Angels pitching & fielding

There was a very nice article on the Hardball Times by Studes about pitching and fielding today, so if you haven't read it, I suggest you check it out (I can't really imagine that anyone who is not reading the HBT would visiting my site, but ...).
Here are the things I found most interesting about Angels pitching and fielding:

Kelvim Escobar is dominant
Every Angel fan knows that Escobar is the ace of the stuff (when healthy), but did you know that he is the 4th most dominant pitcher in the leagues? Studes introduced a stat he called Dominance, which is the percentage of batters faced that strike out or hit an infield fly (the easiest non-K-out). The two leading pitchers, Pedro Martinez (.354) and Johan Santana (.349), are in another league, but right after A.J. Burnett (.309) comes Kelvim Escobar, who dominates 30,5% of the batters he faces. These four are the only pitchers with .300+ dominance.

Escobar and Washburn have been unlucky so far
I'm not talking about injuries here (*knock on wood*), but it looks like the defense behind both pitchers hasn't been as good as it should have been. Studes introduced Expected Defense Efficiency Ratio, which is the expected percentage of balls in play turned into outs (without HR) based on line drive, outfield flies and infield flies percentage. Washburn, who should have 71,1% of BIP turned into outs, actually had only a 67,4% percentage. For Escobar, the numbers are 73,3% and 69,7%. So there is reasonable hope that both pitchers will get better (not that they have been bad so far to begin with).


I'll try to write more when I have time, but I have to go to my courses right now.
See you later
Your Cindy Fluffykins