Nice to see Jake Peavy is back

Wins and losses can be such a brutal stat sometimes.
Jake Peavy pitched yesterday against the Red Sox, going 9 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk.

He is credited with a  loss, preventing him from catching Robbie Ross and his 4 vulture wins.

But the loss not withstanding, it is his second straight complete game where he looks like an ace.
I hope he is picked as pitcher of the week as yesterday’s tough luck loss would be combined with Mondays 3 hit shutout.

As he stands this year, his average start is as follows:

7. 5 innings, 1.4 earned runs, 4.2 hits, 1 walk, 6.6 strikeouts.

That’s the way an ace pitches.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen ace Jake Peavy. Ken Williams has received a lot of heat for trading way some young talent for Peavy, including Clayton Richard.

Well Richard doesn’t look very impressive this year and the White Sox have found themselves an ace. If they get their bullpen together, the South Siders could hang around the Central race for a while.

 And lest we forget, Peavy already has a Cy Young Award on his mantle.
If he keeps this up, could he be an A.L. Cy Young candidate to go along with his N.L. award?

Only Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Roy Halladay have won in both leagues.

Yeah, it’s early but he is 1/6 of the way there.

I’m just saying that I’ve noticed.

Let’s enjoy the bizarre symmetry of Jarrod Parker’s stats while we can

On May 1st when the A’s visit Boston, Oakland pitcher Jarrod Parker is scheduled to make his second start of the year.

The former first round pick was one of the keys in the Trevor Cahill to Arizona trade last winter and the 23 year old showed a lot of promise in his first start against Chicago.

But the minute he climbs on the Fenway mound next Tuesday, a strange statistical fluke will be no longer true. And I for one would like to point it out.

Last year, Parker pitched one regular season game for the Diamondbacks.
He started the September 27th game against the Dodgers and pitched well.

Then he was, to I’m sure his surprise, added to the Diamondbacks post season roster last fall. He pitched 1/3 of an inning in Arizona’s Game 4, series tying win against Milwaukee.

And last week he made his debut for the A’s.

I remember when the trade was made, I thought it was strange that Parker had appeared in as many post season games as he had regular season games.

And as of this writing, his appearances have a unique balance.
One regular season Arizona appearance.
One post season Arizona appearance.
One regular season Oakland appearance.

Will we ever see that again?
Probably not.

If we do, will anyone but me notice?
Probably not.

You got your money’s worth in Dodger Stadium tonight!

Let’s say you paid for a ticket to see tonight’s Dodgers – National game in Dodger Stadium. How much bang would you get for your buck this evening.

What would you want?

1. Super hyped prospect making his debut? CHECK

2. A packed Dodger Stadium (games like this are better in front of a full house? CHECK

3. A game between (believe it or not) the two best teams in the NL? CHECK

4. Stephen Strasburg (who does look like Gollum) looking awesome? CHECK

5. A riveting pitchers duel between Strasburg and Chad Billingsley? CHECK

6. Harper getting an extra basehit and the potential winning RBI in his debut? CHECK

7. Controversy at the plate? CHECK

8. An idiot running on the field in the middle of a 9th inning rally? CHECK

9. A grade A closer meltdown, complete with the tying run scoring on a wild pitch? CHECK

10. Matt Kemp hitting a walk off homer to the “M-V-P” chant? CHECK (Bonus points for Kemp pointing out his mom during the post game interview.)

Not enough for you?
Then remember it was Maury Willis – Don Drysdale Bobble Head Doll.

That should be enough.