This kid is on a roll. Last two games: 2 wins, 16 scoreless innings. He's a hoss at MMP: 5-2, 1.81 ERA.
I, for one, am very willing to eat some crow when it comes to Wandy this season. I thought his early success would end, just as it had the past 2 seasons. He's had some bad games but it doesn't seem to get to him anymore. When he's spotting that fastball, he's damn good. Right now, he's probably our #2 pitcher. If it came to a must win series, I would go Oswalt, Wandy, Sampson right now. Woody has been better, but still very inconsistent. Jennings just hasn't done anything to impress me or to remotely prove that the trade was worth it.
To: God@heaven.net re: Wandy Rodriguez Please, please, please let other GMs grossly overestimate Wandy's value this trading deadline. Thanks in advance.
....and let the Astros GM be immune to such overestimations. We don't need another GM greatly overvaluing the likes of average players like Brandon Backe and declining to trade them for Alfonso Soriano.
I said this in the other thread, but... peripherals, folks. Among NL starters, Wandy is 14th in hits per 9, 7th in K/BB ratio, 14th in Ks per 9, and 13th in WHIP. Those numbers don't scream fluke.
LOL....How many times has that happened in MLB history???? Combination of things. He pitched well, but the Mets just suck...
Well, the mets aren't exactly the pirates. For wandy to pitch that well against a lineup like the mets is still incredible.
Again, peripherals. You could tell Luke's numbers were somewhat of a fluke because of his sky-high BABIP in that stretch (around .390). I'm not seeing any warning sign like that with Wandy. If I'm missing something, please correct me... but I haven't seen it. Anything can happen, but his numbers don't scream half-season fluke, at least by statistical measures.
The question is do you think he can keep this up? And what kind of value can we get for him if we trade him?
No one can ever know for sure, but his peripheral stats show there's a decent likelihood that he will. I just don't think it would be wise to trade him. It's tough to get competent starting pitching, and even tougher to get competent pitching for cheap under club control. If he were like Jennings -- even with the peripherals -- I'd consider trading him, because of current cost and cost in the future. But this Astros team has numerous holes to fill long-term -- 3B, RF, SP, maybe MR -- and it needs all the productive players for cheap it can get so it can address some of those holes in free agency. Wandy's too cost-efficient to give away, imo. Besides, even if he were to go, I don't think he'd fetch the value people here want, simply because it hasn't been long enough. It's a risk to keep him, and a risk to trade him -- but imo, the potential reward of him continuing to pitch like this is much greater than the potential reward he'd get in a trade.
In the past 2 years, Wandy's ERA has been 5.53 (WHIP: 1.646) and 5.64 (WHIP: 1.60) respectively, pitching over 125 innings in each year. Hell, this year, he has a 6.60 ERA on the road. Look, I'm sorry... but sell high.
He's a soft throwing lefty that has become effective... history shows that soft-throwing lefties, if they are to be good, mature in to that role (they don't come out like gangbusters right away). He also has a sub 2 ERA in a very hitters friendly park. Its all about confidence with him.
Wait a minute, according to this: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=131807&page=9&pp=20 You believe that until his career averages match the year he's currently having, you have to assume Wandy's season is purely a fluke. Why can Wandy just mature over a few years, but that doesn't apply to other players like Willy T?
