Second half pitching review

The first half of the season was not one to remember for most of the Class of 2009 first-rounders, especially on the pitching side.

Chris Volstad of Amityville was the lone success story, storming in the second half with an 11-5 mark and a 3.44 ERA. He was about the only ‘09 first-rounder to turn his season around after the break: Sardine City’s Josh Johnson was 5-6 with a 6.19 ERA, New Jersey’s Edinson Volquez was 2-5 with a 5.29 ERA, and Ricky Nolasco of Arkansas was 6-5 but had the worst ERA of the bunch at 7.11.

A handful of starters did a Jekyll and Hyde routine in the second half and would’ve been all-stars if they’d put together these numbers in the first half:
Sardine City’s Cole Hamels was among five pitchers with double-digit wins, going 10-3 with a 3.61 ERA in 112½ IP. He was one of the few bright spots in a league-worst 29-51 second half record. New Jersey’s Andy Pettitte had a league-high three shutouts, including one in the season finale, and had an impressive 9-3 record with a 4.19 ERA. Yet another lefty, CC Sabathia of Hillsborough, was sharp, with a 3.70 ERA and 7-3 mark, including 2 shutouts.

Newark had four starters win at least 8 games to help them to a league-best 58-21 record in the second half. Veteran Randy Johnson was 8-1 in 11 starts with a 3.23 ERA. Justin Duchsherer was 8-4 after being acquired midseason and James Shields went 8-5.

Josh Beckett and Tim Lincecum of Las Vegas were neck and neck at the break, with the starting nod in the all-star game all but a coin flip. That’s where their seasons diverged. Lincecum continued his impressive year, going 8-2 in the second half with a 3.38 ERA and 110 strikeouts. Beckett also had 110 strikeouts and somehow managed to go 7-5 despite an ugly 5.51 ERA. Teammate AJ Burnett was 6-4 with a 3.23 ERA.

Vancouver had a trio of starters who nose-dived in the second half. All-star Zack Greinke likely would not have made a second-half All-Star squad. He was an even 6-6 but had an ERA of 5.65, which somehow was better than teammate Chad Billingsley’s 5.79 though he went 6-5. Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux cooled off after entering the rotation during the first half, going 4-5 with a 5.82 ERA. Hoboken’s Jeremy Guthrie, an all-star, had a solid 3.35 ERA but only went 6-6.

Other pitchers who would rather forget the second half of 2009: Hoboken rookie Clayton Kershaw had an impressive first few starts; in fact, he had 5 quality starts in 7 opportunities and ran his record to 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA at the break. It was enough to win a rotation spot in the second half. That’s when he spit the bit, going 0-5 in 12 starts with a hideous 10.07 ERA. The lone bright spot might’ve been his 46 strikeouts in 44.7 IP.

Johan Santana of Arkansas has been among the winningest pitchers in DMBL the last few season but 2009 was among his worst, especially his second half. He went 2-9 with a 5.84 ERA. Amityville’s John Lester led the league in second-half losses, going 2-10 but still gutted out 3 CGs and 110 IP. Philly’s Scott Kazmir won 10 games despite a 4.59 ERA. Among the ugliest second halves was had by Blue Ridge’s Francisco Rodriguez, who had a manageable 4.34 ERA in 41 games, but a dreadful 1-7 mark.

Second half pitching leaders

ERA

Halladay, CAR 2.09

Danks, MAR 2.70

Bedard, DC 2.96

Wang, NWK 3.07

Rjohnson, NWK 3.23

Burnett, LV 3.23

Wins

Volstad, AMI 11-5

Wang, NWK 10-2

Danks, MAR 10-4

Kazmir, PHI 10-4

Hamels, SAR 10-3

IP

Halladay, CAR 120.7

Duchscherer, NWK 114.0

Lackey, HIL 113.3

Webb, PHI 113.0

Hamels, SAR 112.3

Strikeouts

Halladay, CAR 113

Lincecum, LV 110

Beckett, LV 110

Kazmir, PHI 107

Haren, HIL 106

Saves

Soria, ARK 16

Papelbon, DC 15

Fuentes, CAR 15

Mgonzalez, HIL 14

Jenks, NJ 12

Games

Papelbon, DC 45

Rhodes, AMI 45

Bell, AMI 42

Crain, BR 42

Frodriguez, BR 41