Why does Radke get hit so hard?

[KolbSaves]

The sabrematicians have to love this guy, the k/bb ratio is insane, but he gives up so many hits. Is it just because he throws too many strikes? How do sabrematicians explain his era with his k/bb ratio? I don't think his hr rate is too bad is it?

[Pedantic]

It is this year. 1.646 per nine. 1.166 per nine in his career. So there is certainly some room for improvement this year, but he still has problems with the long ball.

[nikku88]

His K/BB is great, but it's more a result of how little he walks rather than how many he K's. There's just too many balls in play.

[fiz]

He started slow last year too - Check out his April stats, but yeah, he walks so few that the batters know he's coming with a strike

[TheYanks04]

Radke had a career lyear last season. He is really as good as his 04 numbers. He actually is a good WHIP pitcher buy not a good ERA one historically.

[Spartans Rule]

While K and BB are the two most important statistics for pitchers, K/BB is pretty much a nonsense statistic. There's really no rational basis for using walks as a denominator, and the stat is biased towards lower walk guys.

I'd much rather have the K/BB combination of a guy like Oliver Perez 2004 (239/81, 2.95 ratio) over that of Radke 2004 (143/26, 5.5).

[KolbSaves]

Radke had a career lyear last season. He is really as good as his 04 numbers. He actually is a good WHIP pitcher buy not a good ERA one historically.

Yeah but why. Surely the balls put in play against him don't end up as hits more than any other pitcher?

[Spartans Rule]

Radke had a career lyear last season. He is really as good as his 04 numbers. He actually is a good WHIP pitcher buy not a good ERA one historically.

Yeah but why. Surely the balls put in play against him don't end up as hits more than any other pitcher?

They actually do end up as hits a little more often because the Twins play on turf. A pitcher who lets lots of balls go in to play isn't a great fit for Minnesota.

That leads to Radke giving up a lot of hits, and he has the gopher ball problem too.

[TB13]

[Yeah but why. Surely the balls put in play against him don't end up as hits more than any other pitcher?

Any pitcher who constantly throws pitches in the zone and does not have the stuff to blow hitters away is going to get hit eventually. See Jon Leiber in another month or so.

[SolomonKane]

I haven't looked at his splits, but Radke gets hit just as much on the road as he does on the turf at home.

The Twins infield is quite adept at making plays on that turf, so that isn't a great excuse.

The longball is what is killing him. He can get out of jams where he gets hitters on base, as he has for years on end. But giving up homers, there just doesn't seem to be a fix for that.

The twins just have to live with that and give him the run support he needs to get the wins. He rarely gives up more than 2 or 3 runs a game. If you can live with that and bank on a promising twins offense that is off to a slow start, radke is worth the very low risk.