GAME 4 - GAUDIN v SAUNDERS (RECAP)

Chad Gaudin was called to take the bump and sling the pill last night. This was Gaudin's first regular season start since 2005 and only his 10th start in 101 appearances at the big league level. There are some pitchers that have eye-popping stats and project well. Gaudin does not. He has a terrible K/9 rate. He has a terrible groundball/flyball ratio. He walks too many batters.


Gaudin is only 24 years old. The same age as Jason Windsor. A year younger than Shane Komine, the Hawaiian Punch-Out. Windsor and Komine have better numbers but have not been able to stick at the big league level.


So how is it that this guy is successful?


Gaudin keeps the ball in the yard, opposing hitters had a Jason Kendall like .330 Slugging Percentage against him in 2006. He didn't keep the ball in the yard last night. Both homeruns he gave up were solo shots, not that giving up homeruns is a good thing.


This is one of those areas where sabermetrics and statistical analysis don't match up. The numbers all point to a pitcher who would be, at best, AAA fodder. Gaudin grinds and grinds and he gets outs. That is why he has stuck at the major league level. He doesn't try to do too much. He's effective in that he gets ahead of hitters and makes them pay for their aggressiveness by skirting the plate with movement on his fastball and a slider he can control.


Gaudin is one of the few examples the Oakland A's can currently point to that a player's "performance" takes precedent over how the player "looks" and "projects". Don't be fooled, though. Gaudin is one player out of hundreds who has managed to avoid comparison with other player's with similar statistics.


Gaudin did his job; he got the A's through five innings. He might have been able to pitch into the sixth inning, Bobo (Geren) was leaning on the side of caution. Gaudin made an emergency start last Thursday and threw fewer than 60 pitches. Last night Gaudin was cruising until the 5th when his pitch count burped.


Can Chad Gaudin become the next Aaron Harang or Corey Lidle? Guys who the A's "found" to be back of the rotation filler, but became solid starters. No. Harang and Lidle were quality pitchers. In 2003 Billy Beane panicked to get Jose Guillen, in part because he would not take Terrence Long off the 25-Man Roster and play Eric Byrnes on a regular basis. The A's offense was terrible in 2003 and Joe Valentine, Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2002, was a bust. Minor League closers usually are.


Lidle, on the other hand (actually Gaudin, Harang, Lidle - right-handed pitchers), the A's traded to Toronto for Mike Rouse. Remember when the A's released Rouse in September last year and he signed with the Indians? And how the A's needed a 2nd baseman when Mark Ellis got hurt and instead were stuck with D'Angelo Jimenez? It all links together if you look at it long enough.


The A's played Oakland Athletics baseball last night; get a lot of guys on base and make sure they don't score. Sure, they are only a few games in, but the A's already lead the American League in runners Left On Base (LOB) and are just one off the lead in all of MLB.


THE GOOD STUFF: Gaudin, Piazza multiple hits, Swisher getting on base (four times but only scoring one run - not his fault), Mark Ellis with another RBI (nice counting stat but doesn't really matter).

Labels: 2007 GAME RECAP