 |
 |
|
4-13, 5.72 |
1-2, 2.64 |
the nationals have used 13 starting pitchers this season, including waiver-wire fodder like jason simontaachi, mike bascik, jerome williams, micah bowie, and tonight's starter, tim redding (career era+: 87). they have a rookie manager and unheralded pitching coach (betcha can't name him). their leader in innings pitched is rookie matt chico. ray king is the team's leading LOOGY.
terrible group of hurlers. yet somehow they've posted an era half a run better than dave n tony's cardinal staff. it's certainly not because the nats have more talented arms --- they are at least as ability-deprived as the cardinal moundsmen --- and it isn't a ballpark illusion, either: busch iii and rfk have the same ballpark factor (98), and the teams have nearly identical home era's (washington 4.18, st louis 4.19). but the nats' era on the road is 5.01, vs the cards' 5.53 . . . . . .
i know our manager and pitching coach are, like, the best and everything, but it bothers me that their rag-tags are getting outperformed so badly by the rag-tags from dc. if the cardinals had simply pitched at the level of simontaachi et al, they'd probably be over .500 right now and right in the thick of postseason contention.