Game 2: Verlander vs Loaiza

People are talking about Justin Verlander like he's the second coming of Josh Beckett, circa 2003. I had Verlander on one of my fantasy baseball teams, and he pretty much ran out of gas down the stretch. He was fantastic in July but really scuffled through August and September, as they say young pitchers tend to do.

How does Loaiza compare? Loaiza stunk up the joint for the first few months of the season before turning in a fantastic August and a mediocre September. To confirm my recollections on these guys, I took a look at their game scores, using BaseballMusings' Day by Day Database.

By the way, here's the definition of "Game Score" from Baseball-Almanac.com:

Start with 50 points. Add 1 point for each out recorded, (3 points per inning). Add 2 points for each inning completed after the 4th. Add 1 point for each strikeout. Subtract 2 points for each hit allowed. Subtract 4 points for each earned run allowed. Subtract 2 points for each unearned run allowed. Subtract 1 point for each walk.

And here's how they stack up (monthly averages above 50 are bolded):


Verlander definitely had the better year, but he hasn't pitched great since July. And his September game scores really mirror Loaiza's. I just don't see this as the mis-match I keep hearing about from the TV folks at ESPN and Fox.

Let's Go A's!