Jayson Stark on Harang

by ben nevis on Mar 5, 2007 10:57 PM EST

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com just put up a pretty interesting article on the anonymity of Aaron Harang and Freddy Sanchez, reigning NL strikeout and batting champs. I knew Harang had led the league in K's, but I have to admit, I had no idea Freddy Sanchez won the batting title last year.

It is interesting to me that players like these on small market teams lacking in recent success get absolutely no publicity. It is also interesting to me that while this is essentially Stark's point, he's one of the members of the ESPN-opoly that helps create the attention deficit.

Anyway, it's a decent article with some pretty astonishing statistics regarding Cy Young award winners and strikeout/wins leaders like Harang.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2788301&lpo s=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

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you

were kidding about freddy sanchez, right? I'm pretty sure you were, because I couldn't walk down the street last year without having to hear about this little guy for the pirates who leads the league in hitting.

but i dont have a good sense of humor, so i cant tell when people are kidding. i embarass myself sometimes.

And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

by boobs on Mar 5, 2007 11:10 PM EST 0 recs

I wasn't kidding

I live just outside of Boston, where there may as well be no National League and only two teams make up the American League. So, no, I wasn't kidding about Sanchez, which kind of proves Stark's point. No offense taken.

by ben nevis on Mar 6, 2007 8:52 AM EST up 0 recs

Boston

had Sanchez but never really gave him a chance at the major league. He was traded with Mike Gonzalez in the Suppan trade - not one of Epstein's finer moments.

by ken on Mar 6, 2007 9:02 AM EST up 0 recs

i read the article this afternoon...

and after seeing the list of pitchers that led the league in both k's and w's in the past 50 years, i am even more outraged that harang didn't get a single cy young vote... it is an absolute travesty and the baseball writers should be ashamed of themselves

"if you love the reds so much, why don't you marry them?"

by BobbyO on Mar 5, 2007 11:48 PM EST 0 recs

The problem

is that each writer only votes for three candidates. He certainly had a case for top 3, but it's not like a deserving MVP candidate getting left off all the ballots that go 10 deep.

by Red Menace on Mar 5, 2007 11:56 PM EST up 0 recs

by the way

I love Harang and don't mean to dump on him, but I'll go back on my previous statement and say he didn't have a case for top 3.

The list of 11 seasons a pitcher led in wins and Ks is interesting, but ultimately meaningless (they're going to put that on Jayson Stark's tombstone). Harang really sticks out, and not just because he's below radar.

The average number of wins those players put up was 24.6. It's somewhat deceptive to just say Harang led the league in wins without mentioning that he tied with 5 other players (including the Cy winner) and the number was 16. Before Webb took the hardware with 16, no full season starter had ever won with that low of a total (Maddux had 16 in '94, Sutcliff 16 since joining the NL in '84 and Fernando had 13 in '81).

And Harang's 3.76 ERA was 11th in the league. The 11 times the W-K crown had been achieved the ERAs were 2.32, 2.94, 1.53, 3.10, 2.34, 2.38, 1.97, 1.73, 2.04, 1.88 and 2.83. The highest ERA ever recorded by an NL Cy Young winner was Bob Gibson's 3.12 in 1970.

Again, much love to Aaron Harang. I just can't support him in such arguments without a good deal of Orwellian doublethink. Besides, Arroyo's year was better.

by Red Menace on Mar 6, 2007 1:42 AM EST up 0 recs

The 3.76 ERA

killed Harang's choices. Harang was well behind Webb (3.10), Carpenter, (3.09), Bronson (3.29) and several other Cy candidates. That was probably unfair; Harang's fielding independent numbers close the gap considerably (FIP of 3.64, compared with Webb at 3.20, Carpenter at 3.47, Bronson at 4.14). ERA isn't the end-all, be-all, but unless you have name cache or beat the field in wins easily (see 2005 AL Cy Young vote), it's hard to get the hardware without being among the league leaders in ERA.

by ken on Mar 6, 2007 7:46 AM EST up 0 recs

i don't think...

16 wins is a fair measure of harang's success last year. think of all the wins that the bullpen pissed away for him.

"if you love the reds so much, why don't you marry them?"

by BobbyO on Mar 6, 2007 10:12 AM EST up 0 recs

and...

harang should've been cut some slack on ERA considering the park he pitches in.

"if you love the reds so much, why don't you marry them?"

by BobbyO on Mar 6, 2007 10:14 AM EST up 0 recs

Adjusting for Park

When you adjust for Park, Harang still falls short on ERA. Here are the top 5 in ERA+:



Webb-ARI        154

Oswalt-HOU      152

Arroyo-CIN      146

Carpenter-STL   143

Zambrano-CHC    136

I'm not sure where Harang ranks, but he had an ERA+ of 128.

Harang had a very good season last year and I think he deserved Cy Young consideration, but given that voters can only list 3 pitchers on their ballot, I don't think it's a huge slight that he didn't get a vote. I think Webb, Oswalt, and Arroyo all had better seasons last year (and not just because they're the top guys on this list).

2007 Reds Threat Level is Blue

by Slyde on Mar 6, 2007 10:21 AM EST up 0 recs

defeated by the toolbelt once again

"if you love the reds so much, why don't you marry them?"

by BobbyO on Mar 6, 2007 12:54 PM EST up 0 recs

Dude

It's not a toolbelt. It's a UTILITY belt. We don't call Ryan Freel a Tool Player, do we?

2007 Reds Threat Level is Blue

by Slyde on Mar 6, 2007 12:59 PM EST up 0 recs

I know about the advanced metrics

but of course Cy Young voters aren't considering them. And when the case for him is he led the league in wins and Ks, I think it's fair to respond on that level.

by Red Menace on Mar 6, 2007 1:19 PM EST up 0 recs

Damn good article.

Stark and Peter Gammons both talk about Harang with some degree of regularity, but he goes virtually unmentioned by everyone else.

by Geki on Mar 6, 2007 12:56 AM EST 0 recs

my favorite part:

"He's as far under the radar as any player I've ever played with," (Bronson) Arroyo said. "In fact, I'll tell you the truth: When I came here, they said, 'You'll be the No. 2, behind Aaron Harang.' And I said, 'Who?'"

And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.

by boobs on Mar 6, 2007 1:21 AM EST 0 recs

that's awesome

wow, really. it's amazing. i hope if he ever starts getting recognition it doesn't mess up his game.

Still haven't found what I'm looking for.

by Daedalus on Mar 6, 2007 9:37 AM EST up 0 recs

Probably a blessing for us Reds fans anyway...

The lack of recognition for Harang probably drove his price down for his long-term contract. In the end, as a fan, I make the trade (greater name recognition for Harang for lower salary) in a heartbeat.

Don't mind me...just thinking positive and pitching to contact, that's all...

by Paul Householder on Mar 6, 2007 10:14 AM EST 0 recs