Kuzul

Some things in life you just cannot explain. 

Things like: How does lint get in my belly button? How do ugly musicians marry supermodels? And, how in the world is Jamie Moyer, 47, still winning baseball games at the Major League level?

After last night’s seven-hit, one-strikeout, complete-game performance against the San Diego Padres, in a 6-2 victory, Moyer continues to be a phenomenon.

The win was Moyer’s 264^th of his 24-year career and his 100^th victory after turning 40 (an accomplishment only reached by Jack Quinn and Phil Niekro).

This season, Moyer is 6-5 with a 3.98 ERA (career ERA is 4.21) and is still striking out batters—which he did last night against Padres’ outfielder Oscar Salazar with a 75-mph fastball, or change-up (it’s hard to tell the difference).

The most impressive thing about Moyer is he is not Nolan Ryan pitching into his mid-to late 40’s. Ryan retired at age 46.

This is Moyer, who at times gets his brain beaten in, but has compiled a winning record in four of his last five seasons.

Moyer’s 620 starts are first among all active pitchers. Second is Andy Pettitte with 468. Moyer needs just six more starts to pass Jim Kaat for 16^th all time.

The Pennsylvania native has pitched most of his career in Seattle. In 11 seasons, Moyer went 145-87 with a 3.97 ERA and made the 2003 All-Star.

Midway through the 2006 season, the Mariners shipped Moyer, a 5.5 million dollar salad tosser, to the Phillies for two minor league prospects.

At the time, it made sense to the Seattle brass to move Moyer, who made eight million dollars in 2005. However, his career was far from over.

Since arriving in Philadelphia, Moyer has gone 53-36 with a 4.44 ERA and is still making eight million dollars a season.

His 33 complete games are third among active pitchers—teammate Roy Halladay has 54, and Washington’s Livan Hernandez sits at 48.

Each preseason fantasy owners go through their “sleeper” picks. Each season, owners bypass Moyer because they think this will be the year he stops becoming a dependable option.

“If I can contribute this year in a healthy way in innings, I’m going to want to continue to play,” Moyer told radio host Dan Patrick on May 1^st.

Moyer said he could see himself pitching into his fifties.

This means a few more seasons of bypassing Moyer in the 20^th round. And a few more seasons of trying to solve the life mystery that is Jamie Moyer.

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Jamie Moyer is still an effective major league pitcher.

And it’s still perfectly clear that National League lineups aren’t even close to catching up to the 47-year-old craftsman.

But over Moyer’s past three starts, it seems that the law of averages certainly has…

Jamie is suddenly losing games that he has pitched well enough to win. The incredible, coincidental run support that Moyer has received every fifth day from August 2006 through mid-May 2010 in Philadelphia simply isn’t there anymore.

The Phils have been shut out in each of Moyer’s past three games.

In Moyer’s three starts between May 2 and May 14, the Phillies scored a ridiculous 26 runs in his 21 innings on the mound (Moyer won each of those starts). Now, the Phillies haven’t scored in his last 21 innings.

But Jamie’s not the only Phillies pitcher dealing with a lack of offensive support these days. For example, Roy Halladay has received just two runs in his last 24 innings (and one of those runs was unearned).

It’s logical to think that receiving run support has come naturally for all Phillies pitchers over the past several seasons—that, in the long run, all pitchers receive roughly the same offensive backing.

However, the numbers seem to indicate that Moyer has been granted way more than his fair share of support since joining the club in 2006.

For example, Moyer has a 52-36 record with a 4.49 ERA in 113 games as a Phillie. Yet teammate Cole Hamels has an almost identical 53-37 record and a 3.68 ERA with the Phillies in 126 games.

Hamels has virtually the same Phillies career record as Moyer despite an ERA that is over three-quarters of a run lower.

Moyer is still virtually the same pitcher he was back in 2004, except he’s pitching for a much, much better team. In his 90 starts for the Seattle Mariners between ’04 and ’06, Jamie had a 4.64 ERA and a sub-.500 record of just 26-32.

Yet Moyer is 16 games over .500 with the Phillies, despite a very similar ERA of 4.49.  

Another comparison of Moyer and Hamels’ statistics reveals more of the same. In seven of his 32 starts in 2009, Hamels gave up three runs or fewer but did not get a win. Moyer had only two such games during his 25 starts last season.

In ’08, Hamels pitched a remarkable 10 games where he gave up two earned runs or fewer and DID NOT get a win. Yet his record was still 14-10.

In 2010, the Phillies have scored seven or more runs in all five of Moyer’s wins. Again, the Phillies have scored just two runs or fewer in three of Halladay’s seven wins.

Of course, the usually dependable run support for Jamie Moyer has been nowhere to be found in his past three starts. The lefty has pitched very well over that span but has seen his record fall to 5-5.

Bummer…

Guess all good things really do come to an end.

