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Thursday, March 8, 2012

10 Stats You Probably Didn't Know: NL West

-Chris Young just wrapped up his third 20/20 season in five years, averaging 23 bombs and 20 steals per season over that stretch.  And while his plate discipline is improving, as evidenced by his 80 walks in 2011, he still strikes out too much (at least 133 times per year) and rates as a below average hitter with his career 94 OPS+.  Hey, at least he plays pretty good defense.
-Joe Saunders owned a career 4.29 ERA heading into 2011, but during his first full season in the Senior Circuit he trimmed more than half a run of that figure with a 3.69 mark.
-Tim Lincecum seems to have plateaued; his won-loss record, innings pitched and strikeout totals have been trending in the wrong direction in the three seasons since he captured his first of consecutive NL Cy Young Awards.
-Matt Cain has a career 3.35 ERA, good for a 125 ERA+, and has a mediocre 69-73 career record to show for it.  San Francisco pitchers really get screwed in the wins department, don't they?
-Matt Kemp launched as many home runs as the next three Dodgers in longballs combined.  His 39 matched the input from Rod Barajas (16), James Loney (a dozen) and Andre Ethier (eleven).  Nobody else on the team swatted more than five.
-Ted Lilly remains one of the more underrated starting pitchers in baseball; since leaving the AL Beast and fleeing to the National League, the reliable southpaw has a 3.33 K/BB ratio and a 1.13 WHIP.
-Something that makes no sense to me; over the past two years Dexter Fowler has 29 triples and led the league with 14 in 2010.  Fowler's a speedy guy, so that checks out, but what puzzles me is that he has stolen only 25 bases over the same span while getting caught 16 times.  His 27 stolen bases from his rookie season should be his floor, not his career high! Clearly he has to improve his success rate if he wants to get the green light more often.
-Jason Giambi, at the ripe old age of 40, posted a .958 OPS, his highest mark since 2006, in part time duty for Colorado.
-San Diego literally had no offense without Adrian Gonzalez.  The Padres finished dead last in the NL in hits, home runs, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS, and total bases.  So how did they score runs? Speed; SD paced the Senior Circuit in triples and steals.
-Dustin Moseley managed to go 3-10 for San Diego in 20 starts despite of a team-leading 3.30 ERA.  Aaron Harang (14-7) was the only starter to finish with a winning record.

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