Stranded

The Tigers came crashing home last night, losing 10-2, which wasn’t totally unexpected, given the 3 emotional games they played in Minnesota and the fact they were facing KC’s best pitcher, Gil Meche. The Royals are playing better ball, too. They’re “just” 11 games under .500 and on pace for 72 wins (I figured 70-75 wins for them in April). There are 7 teams in MLB with a worse record than KC, and the White Sox and O’s are only a game better than the Royals. KC is 31-27 since May 12.

I happened to be checking out the Royals’ stats and noticed Jimmy Gobble was having a pretty nice season. He’s 4-1 with a save and 2.67 ERA. Then, I noticed his BAA is .292 and his WHIP is 1.60. Those numbers don’t seem conducive to a sparkling ERA, so I realized he must be letting a lot of inherited runners cross the plate. And lo and behold, he has permitted 13 of 38 inherited runners to score. Last year, he allowed 12 of 48 for the season. So his pretty nice season is somewhat deceptive.

Speaking of inherited runners, I noticed the Cubs have two of MLB’s best in stranding runners: Carlos Marmol and Michael Wuertz. Marmol has been lights out this season, giving up just 20 hits and 5 runs in 33.2 IP. He’s got 45 K and 14 BB. He’s 2-1 with 1 save and 6 holds. His ERA is 1.34. He has stranded 19 of 20 inherited runners. Wuertz has struggled in recent weeks, but still has stranded 22 of 23 IR.