It's Been a While

For the three or four of you who have looked at this blog since my last post, you know it's been a long time. And I don't have anything long here either. I haven't even been busy, I just haven't been in the mood to write. These things come and go, so it's possible I'll get back in the mood, but as of now I probably won't be writing all that much.

Anyway, what motivated me to write today was the awesome pitching matchup between Francisco Liriano and Ubaldo Jimenez today. Jimenez has been other-worldly by the traditional stats, and has been deserving of his attention. Liriano, however, has also been excellent and is working towards a comeback player of the year award (if they even give that out in baseball), showing us more than glimpses of his 2006 form. And his advanced stats are actually better: a 2.11 FIP and 2.95 xFIP compared to Jimenez's 2.93 FIP and 3.61 xFIP.

So I understand the attention given Jimenez so far this year. I think traditional stats are great for that sort of thing, because sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. But for evaluating who has actually pitched better and predicting future performance the advanced numbers are far superior. And that's why I'm looking forward to a Twins victory today!