<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jon_Vilma @ Apr 4 2007, 08:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You can't hold K's against Wang. He's not a K pitcher. He's a stone-ball thrower. He throws to force people to ground out. Either you hit a dribbler into the infield, or you let the K go through... so players swing and hit it, and ground ball to Jeter.... He's not a K pitcher because he doesn't try to be, not because he sucks.I'll give you his wins were more than they should have been. He should have only won 16 or 17 games last year. But that's still pretty good. And the lineup wil save 2 or 3 games for him this year as well.I never said Pettitte would be stellar, just better than RJ was last year. It's at the very least a wash. I ike Burnett, but I never liked Beckett. I smiled when the Red Sox signed him.Pavano will be better than our 5th starter last year..... no one for half a season and Lidle's 5+ ERA the 2nd half. Which I already said.</div>My point with Wang was simply that he lets a high number of Runners on Base (As shown by his high WHIP and BAA), and then from there that he allows a high number of hitters to make contact (As shown by his low K/9). With rates like those, It's only a matter of time before a couple of balls find a hole and teams manage to start to be able to string some hits togeather with him and when that happens his ERA will rise significantly. The only similar pitcher with Similar Rates I could even find to compare him to is Jake Westbrook (Groundballer with high BAA/Contact Rates and low K Rates). And while he is a Good Pitcher with Flashes of Brilliance, he isn't exactly Ace Worthy.
the difference is: when you hit wangs ball, it goes down. in to the dirt. so balls are rarely hit hard enough to slip by. He also has displayed the ability to get Ks when he needs, and he gets double plays at an otherwordly rate.
