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| An 0-4 ace pitcher?!? |
For
the Chicago White Sox’ sake, they had better hope such logic is applied.
Because this is the team supposedly in a building mode that has made it clear
their Number One pitcher these days is up for trade.
THEY’RE
HOPING EVENTUALLY to find someone eager enough to acquire Jose Quintaña that
they’ll give up a lot of talent. Perhaps a team that thinks one more quality
pitcher will help them win a championship in 2017 – while the White Sox focus
on what could take place in 2019 or 2020.
Until
then, Quintaña pitches for the White Sox, taking the ball every fifth game and
tries to do his best to pitch the White Sox to V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.
But
while the White Sox as a team have managed thus far to win about half of their
ballgames (making them mediocre rather than lousy), Quintaña has statistically
been a flop. Unless you factor statistics other than “games won” into the
equation.
For
Quintaña in 2017 has a record of 0-4. In four starts (including the first game
of the season against the Detroit Tigers), he has managed to be the losing
pitcher of record. Not usually the kind of guy who’d get featured on Jimmy
Fallon’s late night TV talk show (the two spoke in Spanish about who would pay
for a thong)!
BUT
IT’S GETTING to the point where some White Sox fans may start dreading the
appearance of their alleged top pitcher because they’re figuring there will be enough
losses in ’17 – we don’t need to give up on ballgames before they even start.
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| Jose will face pitchers like Kluber all season |
Of course, it should be noted that Quintaña is facing a decades-old phenomenon of being a ball club’s top pitcher – he pitches in the rotation against the other ball club’s “ace.” How much better would one-time Chicago Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins’ record be if he hadn’t always had to pitch against Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal or Bob Gibson – Hall of Famers all!
In
Quintaña’s most recent ballgame on Friday, he pitched and lost to the defending
American League champion Cleveland Indians, who had their own ace Corey Kluber
pitching.
Quintana
gave up three runs, and under different circumstances that might not have been
so bad.
 |
| Too bad Fergie couldn't pitch against Cubs |
BUT ON FRIDAY, it stunk because Kluber used the night game as an occasion to pitch shutout ball. 3-0 was the final score. But the CBS Sports account of the ballgame made a point of calling the game Quintaña’s second quality start of the season.
Even
though the other two ballgames he pitched are to blame for that earned run
average of over 6. Better for people to focus on the BABIP for this season of
.293 – which is the batting average of balls hit in play while Quintaña
pitches.
It
actually is better than the .304 figure he has during the length of his
professional ballplaying career.
He
also has managed to strike out 20 batters during his four starts, where he
lasted 23 1/3 innings in all.
THE
SPORTING NEWS recently published a commentary arguing that “pitcher wins and
losses are stupid stats” and that baseball fans should “banish” them from their
discussions about the game.
As
one who’d like to see Quintaña be turned over for something of quality to wear
a White Sox uniform in coming seasons, I can only hope others take that line of
logic seriously.
Because the bottom line of "wins" and "losses can be deceptive. I still remember the Wilbur Wood of the early-to-mid 1970s White Sox, who had a three-season stretch where he lost 17, 20 and 19 games. But he also won 22, 24 and 24 and in one season also had the earned run average of 2.51. He was doing something right in order to keep being used to pitch despite so many losses.
Which likely is to be Quintaña’s fate for 2017 – he’ll keep throwing until he’s traded. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could get at least one “W” on his record before that moment. Perhaps his next start Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals before the Sox begin a road trip to Detroit, Kansas City and Baltimore?
 |
| Some of the strangest stats ever seen! |
Because the bottom line of "wins" and "losses can be deceptive. I still remember the Wilbur Wood of the early-to-mid 1970s White Sox, who had a three-season stretch where he lost 17, 20 and 19 games. But he also won 22, 24 and 24 and in one season also had the earned run average of 2.51. He was doing something right in order to keep being used to pitch despite so many losses.
Which likely is to be Quintaña’s fate for 2017 – he’ll keep throwing until he’s traded. But wouldn’t it be nice if he could get at least one “W” on his record before that moment. Perhaps his next start Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals before the Sox begin a road trip to Detroit, Kansas City and Baltimore?
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