[blogguy]

Finally finished a bunch of little things I had to do...here are some comments on Saturday's pitchers. The day games have all started (2 finished) by the time I could get this posted...but some of the notes may apply to future stuff.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Los Angeles Hendrickson: More evidence with good performance today that middling AL starters may be good in the watered down National League. Hendrickson's been solid in the NL so far.
St. Louis Suppan: Coming in...Suppan's home ERA was 3.54...but overall ERA was 5.86. He pitched well again today.

Philadelphia Lidle: Journeyman muncher stats
San Francisco Lowry: ERA is 3.19 at home, over 4.00 overall. Extreme fly ball guy though, and wind is out to left at 10-20. He gets no strike outs...so he's one of those guys you want to take in spacious parks when wind isn't an issue.

New York Glavine: ERA is 4.57 on the road, just 3.48 overall
Chicago Zambrano: ERA is 4.21 at home, 3.24 overall, so both guys are in dis-favored spots today

Houston Pettitte: I remember that Pettitte seems to pitch much better when Clemens is around. His ugly first half stats are in line with that. Let's watch to see if he picks up the pace now. Note that he's getting 4.6 K's per game even with the struggles.
Florida Johnson: Great stats since joining the rotation, will fall back to earth some as the league sees him.

Colorado Cook: Extreme ground ball guy with 2.84 ratio, having a great year whatever the ballpark.
Cincinnati Arroyo: 2.52 ERA at home with 7.1 IP per start...it's 3.12 and 6.8 overall. Great stats...but greater at home. Poster boy for changing from AL to NL. Yankees fans should remember that Sidney Ponson is doing the opposite.

Washington Astacio: First road start
Pittsburgh Snell: Bad stats at home, but thinkgs are looking up of late.

Milwaukee Capuano: Ace caliber stats this year, largely ignored by the media.
Arizona Webb: Cy YOung caliber stats but he's slowed down a bit of late

Atlanta Smoltz: 4.41 road ERA on 5.7 IP, compared to 3.60 and 6.5 overall. But...in this park...he's likely to have a good game.
San Diego Park: 3.72 home ERA on 6.6 IP, compared to 4.28 and 6.0 overall. He's always been a guy to post good numbers in pitcher's parks and lousy numbers everywhere else. Texas was INSANE to think he'd pitch well there...the rest of the league was INSANE to think that Texas represented his true level of performance. He's always been capable of these numbers in the right parks.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago Buerhle: 5.17 road ERA compared to 4.02 at home. That foreshadowed today's troubles.
New York Mussina: People only seem to talk about Mussina when he's disappointing everyone. Great stats this year.

Seattle Moyer: 5.08 ERA on the road on 6.2, compared to 3.50 on 6.7 overall. Tough park and offense with that on the resume. And, he's a lefty too.
Toronto Halladay: Consistently awesome, but doesn't get the K's of guys like Santana and Liriano.

Texas Rheineker: 5.23 ERA on 5.7 on the road. Getting no strikeouts
Baltimore Bedard: 3.10 ERA on 6.1 at home. Wind is out 7-12 to right...with a high heat index. Will be interesting to see if that leads to runs after a 2-1 game last night. Late afternoon start will mean shadows on the field though.

Oakland Haren: Ace caliber stats for Haren this year
Boston Schilling: Anyone remember the debate in May about whether or not Schilling was washed up? 3.61 ERA this year on 6.6 IP overall. An average of 6.0 K's per game...1.09 WHIP. Still ace caliber stats. Home numbers are 2.76 on 7.0

Kansas City Gobble: Limited action
Detroit Verlander: 3.91 ERA on 6.1 at home, compared to 3.02 on 6.4 overall. Another guy struggling more in Detroit than on the road. Bullpen (and defense as Spraguer pointed out today in Mess Hall) have been helping these guys out. Tigers 10-0 vs. KC this year.

Cleveland Sabathia: Ace caliber stats (today's the day all the aces are going after the ASB!).
Minnesota Santana: Cy Young caliber stats, including 7.2 K's per game

Tampa Bay Shields (not Kazmir): Getting K's, but struggling otherwise
Los Angeles Santana: 2.90 ERA on 6.5 at home, compared to 3.98 and 6.2 overall. Definitely a lot of strong pitching numbers on the board tonight!