Splitsville: Uggla developments

The numbers don’t lie. It’s an old adage that should be qualified with “but …” when dealing with baseball statistics. Home runs, ERA and stolen bases can certainly tell you some things about a player, but you’ve got to look a bit deeper than the standard 5x5 stats to get the entire picture. Splitsville is a weekly look at some of the numbers, but we’ll take a deeper look to make sure we’re getting the whole story, while also calling out some of the week’s notable pitching and batting lines.

2008 Sabermetrics tables: Batters | Pitchers | Glossary

2007 Sabermetrics tables: Batters | Pitchers

Stat Trends, Streaks and Anomalies

• If you figured that CC Sabathia’s nine complete games has him well ahead of the field in terms of pitches thrown this season, then you figured wrong. Tim Lincecum’s workload has been increasing as the season has gone on, and he’s just behind Sabathia in terms of total pitches thrown, with 3,227 to Sabathia’s 3,269. On the season, Lincecum has averaged 107.6 pitches per appearance; since July 1, that number has risen to 112.1; over his past five starts, he’s averaged 117 pitches thrown.

• Brett Myers and Francisco Liriano were both available in a significant number of leagues as of late July, thanks to their respective minor league demotions. Things sure have improved since then, and both now are nearly universally owned. If you managed to add both to your pitching staff at the time they were recalled, this is what you’ve gotten in return in their 15 combined starts (102.1 IP): 11 W, 1.32 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 92 K.

• Remember when Dan Uggla was practically carrying your fantasy team? It’s been a while, eh? In 52 games since July 10, Uggla has hit .204 in 181 at bats, with 30 runs, seven home runs and 22 runs batted in. In 52 games between April 23 and June 21, he batted .320 in 194 at bats, with 49 runs, 20 home runs and 49 runs batted in.

• On the flip side, Dustin Pedroia’s ascension up the fantasy ranks has been nothing short of astonishing. In 72 games since June 14, he’s batted a phenomenal .388 in 312 at bats, with 72 runs, 13 home runs, 48 runs batted in and 11 steals. He now stands at eighth overall in the Yahoo! game thanks to this fantastic line: .328 (589 AB), 111 R, 17 HR, 77 RBI and 17 SB.

• Here’s your Rich Harden bi-weekly K/9 update: Harden made just one start over the past two weeks, striking out five in 5.0 innings versus the Phillies on Aug. 29. His season stats now include 167 strikeouts in 131.0 innings, a rate of 11.473/9, which would place him 12th all time. Sadly, Harden needing rest down the stretch likely means that he will fall short of qualifying for the leaderboard in any stat. If he were to qualify, his current 1.99 ERA would easily lead the league and his 1.05 WHIP would be tied for second.

• You can’t get much hotter than Shin-Soo Choo. He recorded multiple hits in nine of his past 11 games, including two hits in five straight. Over the past 11 games, he’s batted .568 (21 for 37) with 10 runs, eight extra-base hits (4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR) and nine runs batted in.

• Widely-available starters among the league leaders in opponent OPS over the past three weeks (minimum three starts): Wandy Rodriguez (.528, eighth), Bronson Arroyo (.549, 10th), Jason Marquis (.558, 13th), Jorge De La Rosa (.569, 15th), Zach Duke (.599, 19th), Anthony Reyes (.609, 20th), Randy Wolf (.626, 22nd), and Jesse Litsch (.634, 25th).

Notable Pitching Game(s) of the Week

Brandon Morrow (Sea – RP) 9/5 vs NYY
7.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 8 K (106 pitches, 72 strikes)
Morrow was spectacular in the first start of his major league career, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning and eventually getting the win in the 3-1 game. After locking down hitters as a set-up man and a stint as a closer in the season’s first two-thirds, the Mariners sent him down to Triple-A in early August to convert him to what they hope is his new permanent role as a starter. He struck out 15 in his final two starts in the minors (combined 10.2 IP) and overall posted a 3.38 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in five starts (18.2 IP). Thanks to his demotion a month ago, Morrow was rostered in just over 20 percent of Yahoo! leagues to start the week; if his first start is any indication, however, he’ll warrant more widespread consideration over the season’s final weeks.

Notable Batting Game(s) of the Week

Andre Ethier (LAD – OF) 9/5 vs Ari
5 AB, 5 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 0 SB
Ethier’s five-hit game was the best of what has been a prolonged run of solid efforts for the 26-year-old. He’s the second-ranked player in the Yahoo! game over the past month thanks to a .381 average, 28 runs, 9 home runs, 21 runs batted in and three steals over his past 26 games. Despite being a part-time player for a reasonable chunk of the season, Ethier is now the 33rd-ranked OF in 2008, at 81st overall. I’m not sure what those of you in the 35 percent of Yahoo! leagues where Ethier remains a free agent are waiting for. He’s not going to lose at bats to Juan Pierre before the season ends, particularly since he’s as hot as any hitter in the game.

Brandon Wood (LAA – 3B, SS) 9/8 vs NYY
4 AB, 3 H, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB
It’s more a question of “when” than “if” in terms of Wood becoming a productive major league hitter. He burst onto the scene during a ridiculous 2005 season in Single-A in which he hit .321 with 51 doubles and 43 home runs (.672 SLG%) in 130 games. He whiffs a lot and hasn’t hit for a ton of average in the years since, but he’s hit the ball a bunch, including a .296 average and 31 home runs in 103 games in Triple-A this season. Part of the reason we’re still waiting for the when is because he’s still only 23 years old, but he’s been showing signs as the Angels’ regular SS in recent weeks – he’s hit .333 (11 for 33) over the past nine games, with three home runs, six runs batted in and two steals.

Scott McClain (SF – 1B) 9/3 at Col
5 AB, 3 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 0 SB
McClain is notable if anything because he hit his first major league home run at age 36. His first big league round-tripper came after he swatted 362 in 19 seasons between the minors and Japanese leagues, including 29 this season in Triple-A. Even if he’s not going to be a key cog for your fantasy team over the final few weeks, this is a guy worth pulling for.