Over the past 5 years or so he has been one of the 5 best Left handers in baseball, but even astros fans seem to always devalue him. He doesn't have over powering stuff, but he gets the job done.
I don't pay too much attention to the Astros (not a huge baseball fan) but I have noticed every year that there is talk of trading Wandy. When I do happen to watch a game, he always looks pretty good. Seems like with the rebuild, they should deal him at what is now peak value.
I think a lot of it is exactly what you said. He doesn't have overpowering his stuff and his peripherals don't match his output. His advanced stats like FIP and xFIP are generally higher than his era and usually fall in the mid to high 3s. Still good to be sure. A big question is whether he could go the to the American League and still produce the way he does in the National League.
ERA last year was tied for 19th in the NL. 2010 he was 23rd. He has never posted an ERA below 3. He's a #2 pitcher, not an ace.
Wandy is not considered an ace IMO because he does not have a blow-it-by-you fast ball, but relies more on his curve ball (which is a damn good one by the way). While he is our ace, he would be a #2 on most teams and maybe a #3 on a really good team with a stacked rotation (Phillies, Rangers, Angels). I think some of the Astros' fans devalue him or take him for granted due in large part to him being fragile and tempermental at times (earlier in his career). I was not that big a Wandy fan myself when he first came up, but he has grown on me and is a very good pitcher. The reason IMO that he is devalued by others is because of the amount of money he is making (which is contract is not that bad for the production he has provided) as well as the same reason listed above. If the Astros decide to trade him this season, they should get a good return for him, even with his team option year becoming a player option year.
I don't know about that. Only the Giants and Phillies have 2 guys that are better than Rodriguez, at least in the NL.
Angels? Cardinals? Giants? Phillies? Rays? Debatable(all debatable but...): Braves? Dodgers? Marlins? Nationals? Rangers? Red Sox? Tigers? *Assuming all are healthy. Probably a good #3 pitcher. Nothing wrong with that.
I said at least in the NL. The Cardinals have Wainwright, who actually hasn't pitched well coming off Tommy John. They have a lot of depth in that rotation. I know you say assuming healthy, which would include Carpenter, but they just won the World Series without Wainwright and health is an important factor. Wandy has stayed mostly healthy throughout his career while many have not. Nationals may have a legitimate claim, I wasn't thinking about the fact that they had traded for Gio. BTW, Red Sox rotation blows. They've got names, but they've been very up and down the last few years.
Part of the reason is the Astros haven't been very good and he hasn't gotten a lot of W's. Right or wrong, W's and L's influence perception about a pitcher, even if they don't have a lot of control over that.
This. He's never finished in the Top 10 in K/BB ratio nor HR/9, and has only logged 200+ IP once. To me, those are the three hallmarks of a true ace.
Ace pitcher/#1 Pitcher/Top of the Rotation Pitcher aside, with the way Wandy is pitching so far, the Astros should be able to get a decent haul for him at the trade deadline if he continues to perform at his current pace. There will be more teams active to acquire pitchers and hitters due to the extra wild card this season. There will be other pitchers on the market as well, but Wandy should be pretty attractive to many teams near the trade deadline.
Wandy would be a number 2 or number 3 starter on a contending team. No way would he be an ace, but it's equally stupid to think of him as a number 4/5 starter. He's a very good starting pitcher, but not a great one.
Is this a discussion about whether or not Wandy's an Ace? Or how he stacks up against other pitchers with 4+ years of starting pitching experience? Just so you know, there are young pitchers who have came into the league after 2008 who are better than Wandy.
Occam's razor: Because he's not an ace. He's a nice pitcher; certainly above average and he's having an ace-like season thus far. But he's not in Halladay's class, nor Verlander's, Kershaw's, Lincecum's, Sabathia's...
Just showing folks how awesome he's been. He's been one of the top 20-25 pitchers in baseball over the last 4+ seasons. And drop the "just so you know" BS.
