Stauffer	Pineiro
4.09 FIP	2.94 FIP

What more needs to be said about Pineiro, except that he's almost become the forgotten man in the Cards' rotation as everyone talks about how great Wainwright and Carpenter have been. They've been great, to be sure, and there's little doubt that, if the playoffs started today, they'd be pitching the first 2 games w/ Pineiro in the 3rd but Joel has the 2nd best FIP of the 3 and has the most RAR and WAR of the 3. Think it can't continue? tra* disagrees as his is the 4th best in the majors.

Stauffer's been terrific since being called up from AAA. His ERA's just 2.90 but his FIP is still a hair over 4. His K/BB is 2.67 and his BABIP is right around league average. He's not a hard thrower; his fastball is averaging just 89.7 mph this season. He's got a slider, a curve and a change as well. There's nothing that stands out in his splits except that batters have an .852 OPS in pitches 1-25 and an .848 OPS in pitches 51-75. He's been much tougher from pitches 26-50 (.730 OPS). Maybe we can hang a couple on him early, and then again in the 4th and 5th and get into the bullpen.