Staff Infection?

Certainly, one of the great things about watch sports is that no matter what team you like someone will always have a different take on the same situation.  Just look at the recent trade deadline chatter. One person is saying Dom Brown is untouchable while another is saying unload him for middle relief help. For the most part, the Wriz will listen to anybody’s ideas as long as they can back it up with some sort of knowledgeable baseball logic. “Because he stinks” doesn’t support your argument. “Because he can’t hit rightys for shit” is sufficient as long as it’s accurate.

Whether you talking baseball or almost any other aspect of life, The Wriz respects those who think for themselves. By all means, you may take information from whatever source you deem useful but ultimately rationalize the information and come to your own conclusion.

I know this is some deep thinking kinda shit. I know it’s not what you expect on Phillies Bunts and certainly not from the Wriz, but there is a specific reason I bring this up. Kornhole has alluded to it several times saying Cole Hamels suffers from Surfer racism. I don’t know about the terminology Kornhole used but he has a valid point.  Some players like Cole Hamels get chastised for even one poor outing while others like Roy Halladay get a free pass. No one ever says two bad words about Chase Utley but no one can let it go Howard went down looking in the NLCS.  I’ll give you an example:

Player              W/L                 Win %             ERA                WHIP

Pitcher A         6-5                   .545                 3.19                  1.26

Pitcher B         10-7                 .588                 3.14                  1.12

The stats aren’t that far off but how the players are treated by the Phillies fan base is as different as night and day. Player B is Cliff Lee, an All-Star and makes $20 million a season. Player A makes one tenth of that and is perennial whipping boy, Kyle Kendrick. Statistically speaking if Kendrick is THAT bad then so too is Lee. But KK isn’t that bad, in fact, his ERA and WHIP are better than the NL averages. Oh but Cliff Lee only gave up 1 earned run in June. That’s pretty good, actually it’s fucking amazing, yet his ERA is only 0.05 better than KK.

Recently, I’ve been defending KK saying he’d probably have been an ace on some of the Phillies teams in the late 80’s. I arbitrarily chose 1987. Kevin Gross was the staff ace and currently KK has a better ERA and WHIP. (Gross was 12-14 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.28 WHIP) Yeah, yeah that team blew, but he also puts the #5 starter on the 1993 NL champions to shame. Ben Rivera was 13-9 with a 5.02 ERA and 1.59 WHIP. That’s some Days Baez shit right there!

I know what you guys are going to say, but no the Wriz doesn’t have a #38 jersey or even a Kendrick player tee nor do I want one. Heck, I don’t even want him to stay in the rotation once Oswalt is activated. He should go back to long relief where he was done a fine job, but also if Worley falters I’d have no problem inserting Kendrick back in the rotation. Just realize this whole 4 Aces thing is something special not every starter the Phillies have is an ace or an all-star but they are ALL even KK and Fat Joe better than what a lot of teams have to offer.

See ya at the ballpark!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com

We are currently looking for writers. If you’d like to write for the Bunts contact the Wriz!

 P.S. Another reason to keep KK around. His Wife is smokin hot!