FanNation

Hey it's Dyhard's baseball chatter coming to ya again, talking about baseball. I'm horrible at introductions, so I'm going to get right to the blog.

Brandon Webb got his 8th win this week in 8 starts. He is 8-0 with a 2.41 ERA and 41 strikeouts. He has a good WHIP which is 1.00. He is a very good pitcher, and has helped the Arizona Diamondbacks be the best team in baseball at the moment. Best pitcher in the MLB is Brandon Webb, and he has proved that with his team.

Another pitcher who has surprised a lot of people is Ervin Santana. He is 6-0, in 7 starts, with a 2.02 ERA. He has 38 strikeouts, and 0.88 WHIP and has 1 shutout/complete game. He is a very good pitcher, and is surprising a lot of people with his talent this year. He is showing that he is able to pitch, and is helping the Angels pitching staff, as they also have Joe Saunders on their team.

Joe Saunders is 6-0, in 7 starts, with a 2.61 ERA, 21 strikeouts and a 1.10 WHIP. Betweeen Santana and Saunders, they are 12-0 in 14 starts. They are leading this Angels team, even though they don't have John Lackey, due to injury. This is a big plus for the Angels if they want to win the division. They need the other pitchers to step up when their ace goes down.

 Cliff Lee is surprising a ton of people. He is 6-0 in 6 starts, with an amazing 0.81 ERA, and 39 strikeouts, with an amazing 0.60 WHIP. He is a top pitcher in the MLB, and is talked about in the same conversations with Webb is. He is really helping the Indians with their top 2 pitchers, Sabathia and Carmona, not performing like last year.

Sabathia is 2-5, with a 6.55 ERA, with a 1.68 WHIP, but has quite a bit of strikeouts, 46. He is the "ace" of this staff and he should be performing better. A lot of people are surprised by how bad he is doing this year. He won the AL Cy Young Award last year, and after that great year, he has fallen down from the top.

Another guy who is struggling, who could've won the AL Cy Young Award last year is Josh Beckett. He isn't struggling that bad, but his ERA is high for a top pitcher in the MLB. He has a 3.70 ERA, but his WHIP is at 0.96, which is good for a pitcher. His WHIP is lower than Webb's. Beckett is 4-2 with 42 strikeouts. He isn't doing horrible this year, but not top pitcher caliber, excluding the WHIP.

As I was talking about Fauston Carmona earlier, he isn't doing terrible, but he has had 7 starts, and only a 3-1 record to show for it. He has a 2.95 ERA, but has a very small amount of strikeouts (15). His WHIP isn't good at all, as it comes in at 1.79. Not good for a pitcher who did well last year. People are starting to think that last year was a fluke year, and that he isn't as good as a pitcher as everyone thought last year.

Jason Isringhausen has 11 saves, which is good. One downfall for him is that he has 5 blown saves, and tied for the MLB lead in blown saves with Eric Gagne of the Brewers. Isringhausen's ERA is HUGE for a closer, and it is at 7.47. Not good at all, and compared to Gagne, who has 9 saves, but a 6.14 ERA. Eric Gagne is 1-1, while Isringhausen is 1-4. Isringhausen has 17 strikeouts and a 1.72 WHIP. Gagne has 17 strikeouts, and a 1.70 WHIP, which is better than Isringhausen. Isringhausen has more saves, but for who is the better closer, I would go with Eric Gagne for these simple reasons. Isringhausen has been removed from the closers' role. 5 blown saves is unacceptable this early in the season.

Well...that is it for me. I hope you enjoyed reading this. Take time to comment please and whatever you have to say, I will look at. Thanks for reading.