Will Ben Sheets be able to top his high win total?

[brewerguy71]

It would seem that Ben Sheets should have no problem getting to that 13 win mark this year. Does anyone think he is going to do that this year?

 

On the face of it, its an easy assumption to make. He has at least 7 starts left this year to win 2 games. But it took him 6 starts between win 10 and win 11. And he has a pretty tough task ahead of him. He probably has the toughest remaining slate of the Brewer starters. He has to face the Cards on the road, the Mets at home, the Phillies on the road, the Cubs twice (one home and one road), and his two "easier" starts left are against the Padres and the Pirates (both at home).

 

Is there a psychological thing going on here? I doubt he even keeps track of his stats, but I find it very interesting that a pitcher of his skill has never won more than 12 games in a season, and here he is on the brink of that mark again, and has only managed to win one of his last 9 starts.

[RU Rah Rah]

I have been wondering about this as well. W/L record is a notoriously uneven gauge of pitcher performance, as Benny's 2004 campaign showed. It's partly a function of run support, defense, bullpen, etc. -- things over which the pitcher has no control. And, obviously, if a pitcher runs into an injury or two, he's going to miss starts and not have the chance to win games. Still, it's weird to me that Sheets' W totals regularly are so low. Even with all of the variables that are pretty much out of his control, you'd think that he'd routinely win at least 13-15 games just by showing up -- and he's never reached that plateau even once. I can't imagine that it's a psychological/make-up issue, though.

[rluzinski]

It's been linjuries for the last year years. Before that, he wasplaying on a terrible team. Prior to 2004, he wasn't anything special.

 

Yes, I think he will win 13+ games, provided he stays healthy and starts getting run support again.

[Thurston Fluff]

It would help if he could go more than 6 innings more often. In his last ten starts he's made it to the 7th three times. I realize wins are team stats but there is a part of it that goes on the pitcher as well. After all he is part of the team and has a significant portion of control over how many runs get scored against him.

Sticking around longer would help the rest of the team get him the win.

[Ennder]

Sheets is average 6.72 IP/G. Webb is averaging 6.81 IP/G. I somehow doubt the .09 IP/G difference is why Webb has so many more wins than Sheets. It comes down to luck and run support more times than not. It isn't like Sheets is Vargas or something with the low IP/G.

[Postseason2006]

It would've helped if Sheets was a little better with the bat. His bunting skills let alone contributed to last night's loss.

[RU Rah Rah]

Looking at his stats, he's been pretty average over his last 10 starts (last 60+ IP); he was outstanding prior to that (first 100 IP). I hope he gets a second wind here for the stretch run.

[joepepsi]

Looking at his stats, he's been pretty average over his last 10 starts (last 60+ IP); he was outstanding prior to that (first 100 IP). I hope he gets a second wind here for the stretch run.

Good point. Lately it seems like it's been the 5th or 6th when he struggles. Could just be a little arm fatigue or "deam arm" period that every pitcher goes through. His line the last 10 games is nothing to be embarrassed about: 63.2 innings, 56K, 17BB, 3hr, 4.10 ERA.

 

It may be relevant to point out the first three starts of this last 10 he threw 115, 120, and 109 pitches. Those were also his 3 starts before the All Star break.

 

Once again he has the lowest run support of any Brewer starter.

[bcf5575]

semi off topic - but this is why i hate brewers making the all star game. they always suck the rest of the year (or get hurt).

[RU Rah Rah]

Benny's ERA by month (for career):

 

April/March (240 IP): 3.98 ERA

May (241 IP): 3.29 ERA

June (261 IP): 3.38 ERA

July (239 IP): 3.87 ERA

August (222 IP): 4.54 ERA

Sept./Oct. (194 IP): 3.48 ERA

[jhart05]

Not the way he's pitching right now.

[rluzinski]

Why do you keep bringing up that bunt, like it decided the game? If it had been a DP, it would have been at least worth mentioning. As it was, It was basically irrelvent.

 

And Sheets has been pulled from at least 3 games this half when he could have gone another inning. That's partly because of some shaky outings and partly because his run support had been bad.

[homer]

It would've helped if Sheets was a little better with the bat. His bunting skills let alone contributed to last night's loss.

Maybe but if a GM uses that as a bargaining chip in contract negotiations, Sheets' agent should just up and leave the table (and rightly so).

[Postseason2006]

I am not saying it should be any bargaining chip. My only point is that if Sheets was a little better bat handler, he'd have a better chance at some more victories.

[BrewCrewForever]

I sure hope Ben can. He has never had more then 12. I think if he gets a little more run support and can avoid that one mistake he seems to have had his last few outings. I predict 14 or 15.

[rluzinski]

Can he win 15? That's probably going to be tough. He has four more starts:

 

@ Philly

@ Chicago

vs Pit

vs Chicago

[And That]

If Sheets somehow wins his last 4 and Webb doesn't win another game, Sheets might be the Cy Young. Granted the likelihood of that happening is akin to the Astros making the playoffs, but it's nice to think about anyway (in a Randy Wolf kind of way).

[endaround]

With Lincecum already at 15 wins, I doubt it. If Webb doesn't win 20, Sabathia is more likely just because the story is better than making a good decision.