Don't have time for the full rant...

...but wanted to note this anyway. "Wins" are a lousy metric for evaluating starting pitchers. Here's just another little nugget of evidence.

On two consecutive nights, the Red Sox starting pitcher allows five runs in five innings. And the game stories in the Globe aren't even similar.
Thursday:

Wakefield handed an 8-5 lead to the bullpen.

Friday:

Miller was better this time, allowing five runs in five innings. But that was far from good enough.

Wakefield innings

Someone asked about my comment, in the Red Sox decade in review post, that Tim Wakefield has never been the "innings eater" that he's reputed to be.

People have a perception, I think, that Wakefield always takes the ball, always goes deep in games, can throw forever and, therefore, pitches a disproportionately high number of innings, saving the rest of the staff. But other than being 6th in the AL in innings in 2005, he doesn't have another top-10 finish in innings pitched. Other than 2005 and 1997, he's never led the team. And in neither of those years did he really "eat" a lot of innings - he led the team because other people got hurt.

In 2007, for example, while people were praising Wakefield as an innings-eater and bemoaning Matsuzaka's inability to get through the 5th, Matsuzaka pitched 15 more innings in only one more start.

This isn't a knock on Wakefield - I just think that the whole "eats innings" thing has been overstated.

Giving one away...

I'm a big fan of Terry Francona, as I've made clear before. I think that he's done a very good job. I also think that he's hurt the Red Sox tonight. I understand what (I think) he's doing, and it might be that, in the long run, it helps the team as it increases the players' loyalty to him, and responsiveness to him. But I think it was for a bad reason, and it hurt them tonight.

Tim Wakefield had thrown 95 pitches through seven innings and allowed four runs. They played in the afternoon two days ago and didn't play yesterday, so the bullpen is completely rested. But they were trailing, 4-3. Wakefield went back out to start the 8th, not pitching a great game, with 6 better pitchers rested and available. And he went back out there, I'm convinced, for one reason, and one reason only - Terry Francona wants to get him a win, in the misguided belief that that would make him a good choice for the AL All Star team. Which he isn't.

As I said, I don't think it's a good reason, though it may not be, in the long term, a bad thing for the team. But it hurt them tonight, whether they come back and win it or not...

Who are the AL All Star pitchers?

Here is a list (incomplete) of AL Starting pitchers who have started 14+ games and thrown 90+ innings. About half of the AL All Star pitching staff should come from this group, maybe 6 or 7 pitchers total from this group of 18. Here is the relevant information for determining which of these pitchers are All Star worthy, including starts, innings, ER, HR, K and BB.

AL Starters - All Star Candidates

	GS	CG	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	HBP	BK	WP	ERA	WHIP	K/BB
Pitcher A	15	5	109	93	23	3	18	111	1	0	4	1.90	1.03	6.17
Pitcher B	15	1	101 1/3	79	27	7	29	79	0	0	1	2.40	1.07	2.72
Pitcher C	14	3	103	95	29	6	12	88	2	0	2	2.53	1.06	7.33
Pitcher D	16	1	109 2/3	96	31	7	32	107	5	0	9	2.54	1.21	3.34
Pitcher E	16	2	112 2/3	101	33	14	36	70	6	0	4	2.64	1.27	1.94
Pitcher F	15	3	102	80	30	10	32	83	1	0	1	2.65	1.11	2.59
Pitcher G	16	1	111	119	36	7	26	79	2	0	4	2.92	1.32	3.04
Pitcher H	15	2	101 1/3	103	35	7	26	41	1	0	1	3.11	1.28	1.58
Pitcher I	16	0	99 1/3	101	36	7	27	64	1	0	1	3.26	1.30	2.37
Pitcher J	15	0	99 1/3	91	36	12	24	61	3	1	2	3.26	1.19	2.54
Pitcher K	16	2	103 1/3	90	39	7	34	124	3	2	5	3.40	1.23	3.65
Pitcher L	16	0	108 1/3	116	41	11	23	76	1	1	1	3.41	1.29	3.30
Pitcher M	15	1	98 1/3	89	38	7	32	94	3	1	0	3.48	1.26	2.94
Pitcher N	16	2	109	88	43	9	31	78	6	0	4	3.55	1.15	2.52
Pitcher O	15	0	97 1/3	74	39	14	39	85	3	0	1	3.61	1.19	2.18
Pitcher P	15	1	98 1/3	93	40	14	29	57	4	1	2	3.66	1.28	1.97
Pitcher Q	15	0	94	82	41	13	47	92	6	0	9	3.93	1.44	1.96
Pitcher R	15	2	94 2/3	93	44	6	36	50	9	0	3	4.18	1.46	1.39

It doesn't take a lot of careful examination of that list to see that the bottom half dozen really can't make a legitimate claim to a spot. There are six pitchers with ERAs under 3.00 and WHIPs under 1.3. There are several more with ERAs in the 2.9-3.4 range, with more than 6 innings per start. If anyone can make a good argument for pitcher N-R, I'd love to hear it, because I don't see one.

Here's the same list, this time with the names filled in.

AL Starters - All Star Candidates

Player	GS	CG	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	HBP	BK	WP	ERA	WHIP	K/BB
Zack Greinke	15	5	109	93	23	3	18	111	1	0	4	1.90	1.03	6.17
Edwin Jackson	15	1	101 1/3	79	27	7	29	79	0	0	1	2.40	1.07	2.72
Roy Halladay	14	3	103	95	29	6	12	88	2	0	2	2.53	1.06	7.33
Felix Hernandez	16	1	109 2/3	96	31	7	32	107	5	0	9	2.54	1.21	3.34
Kevin Millwood	16	2	112 2/3	101	33	14	36	70	6	0	4	2.64	1.27	1.94
Jered Weaver	15	3	102	80	30	10	32	83	1	0	1	2.65	1.11	2.59
Cliff Lee	16	1	111	119	36	7	26	79	2	0	4	2.92	1.32	3.04
Nick Blackburn	15	2	101 1/3	103	35	7	26	41	1	0	1	3.11	1.28	1.58
Dallas Braden	16	0	99 1/3	101	36	7	27	64	1	0	1	3.26	1.30	2.37
Mark Buehrle	15	0	99 1/3	91	36	12	24	61	3	1	2	3.26	1.19	2.54
Justin Verlander	16	2	103 1/3	90	39	7	34	124	3	2	5	3.40	1.23	3.65
James Shields	16	0	108 1/3	116	41	11	23	76	1	1	1	3.41	1.29	3.30
Josh Beckett	15	1	98 1/3	89	38	7	32	94	3	1	0	3.48	1.26	2.94
CC Sabathia	16	2	109	88	43	9	31	78	6	0	4	3.55	1.15	2.52
Matt Garza	15	0	97 1/3	74	39	14	39	85	3	0	1	3.61	1.19	2.18
Joe Saunders	15	1	98 1/3	93	40	14	29	57	4	1	2	3.66	1.28	1.97
A.J. Burnett	15	0	94	82	41	13	47	92	6	0	9	3.93	1.44	1.96
Tim Wakefield	15	2	94 2/3	93	44	6	36	50	9	0	3	4.18	1.46	1.39

There are some people in the Boston media, and in the Red Sox nation fanbase, who have been banging the drum for Tim Wakefield to make the All Star team. And it's easy to see that it would be a great storyline - he's got the longest tenure of anyone on the roster, has pitched very well on occasion. But you can't make a case that Tim Wakefield, the pitcher, should be an American League All Star this year. There's not one pitcher on the list that you can plausibly argue is less worthy of going, based on pitching performance.