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This just in: Joe Torre plans on batting Matt Kemp in the ninth spot, thus giving his pitchers more at-bats in the eight hole. I kid, I kid.
In the wake of Brad Lidge's long overdue implosion, I think we all have to recognize just how lucky Lidge owners were last year. Do I think Lidge is a very good fantasy reliever? Absolutely. Do I think he's elite? No. Nor is he elite in real life. Look at his WHIP. It was what, 1.2ish last year? That's not elite. He walks way too many guys, something like a batter every other inning. Kouzmanoff's three-run blast against Lidge was preceded by two walks. Walks are killers.
Consider Jonathan Sanchez's last start. As a Sanchez owner, you'd think I'd be happy at his six innings, 1.0 WHIP, shut-out performance. Well, his performance was kind of like Jaime Koeppe's ass:
Looks great, right? Couldn't be better! Then you start to think about it more. About the logistics and difficult angles of utilization, of upkeep, of maintenance, of long-term performance ... suddenly there are problems. As a Sanchez owner, I'm still very worried. Why? He walked four guys in six innings. He's actually walking more people this year as opposed to last. If he was playing anyone other than the ice-cold, free-swinging Diamondbacks, that could have easily been a disaster. And, if he keeps this up, he's going to end up with a similar stat line this year.
You can't give a ton of free passes and maintain elite ratios. About the only exception I could find was Carlos Marmol. Lidge's BAA for the last few years is just above .200. Marmol's last year was .135. That's how Marmol can get away with walking so many guys. But when his stuff starts to go, watch out. Historically speaking, walks are the reason that Nolan Ryan was a .500 pitcher for a lot of years and why I would have picked Steve Carlton or Tom Seaver over him any day of the week.
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