And by "fun," I mean "very painful."
With Eaton's biggest start of the year coming tonight in RFK Stadium, quite possibly his last chance to salvage something from a nightmarish 2007 season, it seems like a good time to consider his body of work this year:
- Eaton's ERA this season has never gone below 5.33 (June 27, Detroit, a game in which he squandered a 3-1 lead in the 7th)
- He's had six quality starts (at least 6 IP, no more than 3 ER) all year, including none since July 3.
- Eaton has blown leads in 10 of his 28 starts, though the Phillies came back to win five of those games: 4/18 (L), 4/23 (W), 5/15 (W), 6/17 (L), 6/28 (2x, W), 7/3 (L), 7/20 (W), 7/31 (L), 9/2 (L), 9/16 (W)
- Aside from the first half (5.79), there is almost no split in which Eaton's ERA is under 6: home, 6.57, road 6.16, day 6.95, night 6.02.
- Eaton's average Game Score is 21; only four times all year has he posted a Game Score better than 60. Cole Hamels' average is 57; he has 11 starts of better than 60. Kyle Kendrick's average is 49; Kyle Lohse's is 48. Jamie Moyer's is 46. Even J.D. Durbin has a 43.
Eaton isn't, to my knowledge, Jewish. Nonetheless, something like seven shutout innings tonight would represent a lot of timely atonement.