Numbers on Wang

These are some numbers on Wang so far this season which can help me to explain the Wang's performance.

Run support 3.78 (Beckett 7.33 /Webb 6.82 /Dice-K 6.46/ Santana 6/Sabathia 5.30/ Mussina 5.07/ Saunders 4.67 / Shields 4.46/Lee&Pettitte 4.25/ Bedard 4.10/ Halladay3.38)

ERA 3.51 IP 66.2(Lead-Halladay 69.2/10 Starts) H 56 E(ER) 26 HR 2 WHIP 1.17
Home(6G) 5.02 Road(4G) 1.55
Day(2G) 0.00 Night(8G) 4.36
Grass(9G) 3.77 Turf(1G) 1.29
April(6G) 3.23 May(4G) 3.90

BAA .266 /OBP .289/ SLG .302/ OPS .592/vs Left .236 /vs Right .216
leading off .269 /Bases empty.224 /Runner on 1B .263/ Runner on 2B .167/ Runner on 3B .250
/Runners on 1B,2B .220/ Runners on 1B,3B .333/ Runners on 2B,3B .167/ Bases Loaded .400/ RISP .206 .182

BB 22/ vs Left 16/ vs Right 6(only one game without issuing walks, others walk 2 or 3 per game) (Webb 17)

G/F 2.13(Webb 3.47)
P/IP 14.4(Webb 14.3) P/PA 3.52(Webb 3.56)
K/9 5.27(Webb 6.96)
Quality Starts 8 out of 10(Webb 8 out of 9)

First of all, I am pretty sure tons of people killing Wang after this game. In fact, Wang is very hard on himself on post-game interview with Taiwanese media even though Taiwanese media keep asking the impact of lack of run support on his pitching.

Basically, This is what Wang said,

"I am very disappointed at myself and my poor performance","I didn't give my team a chance to win.","I gave up too many runs","Lost command and threw too many balls down the middle in the fourth inning","I just try to focus on producing double play ball and slow down everything in that fourth inning."

Pitchers will never admit the impact of lack of run support on their pitching, but how can you not try to be perfect when you know you are going to lose game if you give up one or two runs. Look at the number on run support I give to you above, only Halladay receive fewer run support than Wang among pitchers in that list above. In fact, Bombers only score 2 runs when Wang pitches during 25.2 inning span since third inning against Mariners.

But, this also leads to my first observation about Wang's pitching. Wang need to figure out a way to pitch well from stretch immediately, especially how not to lose the bite on his sinkers. Furthermore, don't try to focus on producing double play solely when there are runners on bases because opponents will know the sinker is coming. On top of that, we all know how good Yankees' defense is, especially when you consider Wang may get see-eye single as well.

As you guys see the stats above, Wang improve all pitching stats so far this season, including whip, hit&HR allowed, BAA against left and right, ERA(especially on road), percentage of Quality Starts, Innings pitched and Strikeouts/9, etc. Only strange thing is Wang's home ERA, but I expect this will come back to normal very soon.

But, Wang issues a little more free passes this season. The reason is I think Wang still try to command all the pitches(sinkers, sliders, change-ups, splitters, four-seamers) and learn how to mix them during this transition period of time. Because that, it seems Wang throws more cookies down the middle(bad pitches) than preview seasons even though he gives up fewer hits.

Conclusion? If Wang can improve this two aspects of games, he will be even better. As a Taiwanese, I can tell you one thing for sure. A lot of fans on Taiwanese website discuss Wang's weakness and wish he can use this opportunity to improve. I believe Wang can do it, not just focus how many run support he gets. Furthermore, we will turn this around if everyone on the team only think about how to improve themselves and how to help each other out.

Is it just me to feel this? Does Wang lose some velocity? I saw Wang's velocity around 90-92 so far this season and hit 93.94 once a while. I may think too much, but I remember Wang's velocity should hit 93, 94 more often. Hopefully, Wang's velocity heat up when weather heat up. Wang may just sacrifice some velocity in order to have better command on his sinkers. Furthermore, I never understand why Wang doesn't throw more four-seamers that usually sit around 94.95.