A Story of Two Rods

Standing among a crowd of dirty, drunken Jerseyites in a Hoboken bar — probably being one the most intoxicated there — I didn’t quite believe what I was seeing when A-Rod hit a walkoff homer in the 15th inning of a scoreless Red Sox-Yankees game. With the massive cheers and five-hiving occurring in the bar, I should have been sure, but I still had to ask my friends in the morning if that really happened. The entire night out seemed to have the game in the background, and it never changed. Arrive at the friend’s apartment, the game has started at 0-0; eat dinner and get refreshed at an Irish pub/restaurant, the score remains 0-0, go back to the apartment, still 0-0; stumble into a bar with a dozen TVs and a massive projector, still no score. Only after the night had already turned into a haze where everything started to blend into the background did the stalemate finally break, at which point I allowed my brain to blackout.

The Yankees pitching staff has done well for me in fantasy the past two days, what with a combined 15 and 1/3 scoreless innings from Burnett and Sabathia. Conversely, I’m glad that I don’t have K-Rod on either of my fantasy teams. I’m also glad I haven’t watched the past two Mets games, and Bobby Parnell’s first ML start is the only reason I’m tuning in at the moment.

K-Rod is regressing in a spectacular fashion. The first half of the year was not his true performance level, but even I didn’t expect him to have a stretch like this. Everyone was praising Minaya early this year for getting K-Rod at a “bargain” price, but it’s only going to look worse and worse as the contract runs its course, if this disturbing trend line continues:

Fangraphs

K-Rod’s XFIP by year:

2004: 2.63
2005: 2.97
2006: 3.22
2007: 3.53
2008: 3.71
2009: 4.27

XFIP, according to Hardball Times:

Expected Fielding Independent Pitching. This is an experimental stat that adjusts FIP and “normalizes” the home run component. Research has shown that home runs allowed are pretty much a function of flyballs allowed and home park, so xFIP is based on the average number of home runs allowed per outfield fly. Theoretically, this should be a better predicter of a pitcher’s future ERA.

So yeah, K-Rod is only going to get worse, so his signing can be put in the corner with Oliver Perez’s. Oh, and the Angels’ closer this year is tied for the league lead. Saves and closers as a whole are such a joke (except Mariano Rivera).

Related posts:

1. Francisco Rodriguez is Excited
2. My Trip to Yankee Stadium (A Week Ago)
3. MLB Playoffs Lightning Post #2