stuff

BadCo · May 3, 2009

Selected notes for Sunday: Obviously we like Mr. Billingsley in the "Battle of the Chads," and the 6-3 record and 2.43 ERA certainly are strong reasons for that. …

Carlos Zambrano is 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA against the Marlins in his career, and might well provide his own run support, as he's batting .286 for good measure. …

Yes Brad Penny's ERA is pretty high, but James Shields traditionally struggles against Boston (2-5, 5.59 ERA), so Penny might have a lead to work with. …

John Maine is 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA against the Phillies, and Joe Blanton isn't exactly Cy Young Award material. …

We still have faith in Ricky Nolasco, although we admit there's little statistical support right now for our position. …

Scott Baker has been awful in 2009, but with the expected return of Joe Mauer behind the plate this weekend, we're hoping he'll be more like the Baker of old, who is 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA against the Royals in his career. …

John Lannan might not beat Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals, but he does have a career 2.84 ERA against St. Louis in his career. …

We're not quite buying Johnny Cueto just yet, but we won't be surprised if he beats Jeff Karstens, who is 1-5 with a 5.06 ERA at PNC Park. …

And finally, let's discuss Justin Verlander. He's 4-10 with a 6.70 ERA against the Tribe in his career, and 0-3 with an 8.62 ERA in his past three starts against Cleveland. He very well could be placed lower than No. 21 on our list with that track record.

BadCo · May 3, 2009

The Washington starter Lannan has been excellent in his last 3 starts posting a 1.96 ERA with all 3 going under the total. The Nationals have ony gone over the total 2 times in their last 12 games. The Cardinals are hitting a dismal .207 as a team versus left-handed pitching on the road. The Cardinals have only gone over the total 8 times in their last 30 games versus a left-handed starting pitcher. The last 23 games played between these two clubs at Washington has seen just 8 go over the total. The Cardinals starter Lohse enters the game in stellar form posting a 2.81 ERA over his last 3 starts.

The Toronto starter Richmond enters the game in terrific form off of his last 3 starts posting a 1.86 ERA while going 3-0 in the process. The Blue jays have dominated the Orioles in recent times going 13-3 in the last 6 meetings and 8-1 in the last 9 at home. The Orioles are 11-40 in their last 51 games on Sundays. The Baltimore starter Guthrie enters the game in terrible form off of his last 3 starts posting a 1.91 WHIP and a 7.47 ERA. The Jays have been a profitable 29-11 in their last 40 games as a favorite.

How do you have a 2-2 record with an ERA of 1.69? You play for the Astros, that's how. They are not hitting the ball well and especially verses lefties on the road this year at just .167. Wandy is likely to give us a nice start and Reyes is likely to have a decent outing as well. The Braves are OK at striking Southpaws but most recently they are not and over the last 10 are well below the .225 mark. Both Pens performing very well right now as well, and especially Atlanta's which has amassed a 1.29 ERA over the last 10 played.

Zito, who was once 23-5, is better than that though and he's been showing signs that he's going to be better this year, at least when he pitches here at home. Last time out, Zito held the Dodgers to just five hits and three runs through 6 1/3 innings. He was even better in his previous start. In that outing, which was also here at home, he tossed seven shutout innings, limiting the Padres to six hits. Note that he had 5 K's and 0 walks. The Giants won 1-0 but once again, he didn't get the decision. Either way, that gives him an impressive 2.03 ERA and 1.05 WHIP at home, averaging better than six innings per start.

Hammel, who struggled in the bullpen, has an awful 12.00 ERA and 3.33 WHIP. In his lone start, he gave up seven hits, three walks and five runs (4 earned) in just three innings. Hammel will be supported by a Colorado bullpen which entered the series with an ugly 5.43 ERA, including 5.44 on the road. That doesn't compare favorably to San Francisco's bullpen which entered the series with a 3.44 ERA at home. Zito has pitched very well vs. the Rockies over his career, posting a 2.57 ERA in seven starts against them. His team won five of those game. In his last three starts vs. the Rockies, he allowed just five earned runs through 23 innings, which is a 1.96 ERA