The buffet today features some fresh stats on the Phils' big 3, and a Triple Crown update highlighting Carlos Gonzalez.
Phillies Starters
When the Phillies acquired Roy Oswalt, these were the NL rankings of the Phils' top 3:
| NL rank | (out of 52 qualifiers) | Through 7/29 | |||||||||
| ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | WHIP | GB/FB | ||||||
| Halladay | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |||||
| Oswalt | 19 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 31 | |||||
| Hamels | 22 | 35 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 34 | |||||
Updated through Saturday (SIERA through Friday):
| NL rank | (out of 51 qualifiers) | Through 9/4 | |||||||||
| ERA | FIP | xFIP | SIERA | WHIP | GB/FB | ||||||
| Halladay | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Oswalt | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 28 | |||||
| Hamels | 15 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 29 | |||||
- Halladay has stayed at or near the top of the league.
- Oswalt has moved up in ERA while falling back in FIP and SIERA
- Hamels has moved up significantly, and has a 2.75 ERA since May 16th
"Very Bad" Starts
Admittedly arbitrary, I label a start as Very Bad if the ER allowed are greater than the Innings Pitched. In the Phillies' first 92 games through July 19th, they had 11 Very Bad Starts (VBS), and 50 Quality Starts (54%). Since then they've had only 1 VBS in 44 games, with 29 QS's (66%).
| Games | QS | VBS | other |
| first 92 | 54% | 12% | 34% |
| last 44 | 66% | 2% | 32% |
Triple Crown
Non-Phillies note for a change, but significant enough that I think it needs to be tracked. In spite of the advent of new stats in recent years, the Triple Crown still captures the imagination. There hasn't been a Triple Crown winner since Yastrzemski in 1967, and none in the NL since Joe Medwick in 1937.
| Batting Average | Home Runs | RBIs | |||||
| 1. Carlos Gonzalez, COL | .335 | 1. Albert Pujols, STL | 35 | 1. Joey Votto, CIN | 98 | ||
| 2. Joey Votto, CIN | .324 | 2. Adam Dunn, WAS | 33 | 2. Albert Pujols, STL | 96 | ||
| 3. Starlin Castro, CHC | .321 | 3. Joey Votto, CIN | 32 | 3. Carlos Gonzalez, COL | 95 | ||
| 4. Martin Prado, ATL | .317 | 4. Mark Reynolds, ARI | 32 | 4. Adam LaRoche, ARI | 90 | ||
| 5. Albert Pujols, STL | .311 | 5. Carlos Gonzalez, COL | 31 | 5. David Wright, NYM | 90 |
Gonzalez has inserted himself in the race in recent weeks, and it's largely due to his performance at Coors, where he's been phenomenal -- I don't think I've ever seen a more extreme home-away differential:
Home -- .391/.436/.790 (1.226 OPS), 24 HR
Away -- .275/.295/.434 (.729 OPS), 7 HR
Prior to this year, in 620+ PAs he's had a more conventional home field advantage:
Home -- .273/.313/.488 (.801 OPS), 10 HR
Away -- .251/.313/.392 (.705 OPS), 7 HR
So his Road performance has barely budged, but his stats at Coors have skyrocketed.