Strange numbers and potential trades

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

We're almost two months into the season, and here are 10 numbers that seem strange:

1. The Cleveland Indians already have issued 195 walks, the fourth worst total in the majors. This, just a season after the Indians allowed 444 walks overall, the second best total in the majors.

2. Tampa Bay leads the majors in runs with 274 over 48 games, a marked improvement from the Rays' production in 2008, when they finished 13th in runs scored. But Tampa Bay is struggling (because of its pitching, of course).

3. The Yankees and Mets both opened new ballparks this year, and the two new stadiums could not be playing more differently. The Yankees rank first in home runs in their home park, and the Mets rank 27th.

4. The Blue Jays have been one of baseball's most surprising teams this season largely because of their improved offense, and yet, the guy who hits right in the middle of the team's order is one of the game's worst hitters with runners in scoring position so far. Vernon Wells is batting just .167 in those situations, the fourth worst among hitters with at least 50 at-bats with RISP.

5. The Texas Rangers are one of baseball's best early season stories, and their pitching is clearly improved -- but they are doing this with little power pitching. They rank dead last in strikeout ratio.

6. Think about all the pitching problems the Tigers had when they started the season: Dontrelle Willis looking lost, Jeremy Bonderman injured, the history of inconsistency with Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, no clear closer, Nate Robertson struggling, etc. And yet, Detroit leads the American League in ERA.

7. The Kansas City Royals have allowed just 27 homers -- that's 15 fewer than any other team.

8. You knew the Dodgers' offense would be good because of the depth of their lineup, but L.A. has posted a staggering .374 on-base percentage as a team, which would be the highest OBP posted by this franchise since 1894.

9. Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres has mashed 17 homers and yet has been walked intentionally just four times -- the same number issued to James Loney and Ichiro Suzuki, and one fewer than Lyle Overbay. Why is anybody pitching to him?

10. Chris Carpenter hasn't pitched that much over the past 2½ years, but he is incredible every time he takes the mound. Consider that opponents are hitting .179 against him when balls are put in play, the third best for any National League pitcher with 20 or more innings in 2009.

The trade front

Some of what is being discussed on the trade front:

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  • Buster Olney Buster Olney

    Buster Olney is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine. He began covering baseball in 1989, as the Nashville Banner's beat reporter assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Later, he covered the San Diego Padres (1993-94), the Baltimore Orioles ('95-96), the New York Mets ('97) and the Yankees ('98-2001). Olney joined ESPN The Magazine in 2003, after six years at The New York Times, and he's the author of the Times' best-seller "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," a book about the Paul O'Neill-Tino Martinez Yankees dynasty of 1996-01.

    He grew up in central Vermont collecting baseball cards and listening to Red Sox, Expos, Phillies and Pirates radio broadcasts, and was a rabid fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He graduated from Vanderbilt University the same year as hoops legend Will Perdue, and ranks among the all-time leading scorers in pickup basketball at Memorial Gym. He claims to have witnessed the Commodores' winning football season in 1982 (although anthropologists have not yet confirmed this).

    Olney also contributes to ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPNEWS, "SportsCenter" and "Baseball Tonight."

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