A look at some comeback pitchers

Well, like I said earlier, I've been sick and such, that's why I've been gone. I encourage you to check out the Birthday Bash post from earlier today, it's much better than anything you are going to read here. Now we're going to take a look at some pitchers who at some point have been left for dead, but are actually still some of the best in the game.

How about that Francisco Cordero kid? He had a bad year last year, and he looked finished. This year? 11.1 IP, 10 saves, 19 K's, 7 walks, 0 runs. And the dude has allowed 2 hits. I don't understand why this isn't a bigger story. The 7 walks show us he has a little control issues, but still... 2 hits? The guy has faced 41 batters. That's an average of .059. He obviously can't stay this lights out forever, but it's still an amazing performance.

I think it's safe to say that Tim Hudson is back. He's showed good command over his first six games of the season, walking only 12 batters so far in 45 innings, (I never understood how Zito and Hudson fit into the Moneyball Scheme in Oakland, where they both gave up about 80 walks a year.) He's allowed only 7 runs. He's 3-0, but he should be, if not 4-0, 5-0. We wrote about how Hudson got one win janked from his record two starts ago, but it happened again last night. This time, it was in reverse. In the bottom of the 8th the Braves were up to bat, score 2-2. Men on 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs, when Huddy's spot comes up. Again, a tough spot. Do you leave your pitcher in, who has only allowed 5 men to reach base all game with 94 pitches, and hope you can score later? Or do you take him out for a guy like Brayan Pena, who's batting average against righties is .60 lower than Hudson's? Obviously, Cox chose to jerk Hudson for Pena, who promptly grounded out to Brett Myers, (who is still pitching in relief...?) And then, of course, the Braves score 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to take the game. So, Hudson should be 5-0, but instead he's 3-0. We're going to start keeping track of this. Hudson early yank count: 2.

And Roy Halladay is still the best pitcher in the game. Roy won the Cy Young in 2003, but turned in a less-than stellar year in 2004 with a 4.20 ERA, the only time besides 2000 that he finished with an ERA above 4. But people thought he was a fluke. I drafted Halladay incredibly low with the 51st pick in my 2005 pay league. He is now 4-0 with an ERA of 2.28. And the thing is, he can keep that up all year. He leads MLB with 47.1 IP. He even went 10 innings for a complete game win against the Tigers - for the 2nd time in his career. This guy is hitting on all cylinders. 0.89 WHIP, 33 K's, 7 walks. I've long said that he will win the Cy Young again. Well, last night he struck out 8, allowed just 5 hits, and went the full 9 innings for the win. After that, Jay's manager Jay Gibbons said, "he's a security blanket... He saves bullpens, he continues winning streaks, stops losing streaks, and that's how you get things going." That's probably one of the best compliments you can get as a pitcher. And it's true. Halladay is one of only a few starters in the league that can actually make a huge impact on the team as a whole. You've got Santana, maybe Chris Carpenter, Roy Oswalt, and Halladay, that's about it.

Finally, Jake Peavy is another comeback story. The kid looked to have lost it last year, going with a 4.09 ERA. But this year he's started solid, with a 2.06 ERA and 46 K's in 39.1 IP. He's 3-1. It's tough to get wins on a team as bad as the Padres, (in his two no-decisions, he allowed a combined 1 run in 14 innings against Colorado and Arizona,) but he'll manage to put together a good year if he keeps this up.

I want to see someone get 300 K's in a year. Randy Johnson got 290 in that oh-so-memorable year of 2004, where, as you might recall, he pitched 245 innings, (2nd place,) with an ERA of 2.60 (1st place among starters,) a WHIP of .90, (1st among starters,) those 290 K's, (1st place,) and an OBA of .241 (1st among starters.) He made 35 starts, so you're thinking, wow, dude most have gone like, 25-2 or something, right? Sadly, that was not the case. Johnson played for the crummy Diamondbacks that year, and he went just 16-14. He even missed out on the Cy Young award, which went to Roger Clemens. That's pretty awful.

And now for a guy who isn't doing so hot. Mark Redman, who now pitches for the Braves. Have you ever noticed that every time you look around, this guy is on a new team? That's because it's true. In 1999, Redman pitched 12 innings for the Twins and was welcomed back again in 2000. That was the only time he has ever pitched for the same team two years in a row. Now he's in Atlanta with a 10.13 ERA and no wins. There's talk that if he gets kicked around again tonight, he'll lose his spot in the rotation... I don't know about that. If the Braves had another option for their #4 spot, they probably would've put him in already. They've got Chuck James in the 3 spot, and Kyle Davies in #5. They don't have anyone better. Mike Hampton has been on the DL since about this time two years ago. Maybe they will just come up with some bizarro rotation where Tim Hudson and John Smoltz pitch on three days of rest. I could definitely see that happening. And I would be all for it. Because seriously, how often do the Braves make a big mid-season trade? They just bring up guys from the minors that somehow fit right in.

Well that's all for now. Don't expect anything big for the next week or so. Finals are over on the 9th, so we've got that to look forward to...

Birthday Bash Flashbacks! - Turns out, bad can be funny - May 1st, 2007
However many wins Tim Hudson finishes this year with, add one - April 25th, 2007