 |
 |
|
2-1, 2.37 |
1-1, 2.37 |
what an unusual pitching pairing. as i noted back in december, byung-hyun kim is one of the very few precedents for the braden looper experiment --- ie, one of the few career relievers to convert to a starting role midcareer. the comparison's holding up pretty well so far, at a superficial level anyway:
| career ERA relief |
career ERA starter |
|
|---|---|---|
| kim | 3.51 | 4.81 |
| looper | 3.57 | 4.72 |
looper is hanging in there as a starting pitcher, but one of the major points of skepticism about this conversion --- would he have the stamina??? --- is proving to be more than justified. after 50 pitches, looper hits the wall:
| ab | hr | so | avg | obp | slg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pitches 1 - 50 | 196 | 2 | 27 | .219 | .271 | .301 |
| pitches 51 - up | 170 | 7 | 16 | .335 | .403 | .524 |
all hurlers tend to fare worse as their pitch counts mount, but this split is off the charts. after the 2d time through the order, looper should be pulled at the first sign of trouble.