Quote:
Originally Posted by Goody
Since I'm a Mariners fan and watch most of their games, I'll give my limited take on it.
Jason Vargas is a prototypical "contact" pitcher. He's good, and can go deep in games, but he doesn't get the same dominant stats as Felix Hernandez. He gives up a lot of home runs because...well...if you're not striking people out or trying to strike them out there's always the chance of them getting ahold of one of your "safety/economy" pitches.
Hernandez is an elite pitcher. He racks up the strike outs but sometimes he doesn't. If he is not "feeling it" he knows to switch modes. But when he is feeling it...the strike out is how he racks up his 3 or 4 dominant starts in a row 90% of the time.
It basically all works out to the style of the pitcher and his talent. Keep the ball where the guy can't hit it well. If you have to talent to do that...it'll result in more strike outs naturally. If you don't have the talent to do that...use Steve McCatty's philosophy and hope for the best.
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Vargas lives off of Safeco field. If he didnt play in that huge park he would be a below average pitcher. His road splits and career history prior to Seattle support this. Technically he is a below average pitcher and that is what these advanced metrics can tell us. It doesnt keep people from thinking he is decent however.
If he pitched at Yankee Stadium his ERA would be above 5 every single year.