For my single league format leagues, the start of the 2009 season has been a disaster thanks to the implosion of my starting pitching. One league has Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia as anchors with Dana Eveland as an upside play, and the other has Yovanni Gallardo, Tim Lincecum and Johna Santana with Ian Snell and Oliver Pe...I mean Jonathan Sanchez.
To try and soothe my worst instincts (MF this and I quit and MF that and...), I wanted to see what the league pitching averages were STD versus the 2008 ones. As one would suspect given the starts of many of the quality starting pitchers, the pitching is down this season relative to 2008. (FWIW, I included HR/9 as a tease about whether power is coming back.)
| YEAR | LG | ERA | WHIP | HR9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | AL | 4.35 | 1.39 | 1 |
| 2009 | AL | 4.78 | 1.43 | 1.18 |
| 2008 | NL | 4.29 | 1.39 | 1.02 |
| 2009 | NL | 4.62 | 1.41 | 1.09 |
At least, these figures have soothed my worst instincts. To get some company for my misery, here are the two-start pitchers sorted by Earned Runs. I can't be the only fantasy player in need of calming. Nor can I be the only one whose best laid pitching plans are currently waylaid.
| Starting Pitcher | Tm | IP | ER | Hit | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chien-Ming Wang | NYA | 4.7 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 1 |
| Scott M Olsen | WAS | 8 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 5 |
| Carl Pavano | CLE | 7 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 9 |
| Brian Moehler | HOU | 4 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 1 |
| Jon T Lester | BOS | 11 | 11 | 18 | 2 | 10 |
| Cliff Lee | CLE | 10 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 10 |
| Randy Johnson | SF | 8.7 | 11 | 12 | 4 | 12 |
| Jeff Suppan | MIL | 7.7 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 2 |
| Kevin Slowey | MIN | 11.3 | 10 | 22 | 1 | 7 |
| Fausto C Carmona | CLE | 10 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 7 |
| Edinson Volquez | CIN | 9.3 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 8 |
| Vicente Padilla | TEX | 9 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 6 |
| John E Lannan | WAS | 9 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 4 |
| Roy Oswalt | HOU | 13 | 9 | 16 | 3 | 6 |
| Francisco Liriano | MIN | 11.7 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Yovani Gallardo | MIL | 11.7 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 |
| Ricky Nolasco | FLA | 11 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike A Pelfrey | NYN | 10 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 5 |
| Zach C Miner | DET | 9 | 9 | 15 | 5 | 5 |
| Jesse Litsch | TOR | 9 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 8 |
| Justin B Verlander | DET | 8.7 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 12 |
| Aaron Cook | COL | 8.3 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 4 |
| Daisuke Matsuzaka | BOS | 6.3 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 5 |
| Tim Lincecum | SF | 8.3 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 10 |