***Below is a list of the winningest pitchers since the start of 2007 (complete through May 31, 2010). Moyer is the only pitcher on this list to have an ERA above 4.00. His ERA is over 4.50. Jamie’s in some pretty good company…

Roy Halladay               60-31   2.96

CC Sabathia                 59-28   3.18

Justin Verlander          53-37   3.93

Adam Wainwright        51-26   3.04

Dan Haren                  50-31   3.40

Josh Beckett               50-24   3.97

Johan Santana            48-31   2.98

Derek Lowe                48-39   4.00

John Lackey               47-25   3.61

A.J. Burnett                47-29   3.90

Jamie Moyer             47-34   4.51

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Baseball is a sport unlike others when it comes to age. If you’re 40 and a basketball player, you’re done unless you have extreme ability or are just playing a few minutes a game. If you’re 40 and a football player, you’re either retired, a kicker/punter, or Brett Favre.

Regularly though, ballplayers will play well into their 40s, and play well at that. Julio Franco hung around forever, as did Nolan Ryan.

There are currently ten ballplayers over 40 who have been active this season. How many will continue their trend and play until 42, 45, even a bit further?

Begin Slideshow

Moving into interleague play, the Philadelphia Phillies are off to a hot start toward a third consecutive World Series appearance. Is it too soon to start rating the Phillies’ players’ performance? Perhaps, but I’d like to try anyway.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your early-season 2010 Philadalphia Phillies MVPs.

Begin Slideshow

For once, Jamie Moyer knows what it takes to pitch well and lose. Oh, the irony.

Moyer was brilliant for the Phillies as they faced the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night, allowing only two earned runs on four hits and one walk in seven innings, while striking out seven and lowering his ERA to 4.30, in the rematch of the teams that faced each other back in 1986 when Moyer made his major league debut against Steve Carlton.

Moyer, who has spent the vast majority of his Phillies career collecting wins despite giving up four to six runs per game, found himself on the losing end of a pitchers’ duel with Tom Gorzelanny of the Cubs. 

Gorzelanny scattered three hits and two walks over six and two-thirds scoreless innings while striking out five.  The Phillies failed to capitalize on an inning and a third of John Grabow and Carlos Zambrano, two of the worst performing Cubs of the 2010 season, scoring only one run off of Grabow.  Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth for his seven save.

This marks the second night in a row that the usually high-powered Phillies offense failed to take advantage of a gem from one of their starting pitchers; on Tuesday night, Roy Halladay took the loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates despite a complete game effort during which he allowed only two runs.

Meanwhile, both the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals won tonight, picking up a game each in the standings. The Phils now lead the Marlins by three games and the Nationals by four. 

The Nationals also got good news from Triple-A Syracuse, as Stephen Strasburg pitched six and a third scoreless innings, striking out nine, walking two and allowing three hits.  Strasburg has yet to give up a run at Triple-A in 18 and a third innings.

Meanwhile, this was the Phillies third game since the return of Jimmy Rollins, and the Phils are now 1-2 in those games. 

In Rollins’ first game back, the Phillies won 12-2, but they have scored only three runs in the two games since then. 

Curiously, Rollins has batted third in two of these games and tonight he batted sixth.  During the last two games, Shane Victorino has batted leadoff and gone 1-for-8.

The ability of the Philadelphia Phillies to annually be one of the elite offensive teams in baseball despite having a leadoff man in Rollins with a .330 on-base percentage has always been befuddling, but for whatever reason, it has always worked.  So, here’s an idea – why don’t we move Rollins back to the top of the order, move Victorino back to seventh, and enjoy the rest of the season?

The Phillies play the Cubs in a business man’s special tomorrow at Citizens’ Bank Park at 1:05pm. 

The Phils will send Joe Blanton to the mound to face off against Ryan Dempster.  Hopefully Blanton can get some run support and avoid the same fate as Roy Halladay and—as odd as this is to say—Jamie Moyer by losing a well-pitched game.

Asher B. Chancey is the co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

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1) Dallas Braden Oak

9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, Win and 0.00 ERA

Dallas Braden tossed only the 19th perfect game in major league baseball history on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Braden is only 63 percent owned in most fantasy leagues actually saw his ownership decrease 8.4 percent.

His 8.4 percent drop rate is likely due to losing his last two starts prior to this week’s perfect game.

Braden currently holds a 4-2 record with twenty-eight strike outs and a 3.33 ERA this season.

2) Jamie Moyer Phi

9.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, Win and 0.00 ERA.

Moyer is the oldest player in major league history to record a shutout.

His ownership stock however didn’t rise with his accomplishment as he is only owned by 3 percent and saw a 1.7 percent increase.

3) Jered Weaver LAA

7.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, Win and 0.00 ERA

Weaver flirted with a no-hitter until it was broken up by Ken Griffey Jr. in the seventh inning.

Weaver’s stock has gone up considerably since the start of the 2010 season.

He has a 4-1 record, forty-seven strike outs, and a 2.66 ERA for the season.

4) Jon Garland SD

7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, Win and 0.00 ERA.

