Not a Good Night for Old Starting Pitchers

There is angst tonight for the older generation. Two pitchers who are at least within fighting distance in age with baby boomers across America are the only players in Major League Baseball that the older generation can still relate to. They may be the only players in baseball who might know who Johnny Carson was. Oops! Can't forget Omar Vicquel, who is 43. But both Jamie Moyer and Tim Wakefield were wrecked tonight and for each, it was the second such performance in succession.

Both Wakefield and Moyer pitch for proud contenders that are fighting for their lives in their respective divisions. Both teams are behind by more than a couple of games and both have a couple of teams ahead of them in the standings. The Phillies and the Red Sox can ill afford to have games where they don't have a chance at winning and that doesn't bode well for our aging heroes.

Moyer and Kendrick have basically battled for the same rotation spot all season and the Red Sox will have Beckett and Buchholz back shortly which might cost Wakefield his rotation spot. In some respects, Moyer has had a remarkable season as his WHIP, his BB/9 are the best in a very long time. But he's also given up 1.74 homers per nine innings with his 22 so far this year. There is some debate as to Moyer's Hall of Fame possibilities. He's now given up 511 homers in his career, which means that he's the reverse Mel Ott. Moyer's two bad outings in a row have pushed is ERA up to 4.88. How long will the Phillies stick with the 47 year old marvel.

Wakefield has looked older this season to this observer. He doesn't move as well off the mound and he looks creaky. But his pitching stats are pretty much in line with last year. In fact, they are nearly identical. But last year's efforts landed him with an 11-5 record. This year he is now 3-8 and his ERA is up to 5.65, which is the only number that is much higher than last year.

While this isn't an obituary by any means, both pitchers have had two straight bad outings and that is cause for alarm.

But the news isn't all bad. The 40 year old Billy Wagner pitched another perfect ninth for another save. Chipper Jones, who is a baby compared to the others mentioned in this post, hit a game winning homer. The 43 year old, Omar Vizguel, went two for four.

But then again, Jose Contreras, who may be or may not be 39, gave up five earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning.

With Moyer, You Never Know

Figuring out how Jamie Moyer is going to pitch on any given start is like playing the slot machine. You can only hope you end up ahead more often than behind. The thing about Moyer is that he can surprise you and pitch brilliantly and the next start throw such a stinker that you wonder why he is still in the major leagues. And this is the reality Moyer has presented the Phillies for years now. Sure, he's a great story. Us old guys love the guy. But seriously, what do you get by starting Moyer every fifth day?

Moyer has won 42 games in the last three years. His ERA+ was over 100 in one of them. He finished last year at 86. This year, even after his gem against the Yankees, he's sitting at 86. So far this year, Moyer has made 13 starts. This is how they went with innings and earned runs:

Six innings - five runs
Six innings - five runs
Six innings - no runs
Six innings - four runs
Six innings - five runs
Nine innings - zero runs
Six and a third innings - four runs
Seven innings - two runs
Five innings - four runs
Six innings - one run
Nine innings - two runs
One inning - nine runs
Eight innings - two runs

So by counting them all up, Moyer has had five quality starts, one blow out and seven mediocre (at best) starts. So yes, Moyer is a great story. He's a 47 year old guy still pitching in the major leagues. But he isn't the most reliable pitcher around. If you go by WAR, he is currently 97th out of 110 starting pitchers who qualify.

But then again, he IS the oldest guy who has ever beaten the Yankees. Somewhere, Phil Neikro is smiling.