THT helps Banny
According to this piece by Joe Posnanski, Brian Bannister is looking to THT’s stats for a little insight and help.
“Look at my xFIP,” he is saying as he pulls out a few pages he printed off the Internet site, “The Hardball Times.” He points out his xFIP — an advanced pitching statistic that stands for “Expected Fielding Independent Pitching.”
“Look,” he says, and here is his row of xFIP numbers:
2006: 6.29.
2007: 5.14.
2008: 4.59.
“Look at that,” he says again. “I’m actually pitching better than I was last year. My xFIP is down. It’s just that I got lucky last year.”
We’re happy to provide some solace, Brian. Hang in there. (Hat tip: Tango)
Dave Studeman was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Follow his sporadic tweets @dastudes.