-Hunter Pence turned into one of the game's best righthanded hitters after Houston traded him to Philadelphia, where he posted a .954 OPS in 54 games. I expect a career year out of him in 2012, and think he has a legitimate shot at a .300-30-100 season. He flew under the radar with the Astros and was always something of a poor man's Jason Bay, but he'll be the best hitter on a stacked team this season and will finally get his due.
-Roy Oswalt wound up with a losing record despite pitching decent ball (105 ERA+) for a team that won 102 games. That's pretty tough to do considering John Lackey and A.J. Burnett finished with .500 records.
-Derek Lowe led the major leagues in starts last year with 34. He's made at least 32 in each of the past ten seasons.
-Lowe still fell short of the 200 inning mark and topped the majors with 17 losses (to go with a 5.05 ERA and 1.51 WHIP). His grand total of -0.3 bWAR seems much too high.
-Who was the lone Nationals starter to make at least 20 starts and finish with a winning record in 2011? Most of you were probably thinking Jordan Zimmermann (3.18 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) but he went 8-11. It's not John Lannan or Livan Hernandez, either. Give up? The answer is Jason Marquis (8-5).
-How bad was Jayson Werth last year? Teammate Danny Espinosa beat him in OPS by 19 points despite getting on base at a .323 clip himself.
-Jason Bay has a 100 OPS+ since joining the New York Mets, meaning he's essentially been a league average hitter given the circumstances. That just doesn't seem possible.
-Jose Reyes walked two more times than he stuck out in 2011. That marks the first time he's finished a season with more walks than whiffs.
-Juan Oviedo saved 36 games for the Marlins last year. Am I the only one who's never heard of him/thought Leo Nunez was their closer?
-Mike Stanton's real first name is "Giancarlo." This isn't a stat. I don't know what to say.
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