[bigboydan]

Did you guys happen to notice just how many pitchers this year that are on pace to lose 20+ games this year?

Woody Williams, Anthony Reyes, Kip Wells, Pat Malhom are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. I've never seen anything remotely close to this in quite a long time in MLB. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see at least 3 pitchers this year accomplish this ugly feat.

[Willie Bee]

Don't get me started about what a bullshˇt stat wins and losses are for pitchers nowadays. They tell you nothing about how well or poorly a pitcher may actually be performing on the mound. Williams, Reyes and Wells are all pitching poorly right now, and you can tell that without looking at their W-L numbers.

But look at Maholm. He's 4-10 and actually has some of the same stats as a 19-game winner did for the Cubs not that long ago. Maholm has a 4.80 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, so he's not going to get chalked up any time soon with those stats. But Kevin Tapani had a 4.85 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 1998 and went 19-9. Nolan Ryan was charged with 16 losses in 1987...and won the NL ERA title!

Seeing three pitchers with 20 losses would be a bit of a surprise to me just because most teams/managers will go out of their way towards the end of a season to ensure someone doesn't hit the number.

[Razz]

No chance for Reyes, he'll either start pitching better or get sent down. The other three could all do it, though Maholm is the most likely of the bunch to do it I'd say. You have to be good to lose 20 games in a season - as crazy as that sounds - and Maholm is, no matter what his W/L record shows, absolutely one of the Pirates' five best arms.