so Verlander is back to his cy young caliber ways.
What’s sad is this “he isn’t trying” fallacious causality still has currency with people.
Verlander had one down year in 2014, mostly due to a huge drop in strikeouts and some bad luck (his FIP was still solid); then he missed most of 2015 with a triceps injury (his first time on the DL), and it’s not impossible that injury was affecting him in 2014 as well; then he came back in 2016 and was elite for a mediocre-plus Detroit team.
It’s a lazy narrative.
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
GovClintonTyree (04-25-2018)
jpx7 (04-25-2018)
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
This is sort of the problem with stats sometimes. you can use them to tell a story that might not be true. people forget humans are behind those stats.
How did he perform when a crappy team was kicking the ball all over the place.. how did he do when he knew giving up 2 runs probably cost his team the win.. Did he walk more guys trying to be too perfect..
then with the Astros.. did the pitching coach tweak something.. did he feel more comfortable knowing his defense was going to catch the ball.. did he know he didn't have to be so perfect.. how many innings did he pitch with the lead..
Coppy
It’s even more of an issue if you’re literally quoting incorrect statistics ...
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
Runnin (04-25-2018)
So it’s clear his performance was already improving before the trade. It’s more likely he hit a groove, physically and mentally, than a lack of effort or pouting.
People just want to whip up animus because these guys are paid so much (yet still underpaid relative to what owners and the league rake in), when most of us can’t even imagine the consistent level of high-effort they maintain for years of their lives.
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
Very good—but he improved every month of the year. He had a 4.73 era in his first 104.2 IP and a 1.95 era in his second 101.1 IP. He just had a bad first half—but his July was solid, as were his pre-trade August starts.
Player performance is volatile—especially pitchers’. Many more likely explanations exist than pouting or poor effort. Ascribing such volatility to the latter “causes”—especially absent any other evidence—is lazy narration.
Last edited by jpx7; 04-25-2018 at 10:33 PM.
"For all his tattooings he was on the whole a clean, comely looking cannibal."
GovClintonTyree (04-25-2018)