In an effort to make sure I’m up on anyone who might make an impact in the majors, I’m going to try to write a little bit about every player who pitched at least 20 innings or gathered at least 50 AB in the majors in 2009. There are 968 such players, so this will take a bit on an effort to get to everyone. The first is David Aardsma.
David Aardsma is the closer for the Seattle Mariners. He played for four different teams in four season prior to joining Seattle for the 2009 season. David’s strength as a pitcher comes from his ability to strike out batters. In 216 major league innings, he’s struck out 219 batters.
Prior to this season, two things held Aardsma back from being a successful pitcher. His high strikeout rate did not lead to a low opposition batting average (.269 BA), and his high walk rate allowed those hits to do more damage (.376 OBP). That changed in 2009 as he allowed a .190 BA and cut his walk rate from 5.6 per nine innings (career through 2008) to 4.3 this season, good for a .283 OBP.
Seattle also seems to be the perfect park for him. His percentage of fly balls went up this season, but his percent of fly balls on home runs were cut in half. The Mariners control him for three more years as he goes into arbitration this off season, so David picked a good year to become a quality closer. What needs to be watched is how much of a fluke this season was due to good defense taking away hits from batters.
Posted by David Pinto at 2:38 pm | Pitchers, Players A to Z | Permalink | 6 Comments
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November 12th, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
you sure you know what you signed up for here? At five a day, you’ll get to Barry Zito around the all star break.
November 12th, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
This is great! I like the idea. Can you put a tag on them all so their easier to find? I would love to help.
November 12th, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
@Hans: Will do.
November 12th, 2009 @ 5:28 pm
And with this neews, Baseballmusings.com just officially became my Fantasy Baseball offseason research hub.
November 12th, 2009 @ 7:13 pm
David Pinto you are a MADMAN! At least now I don’t have to hold my breath and wait for March for the fantasy guides…
November 13th, 2009 @ 11:48 am
@baycommuter: At 7 a day, Dave can finish before Opening Day.