you're right, the era is a product of small sample size...except it should be bigger, not smaller. he has a 1.50 WHIP. he has not been good. and no, his whip isn't higher because of hits. it's higher because of hits and walks. like i said, the main reason dempster was suddenly good last season was because his control was much better than it had been the rest of his career. i was skeptical that he could carry that into another season after a contract year. so far he has had terrible control in both of his first 2 starts. he's not going to be a good pitcher with control like that. he's on pace for like 100+ walks so far. i'm not saying i'm giving up on him or that he sucks or anything like that yet, i was just pointing out that so far, he hasn't been good. hopefully he turns it around.