Pitchers with lots of K's, low ERAs, no WBC -- anyone see a pattern?
Short Hops | Love Letters
Roughly one year ago, San Diego ace Jake Peavy was scuffling along with a 4-5 record, a 4.15 ERA and a nagging ache in his arm that he just could not eradicate.
Minnesota's big Carlos Silva was in a 2-6 hole (7.81 ERA) and could not find the end of it even with a hard hat and a miner's lantern.
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| San Diego's Jake Peavy struggled last season, netting an 11-14 record and a 4.09 ERA. (Getty Images) |
Peavy was just named NL pitcher of the month for May, a span in which he went 4-0 with an astounding 0.79 ERA in five starts. Dominant? The guy compiled 39 strikeouts and only seven walks in 34 innings during May. For the year, he's 7-1, leads the majors with a 1.68 ERA and ranks second in the majors with 92 strikeouts.
Silva, though just 3-6 in '07, owns an ERA (3.86) half of what it was a year ago and ranks sixth in the AL with a 2.53 home ERA.
The common link between the Peavy and Silva, last year and this?
Three letters: WBC. As in, World Baseball Classic.
Evidence of its effect on pitchers remains more anecdotal than scientific, but a year later a couple of things are pretty clear.
An extraordinary number of WBC pitchers were adversely affected in the 2006 regular season.
An extraordinary number of pitchers who participated in the WBC really, truly, thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience and will have pen in hand as soon as the early-bird sign-up sheets are posted for the next event.
"I feel better than I did a year ago, health-wise," says Peavy, who, at this rate, could start the All-Star Game and win a Cy Young Award in 2007. "It's no different now for me than it was in '04 or '05."
Ask him about why he feels better now than last year, and whether the WBC might have something to do with it, and Peavy shuffles his feet, shifts his weight and chooses his words carefully.
