PIÑATAFEST 2008 @ BIRDS IN THE BELFRY

The 2008 Kerry's Piñata Award Contenders
For the second time in as many seasons, there was a veritable plethora of Piñata Award candidates for the Orioles in 2008.  (Just a reminder: this is not a good thing.)  As a function of injury and/or ineffectiveness, the O's used 26 different pitchers during the season.  Fully 15 of these 26 pitchers met the minimum usage criteria for Piñata consideration.

In some respects, it would be quicker and neater to establish a non-Piñata Award; there would surely be fewer viable candidates.  

I thought it might be instructive to consider some of the pitchers who might, ordinarily, be seriously in the running for the award but in a season like 2008 aren't even on the radar screen.  Daniel Cabrera, for instance.  With his 5.25 ERA, his 1.06 K/BB ratio, his 18 hit batsmen and his 15 wild pitches, you'd think Danny would at least be in the final grouping.  Or Randor Bierd, who posted an ERA just below five (pitiful for a short reliever) and allowed more than 17 baserunners per nine innings pitched.  Not even a consideration this year.  Or Dennis Sarfate who walked seven men per nine innings.  None of these pitchers were ever seriously considered for the Piñata Award in 2008; the crop of worse pitchers was simply too deep.

One finalist was Steve Trachsel, who was sickeningly bad before the Orioles cut him lose prior to mid-season.  In fact, at the time he was kicked to the curb I was willing to grant a variance to consider him even though he came up 1/3 of an inning short in terms of meeting the minimum usage criteria.  (Never let a technicality get in the way of a just award.)  Trachsel was so horrid that, when he was released by the Orioles in the first half of June, I thought he had the Piñata Award locked up.  In his ten appearances (eight starts), Trachsel posted an ERA of 8.39, allowing 18.38 BR/9IP (making Bierd look like a piker in comparison), and a breathtaking 12 home runs in 39.2 IP.  Trachsel walked 6.13 batters per nine innings while fanning just 3.63, a K/BB ratio of 0.59 (the second worst mark in Orioles history for pitchers with at least 35 IP).

Radhames Liz was another pitcher who made the final cut.  Liz posted an ERA of 6.72 in 17 starts and managed to average fewer than five innings per start.  He walked 5.44 batters per nine innings, posted a poor K/BB ratio of 1.12 and allowed 16.33 BR/9IP and surrendered 16 home runs in just 84.1 IP.

Brian Burres was one of a trio of left-handed hurlers to make the final group, with a 6.04 ERA, fanning just 4.37 men per nine innings and allowing 11.45 H/9IP.  Garrett Olson (6.65 ERA in 132.2 IP, 11.40 H/9IP, 4.21 BB/9IP, 16.15 BR/9IP) was a second and Jamie Walker (6.87 ERA as a situational reliever in 59 games, 12 home runs in 38 IP (slightly worse than Trachsel, for goodness sake), 12.55 H/9IP) was the third.  Olson's IP total was the third lowest ever for a pitcher with at least 26 starts; his ERA was the ninth worst ever (and the worst ever, by far, in O's history) in a single season for a pitcher with at least 26 starts.  Walker's ERA was the 15th worst ever (and the single worst mark for a member of the Orioles) for a pitcher with at least 59 appearances.

The 2008 Kerry's Piñata Award Winner
The envelope please.

[House lights dim.  Spotlight shines on the lectern in the center of the dais.  A fast snare drum roll starts softly and gradually increases in volume.]

The man of the hour...the lucky award winner...the individual with the Performance Best Resembling a Piñata in a Starring Role, is...

... Garrett Olson!  Everyone on your feet!  Let's have a big round of applause, ladies and gentlemen, for this year's top fiesta implements:

GARRETT OLSON, 2008

In the end, it came down to Olson and Walker.  Liz was basically Olson in terms of effectiveness (more home runs, but fewer hits; more walks, but more strikeouts) with fewer opportunities to stink.  Burres was basically Olson, but less so; Olson was, in effect, a poor man's Burres (which is really saying something).  Trachsel was worse than all the rest but pitched so much less frequently (only 10 total appearances, just eight starts) than the others that it mitigated his stinkdom.  

That left Walker as Olson's main competitor, and it was pretty close.  It's impossible to look past Walker's home run numbers--nearly three allowed per nine innings (conjuring up memories of Bruce Chen a few years ago, not to mention Trachsel)--his .325 BAA or the fact that Walker, who is in the league to get lefties out, was lit up to the tune of .304/.327/.587 by left-handers.  Walker was ten shades of atrocious in 2008.

But in the end, Walker only faced a total of 178 batters last season; Olson faced 621 (third most on the team behind Jeremy Guthrie and Cabrera), and so the impact of horrid pitching was much greater than that of Walker.  Olson's WHIP (1.73) was actually higher than Walker's.  Opponents managed a .309/.386/.475 mark off Olson for the season.  And, to put the final nail in the coffin, Olson closed the season in truly horrific fashion.  In his 12 starts after the All-Star break, Olson posted the following set of statistics:

59.1 IP (under five innings per start), 83 hits (a .336 batting average against), 53 R, 52 ER, 8 HR, 32 BB, 36 SO and an ERA of 7.89.  In fact, from July 1 on, Olson allowed 66 runs (64 earned) in 68.1 IP for an ERA of 8.43 (14 starts).

How can you ignore a performance like that?  You can't.  And as a result, Garrett Olson is the 2008 Piñata Award recipient.  Hopefully he can dust off a spot on his new Pacific Northwest mantle to house the trophy.

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