On the Eating of Innings
May 14, 2010
This afternoon, we happened to be looking at end-of-season stats for 2009 Division One pitchers. Sorting by batters faced, we get four very familiar names in the top five: Mike Leake, Louis Coleman, Chance Ruffin, and Anthony Ranaudo. As you might expect, these are all good pitchers who made appearances in the postseason.
But none of those are at the top of the list. That honor goes to Anthony Espin of Florida A&M. Leake faced 534 batters, but Espin faced 560. Don't worry, you haven't missed a draft prospect or anything--Espin had an ERA of 7.70.
Really, everything about this is weird. It isn't like FAMU is a notorious grinder of pitching arms--Espin threw more than half again as many innings as anyone else on the staff. He started 16 of the team's 54 games; no one else started more than nine. And as far as we can tell, he was a sophomore last year, but he hasn't pitched in 2010.
We could spend all day looking up the counting-stat categories that Espin dominated. His 120 runs allowed was best in D-1 by a mile; only three pitchers topped 90. ("Thanks" to his defense, though, he's only tied for first in earned runs.) He also led the pack in base hits allowed and hit batsmen.
But nothing compares to his utter mastery in the bases on balls department. The second-highest walk total last year was Jonathan Montoya's 63 for Cal State Bakersfield. There are quite a few pitchers in the high 50s and low 60s. But Espin walked 89. Thankfully, we don't have pitch counts for all FAMU games. We don't want to know.
There is a bright side. Espin is a lefty. Maybe he'll peak late and turn into the next Brian Shouse. Or hey, maybe he's peaking right now, and he's actually the next Doug Davis.