People who Mark Redman is Better Than

For as long as he remains a Brave, Mark Redman will be the whipping boy of this blog so it is only natural that we start with him in Corkscrew Swings.

What actually amazes me is that there are people sure that Mark Redman is the worst pitcher to every play the game, let alone pitch for the Atlanta Braves. Well, children, rest assured. It could get worse.

Jose Lima, for instance, is a worse pitcher and I think the Indian knows that because he was teammates with Lima. The only good thing about Lima is that maybe he brings his wife with him. Three times in his 13 year career, he struck out 100 batters. Six times in his career, he gave up 30 or more homeruns, including 48 in 2000. And for some reason, Houston let him start 33 games that year. At least the Braves won't allow Mark Redman to sniff 200 innings with an almost Satan-loving ERA of 6.65, will they?

Now, there's a thought that will keep people up at night.

At least Mark Redman's not Omar Oliveras...though the similarities are becoming way too noteworthy. Oliveras maxed out in strikeouts with 124 in 1992. His ERA that year of 3.84 would be great if the league ERA that year was not 3.40. Ouch. Career WHIP of 1.49. He somehow threw two shutouts for Detroit in 1997, the only two of his career, yet he carried a 4.70 ERA in 19 starts. How freaking bad do you have to be in those other 17 starts? Oliveras was not that bad his first few years, I guess, but my mom threw faster than he did and the league finally realized that. Favorite stat? In his final two years (2000 and 2001), his ERA wavered between 6.55 and 6.75 and he somehow was used 66 times despite that.

Redman can wipe the floor with Pat Rapp. Somebody should. He is probably free and could use the work. Rapp is the individual example showing that expansion is bad. This guy had no business ever making regular starts and for nine years, he did just that. Was it his inability to strike out batters and in the case of one year, walk more batters than he struck out that garnered major league attention? How about his wonderful 1.55 WHIP? How about his career winning percentage of 70-91 or the fact that the year the Marlins did win the title, they traded his ass away (coincidence? I think not)? My theory is based on the extra "p" in "Rapp." It's not needed, yet it's there. Why do you need a fastball when you can just throw a trippy name at someone? For some reason, Rapp got $2M from the Angels in 2001. That astonishes me.

Jamey Wright actually pitched this year. You may have missed it because it was only 2.2 ING with the Rangers, but there he was, sucking like he usually does. I look at his career and it reminds me of a line in Family Guy about Kevin Costner. "How does he keep getting work?" Over his career, he has struck out 56 more batters than he has walked and this guy has thrown over 1400 innings. Sure, he pitched in Coors and he can't help some of this, but when your walks are so close to your strikeouts, you probably should find a new career. I would rather see Air Bud throw than this guy. Wright has led the league twice in his career. Both times, it was in hit batsman.

Awww...who's a good dog? Who's a good puppy? Doggie want a bone?

Hmmm, anyway...

Finally, there is the case of the former Brave (unfortunately), Albie Lopez. Like Lima, Redman, Rapp, and just about every shitty pitcher in the history of the game, he pitched some in Kansas City. Some. As in even Kansas City got tired of a 12.71 ERA and a 2.56 WHIP. Lopez's one nice season came in 1998 when his WHIP flirted with the 1.30 line. He would not get close again. In fact, over the final five years of his career, all his WHIP did was go up. One brief stint in Atlanta helped his ERA as Andruw Jones and Company ran from gap-to-gap trying to catch the next rocketed shot Lopez served up, but then, 2003 came and Kansas City realized what even the Devil Rays got two years before.



And somewhere in his possession is a World Series ring.