Webb is not only a great pitcher and a fantasy-baseball player's dream; he also posts statistics which make simple math computations even more simple.
Over the course of the 2005, 2006, and 2007 seasons, Brandon Webb started exactly 100 games (which indicates that he, on top of everything else, never misses a start.) He pitched 700 innings (highest total in baseball,) which is exactly what a manager in today's game would want: seven good innings from the starter. Over those three seasons, his record was 48-30 (an obvious average of 16-10.) That places him behind Johan Santana (50) and Roy Oswalt (49) and tied with Carlos Zambrano, but ahead of everyone else. His E.R.A. was 3.21, which is slightly higher than the E.R.A.'s of Master Craftsmen Santana (2.99) & Oswalt (3.03) during that time, but lower than just about everyone else's (although I am not ignoring young Jake Peavy.) During those three years, he is #8 on the strikeout list, with 544 K's. His K/BB ratio was EXACTLY 3-1. (Actually, he threw in one extra strikeout.) His WHIP (BB+H/IP, basically a measure of how many baserunners allowed per inning) was a nifty 1.19, which again places him near the very top of his profession. Just to make the picture prettier (and even more mathematically symmetric,) he gave up 48 HR's. Get it? 48 Wins; 48 HR's. Nice exchange, huh? They get a homer; he gets a victory. You won't find many guys whose victory total meets, or exceeds, their HR-Allowed total. This figure is right in line with his customary stinginess; not only does he not allow many batters to reach base, his Slugging Average (Against,) during those three years, was a paltry .363. A batter with a S.A. of .363 would be afraid to show his face. While he pitches for a team which is, currently, taking no prisoners (the Arizona Diamondbacks,) we cannot attribute much of his success to "great players playing behind him," as the Diamondbacks' infield has changed, repeatedly, during that three-year span.
He's Brandon Webb, we're not, and nothing that is happening right now is a fluke. |