mark hendrickson..fluke or not?

[sadlyajetsfan]

"Hendrickson is your current league leader in both ERA (1.30) and WHIP (0.69), and he ranks third in BAA (.159). His first three appearances of the season were as a reliever, where he allowed four hits and two earned runs in 11.0 innings pitched, striking out 11 and walking one. Since joining the Dodgers' starting rotation, Hendrickson has allowed 10 hits and two earned runs in 16.2 innings over three starts, striking out 13 and walking four."

those stats are insane but his past has not been kind to him. he was ok as relief in the past but a close to 6era as a starter in 05 worries me. anyone confident in him or was this just a hot start and not worth a look pickup wise?

[masterpinky0509]

Worth a pickup and spot-start until he shows himself to be a fraud for sure, I suppose. I don't really believe in his continued ability to K hitters since his stuff is not really that special and he's never demonstrated huge strikeout ability before. Once the K's start declining and more balls get put into play, he'll run into trouble.

[StlSluggers]

Fluke.

Reason #1


Reason #2


Reason #3
<pre>Year BHIP QS %
2003 0.325 0.40
2004 0.293 0.53
2005 0.320 0.29
2006 0.287 0.44
2007 0.194 0.33
AVG 0.313
MLB 0.288</pre>

[RugbyD]

is there any reason to believe that he has changed something significantly or added a kick-ass new pitch?

[StlSluggers]

is there any reason to believe that he has changed something significantly or added a kick-ass new pitch?

That is a possibility. He's getting a lot more ground balls.



That, combined with LA's park, are keeping his HR totals down.



All of his HRA are on the road this year.

[StlSluggers]

This is weird...

Like last year, even though he's a lefty, he's getting hit around more by lefties than by righties.



What pitch can a lefty throw that would cause righties problems?

[bigwords]

Good point, StlSluggers, but I would point out his ERA is SO LOW that even adjusted, it still looks good. His DIPS ERA (ERA independent of defense) is 2.46.

The strikeout-to-walk rate is incredibly impressive.

Part of his high strand rate can be explained by a fabulous LA bullpen.

And yeah, the ballpark has already been discussed, but let's not forget the fact he's been working with a sports psychologist. Not a huge believer, but sometimes feeling comfortable on the mound is all that is required.

[Coppermine]

Total fluke; this guy started out real strong last year from what I recall only to quickly fall back to earth... wasn't he on Tampa Bay then?

[deerayfan072]

Total fluke; this guy started out real strong last year from what I recall only to quickly fall back to earth... wasn't he on Tampa Bay then?

Yep. We moved him just in time to watch him blow up and get demoted to the dodger pen

[Yoda]

tick...tick... tick...