Reasons why Jake Peavy is Good

[SoxFan1]

First and foremost, his injury shouldn't be too big of a deal. It's his ankle but it had nothing to do with pitching, he hurt it running the bases. Obviously, that won't be too big of a problem in the AL.

 

Ok, so I've heard many people voice some concerns about Peavy, and I'd like to address some of them.

 

Never does well under pressure/never succeeds in big games: Well, according to Baseball Reference, this is blasphemy. In high leverage situations throughout his career, 837 PA to be exact, he has a 2.94 K/BB ratio, a .215 BAA, and hitters only muster a smoking .599 OPS. He's struck out 203 of those batters and gotten 42 DP.

 

Second, I've heard some people voice concerns over Peavy coming to the AL and how that would affect his numbers. Well, in inter-league play throughout his career, he's got a 3.29 inter-league ERA in 20 starts which is exactly the same as his career average. Against the AL, his numbers are:

 

.235 BAA

.291 OBP

.663 OPS

120.1 IP

113 K

33 BB

3.42 K/BB

1.17 WHIP

8.5 K/9

 

He strikes out a lot of hitters and doesn't walk many, and now he's going to be coached by Don Cooper. He keeps the ball down and he's an ace.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget he's 28 years old and under our control for at least 3 more seasons.

[kev211]

Numbers do not lie.

[TheBigHurt]

Well, in inter-league play throughout his career, he's got a 3.29 inter-league ERA in 20 starts which is exactly the same as his career average.

 

How bizarre.

[everafan]

Good stuff. Where did you find his stats vs the AL?

[chw42]

First and foremost, his injury shouldn't be too big of a deal. It's his ankle but it had nothing to do with pitching, he hurt it running the bases. Obviously, that won't be too big of a problem in the AL.

 

Ok, so I've heard many people voice some concerns about Peavy, and I'd like to address some of them.

 

Never does well under pressure/never succeeds in big games: Well, according to Baseball Reference, this is blasphemy. In high leverage situations throughout his career, 837 PA to be exact, he has a 2.94 K/BB ratio, a .215 BAA, and hitters only muster a smoking .599 OPS. He's struck out 203 of those batters and gotten 42 DP.

 

Second, I've heard some people voice concerns over Peavy coming to the AL and how that would affect his numbers. Well, in inter-league play throughout his career, he's got a 3.29 inter-league ERA in 20 starts which is exactly the same as his career average. Against the AL, his numbers are:

 

.235 BAA

.291 OBP

.663 OPS

120.1 IP

113 K

33 BB

3.42 K/BB

1.17 WHIP

8.5 K/9

 

He strikes out a lot of hitters and doesn't walk many, and now he's going to be coached by Don Cooper. He keeps the ball down and he's an ace.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget he's 28 years old and under our control for at least 3 more seasons.

 

This injury is nothing. I saw the condensed game in which he pitched with the ankle hurt against the Diamondbacks. That was his last start before being up on the DL. 7 innings 2 ER 8 Ks and 2 walks. He did give up 7 hits though.

 

I saw him starting to hobble at the end of the start though. He did end up getting one more out after I saw him limping a little bit jumping off the mound. He should be fine.

 

I'd love to have him around mid-August, but we don't want a bad Peavy who might use more arm than his lower body. He's already got a very unorthodox delivery that doesn't look very healthy for his arm. So the last thing we want him to do is screw up his mechanics along with his arm for the next couple of years.

Edited August 1, 2009 by chw42

[SoxFan1]

Good stuff. Where did you find his stats vs the AL?

His career splits on Baseball Reference.

[RME JICO]

What a luxury it is to have a fresh arm like Jake's going into September. Doesn't the pitcher also have the upper hand when facing new batters?

 

He has also been really good vs some of the better AL hitters who transferred from the NL:

 

M. Cabrera - 2-17 .118

J. Bay - 2-12 .167

J. Drew 3-17 .176