I didn't mean it like that, but Strasburg has been amazing so far. Latos has just been in the zone since the beginning of June. He's been very good all season long, but over his last five starts (or this past month), he's been dominant.
You were criticizing the fans because you wanted more Padres pitchers on the roster, while the fans have nothing to do with the selection of the pitchers. The only possible time they can is with the final spot, which they started doing a few years ago as an extra gimmick. The final spot is almost always taken by a position player. I never said San Diego pitchers are only good because of PETCO. I said that the stats are inflated (or deflated, depending on the statistic) due to the ballpark. Mat Latos is certainly a good pitcher, but it's also true that his stats would not look this good if he were pitching in Yankee Stadium or Chase Field.
Because PETCO Park is an extreme pitcher's park, and hitters tend to have stats there inferior to stats at other ballparks, and the reverse for pitchers. It's not saying much to say that a San Diego pitcher's stats would not be as impressive in a hitter's park.
Yes, it is. You can't fucking prove that. It's pointless to argue that Latos or Richard or Garland would have worse stats in 2010 playing for another team in another ballpark, because no one will ever know the answer to that.
100% incorrect. The fans decide the final roster spot, not the closer. The player they select for this spot can play any position. I never said he wasn't. He does have an ERA almost 3/4 of a run higher on the road though. Wins are pure shit in terms of measuring a pitcher. Debatable. His ERA is more than a full run lower at Petco than anywhere else. I haven't looked deeply into the numbers, but that is a good starting point. Gregerson has an ERA on the road that is more than 3.5 runs higher than at home and his WHIP basically doubles. So for him this is false. In fact, on the road he's been pretty shitty. In 12 fewer road innings he's given up almost twice as many hits as he has at Petco. Adams has a 1.35 ERA at Petco and 3.12 everywhere else. So while he's still pretty good on the road, he's clearly much better at Petco. I never said he didn't. Why are you getting so fucking defensive about this? I like Latos, and think he's a very good young pitcher, but to deny that he gets a boost pitching at Petco is just stupid. I never once made that claim. I simply said they benefit from a pitcher friendly park, not that they are only good because of that. To deny that they benefit from their park is what is complete bullshit. No, you said they decide the closers, which is undeniably false. Actually, there are various ways to determine that. It's called neutralized pitching. You can adjust numbers for defense, bullpen support, park factors, pitching against weaker NL lineups, just about anything. It's readily available on BR. So you are wrong yet again. Maybe you should stick to college football and the draft, because baseball clearly isn't your strong point.
Fans didn't fuck things up as much this year as they have in the past. The managers are the ones who completely screwed over a couple of clearly deserving all-stars. Besides the people already mentioned, Fransisco Liriano is probably the biggest snub. Or Jered Weaver. Alex Rios should probably be in there based on his performance this year, too. And I don't understand people who want Strasburg in, he hasn't played enough, and when he has, it's not like he's been untouchable. He's ultra-talented, but there are plenty of pitchers who have performed at a high level for many more starts who aren't on the roster.
To be fair, though ERA is a better stat than wins, it's still not too awesome. Latos has a great K/BB and K/9 rate, which aren't ballpark aided, and is among the league leaders in fielding independent pitching. And he's third in the league in lowest line drive percentage; he's not giving up many hard hits. And he's getting a lot of infield pop ups. And his HR/FB percentage isn't going to regress much. He's probably being helped some by Petco, but he'd still be having a great season in most stadiums. And he deserves to be on the all-star team. His splits also show that he actually pitches better on the road: lower WHIP, more strikeouts, less walks, lower OPS against, even, surprisingly, a lower BABIP. Home runs are the only stat that shows significant trends worse on the road.
Like I said, I didn't go too deep into numbers last night since I was posting from my phone. And again, I never said Latos wasn't good or wouldn't be good anywhere else, just that he, like all Padres pitchers, gets to play half his games in one of the most extreme pitcher's parks in baseball. Just like the early 00s Rockies offensive stats needed a grain of salt, the Petco era Padres pitching stats do. They also have the luxury of facing weaker NL lineups. All of that needs to be considered when looking at the numbers. That doesn't mean I don't think any of them are any good anywhere else, just like it didn't mean that say, Todd Helton wouldn't be good anywhere else. It just means I'm taking their ballpark into consideration.
Well, the competition for NL All Star pitching spots also have the luxury of facing weaker NL lineups. We are not comparing Latos and Gregerson with AL pitchers. Furthermore, the Padres pitchers do not get the luxury of facing the weak Padres lineup.
I think those two have the inside track to the final spot. It usually ends up being a 1B or OF getting the final spot, because there are a bunch of those guys with good offensive numbers. Youkilis and Votto probably should've been named as reserves anyway, but they were facing strong competition.
It's nice how Phil Hughes made the AL team over Jered Weaver considering that Weaver has had a better season and the All Star Game is being played in Weaver's home ballpark.
good article by Jayson Stark- http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar10/columns/story?column ist=stark_jayson&id=5354376
Yeah, that's not bad, but he didn't mention how Ryan Howard doesn't deserve his all-star nomination, probably cause he's a Phillies fan. Fair enough - I just knew a lot about Latos because I researched him a couple weeks ago for my fantasy team - I wouldn't be surprised if he's a household name in a couple years.
I would be, just because he plays in San Diego. Guys like Peavey in the past and Gonzalez now who should be household names tend to become somewhat anonymous playing for a team like the Padres. Well known to most serious baseball fans, but certainly not as recognizable to the average person as say Arod or David Ortiz. But yeah, he's good.
Heath Bell made it as an injury replacement. That means the NL final vote is down to four names. Votto is of course the most deserving, and I'd put Billy Wagner second. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp..._id=12026088&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher regained his lead over Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis by less than a percentage point on Wednesday, setting the stage for another suspenseful ending in the storied rivalry between their teams and a frantic final day of online fan balloting in the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote Sponsored by Sprint. Heading into the final hours, this year's American League race was the tightest in the program's nine-year history. In addition, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko made a move toward the top by passing Rangers third baseman Michael Young for third place. They were followed by Twins left fielder Delmon Young. Reds first baseman Joey Votto maintained his pace in the National League race, leading over Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Braves closer Billy Wagner and Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez. Buoyed by the success of last year's "BranTorino" alliance that pushed Brandon Inge and Shane Victorino to All-Star Final Vote victory, six of the 10 candidates' clubs have formed unions to persuade their fan bases to collaborate in getting their players to Anaheim for the July 13 Midsummer Classic. The three alliances are the Reds and Red Sox (1975 World Series); Nationals and Rangers (Third Base Ticket); and Rox and Sox for Gonzalez and Konerko.