Garland had a stellar outing making this victory his third straight win.

The San Diego pitcher has a 4-2 record, twenty-five strike outs, and has a 1.71 ERA overall this season

Garland is 56 percent owned and saw a giant jump in ownership with 37 percent increase.

5) Brian Burres Pit

7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, Win and 0.00 ERA,

The Pittsburgh pitcher looks to have earned the fifth spot on the Pirates’ rotation with two impressive outings.

Zero percent ownership is an indication that no one has noticed his recent success. Burres is a risk to pick-up from the free agency due to a high ERA history.

6) David Price TB

7.2 IP, 3 H, 4 BB, 6 K, Win, and 0.00 ERA

Price’s overall season has been top notch with a 4-1 record, thirty-three strikeouts, and a 1.91 ERA.

7) Mat Latos SD

8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 9 K, Win, and 0.00 ERA

Latos has a 2-3 record, twenty-six, and a 4.19 overall this season, but it looks like he is turning it around.

Latos is 52 percent owned and saw a 1.5 percent increase with this week’s production.

8) Ubaldo Jimenez Col

7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, Loss, and 1.29 ERA

This week Jimenez was given a loss despite only allowing two hits and one run. His performance on the mound was as good as any this season regardless of the Rockies inability to provide run support.

There isn’t anyone hotter than Ubaldo Jimenez. In April he has been a highlight reel.

This season he has a 6-1 record, 49 strike outs, and a .093 ERA.

He has been dominant and threw the first no-hitter in Colorado history on April 17th .

9) Jon Lester Bos

15 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 12 K, 2 Wins, AND 1.80 ERA

The Boston hurler put in two starts this week and when the dust settled he appeared to be the only reliable Red Sox starter to date.

Lester put in 15 innings on the hill and looked impressive against the Yankees.

10) Adam Wainwright StL

14.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 13 ER, Win, AND 1.93 ERA

Wainwright battled with Cole Hamels last week which resulted with a no-decision after an impressive outing.

He earned his fifth win this week giving him a 5-1 overall record with 43 strikeouts and a 2.08 ERA.

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Am I the only one who watched the New York Mets drop two out of three games to the Philadelphia Phillies this weekend?  I thought most people did, but apparently Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, and Orel Hershiser did not.

Normally, I would not care if three people did not watch the weekend series between National League East rivals, but when you are broadcasting a game Sunday night in the series you should pay attention to the previous games.

At the end of the game Sunday, the Phillies were about to wrap up an 11-5 victory which would give them the first series of the season against the Mets.  Yet, the ESPN crew in the booth (the three above) said the Mets have a lot of positives to take from the series.

What I do not understand is what positives do the Mets have to take?

They took the first game on Friday night facing Kyle Kendrick and his over-seven ERA.  The Mets were red hot and David Niese made sure it stayed that way, but positives and negatives of a whole series can not be taken into consideration on the first game against a pitcher with an ERA over seven.

The wind came out of the sails of the Mets on Saturday though, when the 2010 NL Cy Young Award winner, Roy Halladay, took the hill and had an easy day playing against the Mets for all nine, while only giving up three hits.  Meanwhile, Mike Pelfrey woke up and came back down to earth giving up six runs over four innings, while the Phils cruised to a 10-0 victory.

After getting blown-out on Saturday, the rubber game on Sunday became the biggest game of the early season, not just for the Mets, but in all of baseball.  You have the hottest team in baseball trying to prove they are going to challenge the big boys all season with their ace on the hill, if the Metropolitans wanted to prove something, they win Sunday night.

The game started out as planned for the team from Queens. They hit around 47-year-old Jamie Moyer for three runs in the first and then two more in the fourth, to have a 5-2 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. 

The game should have been considered over with the remaining innings played out just to say they did.  However, Santana and the Phillies had other ideas.  The only problem: Santana is on the Mets.

That brings us to the bottom of the fourth inning.  With two outs and Chase Utley standing on second base, Raul Ibanez drives him in with a base hit, Juan Castro single’s, Carlos Ruiz walks to load the bases for the never-dangerous pitcher Moyer, with a lifetime average of .133 and 13 career RBI (or just about one for every two years he has played).

Then the unthinkable happened, Moyer worked a seven-pitch walk forcing in a run, and bringing Shane Victorino to the plate.  The Flyin’ Hawaiian then sent a 0-1 fastball to the seats in right field for a grand slam giving the Phillies the lead.

The defending NL champions then showed the Mets who was boss in the NL East, extending the lead to six runs, and not looking back from there as the Mets did after the fourth inning.

So, can someone please tell me what positives the Mets can take away from this series? 

They beat up on the sixth-starter Kendrick for their lone win of the series. Then they only helped secure Roy Halladay’s NL Cy Young on Saturday.  Finally, their ace could not make it out of the fourth inning and got out-pitched by a 47-year-old on national television.

Gee, I know if I were the Phillies I would be shaking scared of the Mets. 

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