Mike Stanton Is Worse Than His ERA Would Lead You To Believe

I happened to check out the box score from yesterday's win, and was shocked to see Mike Stanton's ERA under 5.00. Well under. Under 4.50 even.

He's currently sitting at 4.38 which just shocked the hell out of me because that's pretty average, and average is not a word I'd use to describe Mike Stanton's performance this season.

But then I figured maybe I'm just remembering all the bad outings and mentally glossing over the good ones. That's entirely possible. I kind of believe it's why so many people hate Adam Dunn.

But then I did a little more digging. Stanton has appeared in 32 games this season, a huge number for someone who's performed so poorly. We've seen him in every other game essentially.

Here are the stats that stood out to me that show what a mess the guy has been this season:

• Out of his 32 appearances Stanton has failed to record a single out five times.
• He's allowed more than one hit 10 times. Three times he's allowed only one hit but also walked at least one batter. So more than a third of the time Stanton has appeared he's allowed multiple baserunners.
• His WHIP is 1.62.
• Stanton has allowed nine out of 24 inherited runners to score. This is extremely high, but I'm surprised it wasn't higher. Last year he only allowed 12 of 59 to score, the year before that 8 of 42.

Just a few things to remember because if he continues his recent success his ERA will soon be dropping under 4.00, and Narron will continue to use him as much as possible. Maybe the guy just had a bad month, but I can't see myself ever feeling comfortable seeing him come in in the late innings of a close game given the above. And I can't help but laugh every time I remember he's a Cincinnati Red through next season.