For two seasons now Mack and I have been arguing back and forth concerning the value of my #4 starter Frank Wooster. I have, of course, been arguing for his inclusion into the ranks of the top flight starting pitchers of the league whereas Mack has held out the traditional ‘good but not great’ line of argument (Mack, feel free to clarify if I’m misstating your opinion here).
Well and good, as far as it goes. Such arguments are, essentially, the lifeblood of the fan’s life in baseball. The fact that we can argue this for a year is a sign of our buying in to the life of the league and our enjoyment of such.
However, regardless of one’s point of view there are truly unusual things concerning Mr. Wooster that it could stand to be pointed out. I will attempt to summarize them now. It may prove illuminating to all and sundry. At worst it’ll be fodder for discussion.
First off is the wildly divergent opinions on Wooster’s ratings between my in-house scouting corps and the league scouts. Here are the two for comparison:
OSA (potential is in parens)
Stuff: 26 (3)
Movement: 56 (7)
Control: 54 (7)
My Scout (potential is in parens)
Stuff: 77 (10)
Movement: 96 (10)
Control: 79 (10)
Truly, an astonishing divergence. While there are generally divergence opinions in scouting in OOTP9 this exceeds the norm quite a bit.
Another odd thing about Wooster is his astonishing consistency in his two seasons. He has pitched the 2013 and 2014 seasons in the majors now. Here are some select stats from those two seasons:
GS
2013 33
2014 32
IP
2013 212.2
2014 212.1
HA
2013 210
2014 203
HR
2013 17
2014 19
BB
2013 54
2014 56
K
2013 155
2014 155
CG
2013 2
2014 2
WHIP
2013 1.24
2014 1.22
BABIP
2013 .297
2014 .293
However, even with producing what is essentially the exact same pitching performance his ERA dropped from 4.40 to 3.56…a 20% gain in ERA due to 20 fewer earned runs allowed! That allowed his VORP to rise from 27.6 to 41.1! Almost a 40% gain! A true sign that even so-called solid stats like ERA can be impacted strongly by random events.
So the jury is, apparently, still out but confounded by the randomness of it all. Wooster has been a league top ten pitcher in these categories in both of his major league seasons:
W, W%, IP, K, ERA, BABIP, WHIP, K/BB, RA/9, H/9, BB/9, K/9, VORP, CG, CGP, and SHO.
Still, the question remains: Wooster, 3 star starter or 5 star starter? What does the league think?
Keep in mind that the star ratings are relative to the other SPs in the league. Considering how bad some of them are (Hello, bottom of the LA rotation!), it's not hard for an above-average pitcher to be 5-star.
ReplyDeleteWell, true enough. But being a five-star rated pitcher would put him with others such as Placencia, Villatoro and the others monsters.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think he is good (my scout does not think much of him, but results are results), I do not think that he is with others like Placencia and Villatoro. I think a lot of his win numbers come from being a memeber or the Sternwheelers has helped him in the W column. I think if he goes to a lesser team (like mine) he would have some good numbers, but he would probably be more of a 12-15 win pitcher rather that the 17-20+ win pitcher he is with your team.
ReplyDeleteSomeone note the date and time, for Jeremy and I are in complete agreement on this blog topic. (grin)
ReplyDeleteI think Wooster's about a 3.5* guy (how's that for precision!) who benefits by pitching for the team he does, both in terms of the offensive support and the bullpen. He's good, and his high endurance means his good games will be quite good, but he's not at the elite level.
I'm still bemused at how he had nearly identical years. That's almost spooky.
ReplyDeleteStill, to date a lifetime ERA below 4, strikeout to walk of 3-1, and a lifetime whip of 1.23 is well worth keeping around.
I don't think you'll find anyone who believes he isn't worth keeping around.
ReplyDeleteThat's where you are wrong. Nate, you should give him to me in exchange for these cool magic beans. They make you happy.
ReplyDeleteSweet! And I was going to trade this cow for those! Instead I can trade a quality, 24 year old pitcher!
ReplyDeleteI will take that offer of cool magic beans and raise you that cool hover skateboard from Back to the Future II...so we got a deal here?
ReplyDeleteThrow me the board! I throw you the whi...pitcher!
ReplyDeleteHey, I'll send you someone even better, like Dong Lutz, for the nifty hover skateboard!
ReplyDeleteJust make the deal. You know you want to. Don't look at his contract first. Just do it.