I absolutely cannot stand Ron Villone. Yes, he pitched well for us during a crucial stretch last year, but he turned putrid down the stretch. And when you consider his season numbers — 5.04 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, only 59 percent of pitches for strike, and only 49 percent of first-pitch strikes — you really have to wonder why he was brought back.
His numbers seem to be decent this year: 3.34 ERA, 6.12 K/9, 2.00 K/BB, 62% of pitches for strikes, 1.27 WHIP. However, at this point last year, he was sitting on a 2.26 ERA. So from August 15 through September 30, his ERA rose 2.78 points. That’s not what we need this year. Then again, at this point last year, he also had 64.1 innings under his belt, whereas this year he has just about half that, 32.1, though if you add in his Scranton numbers it’s 56, so he’s not that far off.
My biggest gripe with Villone this year, though, is his almost automatic way of allowing inherited runners to score. To date he has come in with 23 runners on base, of which he has allowed nine to score. That’s nearly 40 percent, and it’s completely unacceptable. Yes, we’re dealing with a small sample size. But we’re also dealing with Ron Villone.
This is the exact reason we need Britton and Edwar in the pen. Wouldn’t you feel much more comfortable with one of them coming into a game with a two-run lead and a guy on first base? I sure would. Lefties be damned, I don’t want Ron Villone on this team anymore.
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