Wood Vs. Garland

[Wilson A2000]

Boers and Bernstein said today that Wood and Garland have similar numbers coming into 2005, yet Woody is heralded as an ace and Garland had to prove himslef in 2005 just to stay with the team another year. Wood definately has better stuff, but his injuries have kept him from becoming the pitcher he could be. But the fact is that Wood is at the top of the league in K's, opponents average, and usually walks unfortunately. He has been on the DL what, 8 times? Their W/L records are similar, but I really believe that Woody has had more bullpen blown games than Garland (take Woody's first start back, Rusch comes in, first pitch, homerrun, tie game...which is why there should be a rule change that if you are a reliever and give up the lead you can't win the game, the starter should). I can't believe B/B relied on the W/L record to size up the pitchers. Woody wins in WHIP and ERA drastically up until this year, two of the most important stats for a starter. W/L tends to explain offensive production more than how good a pitcher is.

 

That said, Garland looks like he has turned the corner!