And The Trend Continues

Earlier this week, I wrote about how pitchers' home run rates only tell half the story. The other half is how many runs per home run a pitcher gives up and my research showed Josh Beckett is one of the worst pitchers in the major leagues when it comes to home runs since he has both a high home run rate and a high run per home run average. Beckett seems intent on making himself the worst in the majors since in his six-inning outing against the Cleveland Indians, he gave up three home runs which totaled up to seven runs for a distasteful 2.3 runs per home run allowed.

Usually Beckett likes to allow his home runs on the road so at least he is shaking things up a bit. At least he is making my dubious decision to declare Jaret Wright a better pitcher look less insane than it appeared when I first wrote it.

UPDATE: One possible explanation for Beckett's pitching woes is the difference in the quality of batters he is facing this season. In 2005, the batters Beckett pitched to had a Gross Product Average of .246, with a .401 slugging percentage. Since he joined the Red Sox, he has faced hitters who have a collective Gross Product Average of .267, helped along by a .446 slugging percentage. This difference in SLG is the difference between pitching to Ivan Rodriguez (circa 2006) rather than Doug Mientkiewicz (also circa 2006).