Rotation
2006: Roger Clemens, Al Leiter, Jake Peavy, Dontrelle Willis
2009: Jake Peavy, Roy Oswalt, John Lackey
It’s hard to believe, but Leiter somehow made the staff. It’s also hard to believe that three of the four pitchers listed in 2006 are either out of the game or simply ineffective. Of course, Oswalt, Peavy, and Lackey had down years, but even still come within a run of the 2006 staff. Oh, and that’s with one less pitcher, and without a 5.3 win pitcher in Clemens. Assuming the U.S.A. team adds a non-Paul Byrd starter to the mix, it seems safe to give the nod to the ’09 “rotation”.
Overall advantage: 2009
Individual advantage: 2006
Bullpen
2006: Chad Cordero, Brian Fuentes, Todd Jones, Brad Lidge, Gary Majewski, Scot Shields, Mike Timlin, Huston Street, Dan Wheeler
2009: Scot Shields, J.J. Putz, B.J. Ryan, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Lindstrom, Matt Thornton, Joe Nathan, Brian Fuentes
Yikes, look at the flamethrowers in that 09 bullpen. Nathan is better now than he was then while the opposite is true for Shields. Fuentes has remained relatively static. Outside of Nathan, none of the new relievers are quite equal to 2006’s Lidge, but that’s not to say the pen is poor, in fact it beats the ’06 unit 16.9 to 14.7. Perhaps the most fun thing about this bullpen will be all of these superb relievers without roles defining them. Joe Nathan entering in the 6th when the tying run is at third and there’s one out should be a bit more realistic in this tournament setting, and that’s pretty intriguing.
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Overall advantage: 2009
Individual advantage: Tie.
So we’ve covered each of the positions, has team U.S.A upgraded? Well, almost. Team wide win values:
2006 – 84.8
2009 – 84.35
That’s right, despite having six fewer players, the new U.S. gathering rates within a half of a win of the 2006 team. Encouraging for those rooting for them. Now, if only they’ll play Rollins in place of Jeter.
Forgive me for being an English teacher, but it should be “six fewer players” not “six less players.” Less is a volume word; fewer is for numbers.
Fixed, thanks.
You’re welcome.
Would you like a hero cookie JasonL, everyone knows what it being said here and no one needs an english session so irrelevalt, give me a break, pal.
Thanks for that NaET. You certainly embiggened this thread with your perfectly cromulent statement.
Proper grammar and spelling help make discussions easier to follow, arguments more coherent and clear, and people are more likely to take you seriously.
Back to the WBC … did Halladay and Cliff Lee decline? I admit I haven’t followed the list of players that decided not to participate or teams that told their players they can’t participate.
NaET,
It’s a pet peeve of mine. On a site that is devoted to statistical analysis, I didn’t think anyone would mind a little additional linguistic precision. There’s nothing wrong with increasing your knowledge. I love this site, it’s probably my favorite baseball site. I apologize if I offended you somehow.
You never offended me but to point out the difference between “less” and “fewer” is pretty pointless, as to the average person they’re looked at as practically the same thing. Also, i’d be the first to tell you that I didn’t know that ,”Less is a volume word; fewer is for numbers”. I geuss it’s alright to correct an error but for it to be so irrelevant doesn’t make it a big deal
Well, I was trying to be polite, but I suppose now I’ll just point out that the difference is that one is correct and the other is not. As was pointed out by someone else, correct grammar and word usage will cause you to be taken more seriously. In any case, the poster of the article appreciated it enough to make the correction. That’s the last I’ll say about it, as I would rather read about baseball.
Well somebody certainly has an overinflated sense of self-importance, don’t they?
Man Craig, I just pointed out a grammar error. I don’t know why everyone is getting so worked up. Okay, now I’m really done.
The only person I see getting worked up is you.
If you’re not going to eat that Hero Cookie, would you mind passing it around?
oh you spelled guess wrong, now that I got the most important thing out of the way, GO USA!
i thought it was a cool little fact… im gland to know the difference…
that said, i speak in sentence fragments and use lots of…
ok, has this happened on enough threads yet to be taken seriously as an issue? Anybody?
Yeah, the comments really are going downhill. I don’t know what you can really do about it though.