Who ARE These Guys?

Jason Michael Barker

A look at the top earned run averages among starting pitchers in the American League reveals the usual suspects: Pedro Martinez, Rick Helling, Roger Clemens, and Chuck Finley. Likewise, the National League top ten includes Randy Johnson, Kevin Brown, Greg Maddux and Curt Schilling.

Look more closely, however, and you'll see some names that look for all the world like misprints. In the AL, the likes of Albie Lopez, Paul Abbott, Frank Castillo, Makoto Suzuki and Gil Heredia in the top ten in ERA. Over in the NL, Robert Person, Kirk Reuter and Ryan Dempster all make the top ten, too.

At the risk of sounding like a political discussion show (or a radio ad for the Volkswagon Jetta): Who are these pitchers? Where did they come from? Why are we talking about them?

Albie Lopez, Tampa Bay
Heading into play Thursday, his 3.51 ERA was good for second in the league behind Pedro Martinez. Lopez has only made 15 starts this season after starting the year in the bullpen, and really it's remarkable he came out of the bullpen at all -- in his 21 relief appearances, he had a 5.53 ERA and had allowed 33 hits and 16 walks in 27.2 innings. As a starter, he's gone 8-4 with 2.97 ERA and has walked just 29 in 103 innings.

After starting his career with the Indians and sporting an ERA of nearly six as both a starter and reliever, Lopez made his way to the Devil Rays in 1998 and put together a nice year out of the pen, then saw his ERA rise two full runs and his strikeout rate fall off last season. He seemed well on his way to another poor year out of the pen until he was moved to the rotation, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Paul Abbott, Seattle
A former top prospect in the Twins' organization, Abbott made 33 appearances between 1990 and 1993 as a string of injuries (apparently) derailed his career. He signed a minor league deal with Seattle and spent 1998 at AAA, earning himself four starts with the big club in September. Just when it appeared he was going to make the club the following year, he tore an ACL during winter ball and missed the first half of 1999. When he did return he pitched well, holding hitters to a .278 OBP in 70 innings.

Like Lopez, Abbott started in the season in the bullpen with little success. Injuries to both Jamie Moyer and Freddy Garcia found him in the rotation, where he's gone 8-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 starts, having allowed just 90 hits in 109 innings. He gets by primarily with a low 90's fastball and good change, although that's certainly been enough for him to be effective over the past two seasons, and his 3.80 ranks fifth among AL starters.

Frank Castillo, Toronto
Heading into the season Frank Castillo wasn't even supposed to be in Toronto's rotation, let alone sixth in the league in ERA. His story is all the more remarkable given that he didn't even pitch in the majors last season, instead putting up mediocre numbers for Pittsburgh's AAA club in the International League. Castillo got off to a rough start in April (0-2, 9.00 ERA in four starts), but has since lowered his ERA to 3.86.

He's survived this season by being very tough on right-handed batters, holding them to a .219/.264/.352 line. He's also held left-handers to a .234 mark, though their OBP and SLG against him are around league average thanks to a high number of walks and extra-base hits. It remains to be seen how long he can keep this up, but for now he's got a better ERA than Toronto's ace, 17-game winner David Wells.

Makoto Suzuki, Kansas City
The surprise here is not that Suzuki is an effective major league pitcher, but that it's taken him so long to put it all together. That really isn't fair, though; despite making his big-league debut way back in 1996, he's still only 25 years old, which is nothing in pitcher years. He arrived in Kansas City last season by way of the waiver wire, when the Mets traded for him and then tried to slip him through to the minors.

Signed by the Mariners out of an independent league when he was just 18, Suzuki was pushed rapidly through the M's system despite missing most of 1994 and 1995 with injuries and not really getting any better. That strategy found him in AAA at 21 with very little idea how to pitch (i.e. throw strikes), and worse yet, there was nowhere for him to go to if he improved other than the big club. He finally tasted some success at AAA in 1998 but still had no idea where the ball is going, as evidenced by his 70 walks and eight wild pitches in only 130 innings.

All that said, this season's 4.02 ERA isn't really a good indication of how he's pitched. He still walks too many batters (67 in 141 innings), and he's allowed 22 homers to boot. The league is hitting a yawn-inducing .261/.343/.436 against him, and when he does get past the sixth, he tends to get shelled.

Gil Heredia, Oakland

Heredia has gotten a bit more press this season than the others on this list, if only because he's now been a solid starter for the Athletics for several seasons. He's been quite the workhorse, throwing 200 innings last season and over 150 so far this season, and he's kept his ERA below four most of the 2000 season. He certainly isn't overpowering, as evidenced by his low strikeout rates -- 4.4K/9IP this year, 5.3 in 1999 and 5.3 for his career -- but he keeps the walks down and lets his fielders do the rest.

Because of the low strikeout and high hit and homer totals, there should be some concern as to how long he can keep this going. Pitchers who don't beat themselves with walks can get away with some homers, though, and Heredia doesn't have very much mileage on his arm. Hey, it worked for Bob Tewksbury.

Tune in next Wednesday when we'll look at the NL's mystery men -- same Strikethree.com time, same Strikethree.com channel.

Still have nightmares from watching those ancient Batman episodes from the sixties? Why not let Jason Michael Barker know that you really don't appreciate the flashbacks at jmb@strikethree.com.

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