The Stats Geek offers a timely column on Kip Wells. (Incidentally, kudos to whoever wrote the headline, which is "Wells Terribly Inconsistent"; you win my Captain Obvious award for the year.)
The Geek uses Bill James' game score statistic to show that in 2005, Wells has swung wildly between terrible and downright fantastic from start to start. As an indicator of what he may do later on, this inconsistency may prove to be important, and Wells' yo-yoing is frustrating to any fan who's paying attention. But the inconsistency itself matters less to me than the overall results Wells is producing. The Stats Geek lists some overall numbers in a chart at the bottom of the column, but I'd like to add strikeouts and walks:
- 99 K, 61 BB
- 134 K, 71 BB
- 147 K, 76 BB
- 116 K, 66 BB
- 117 K, 77 BB
So what should the Pirates do with Wells? Should they hang on to him in 2006 and hope he harnesses his stuff? Should they try to trade him this offseason? Or should they hope that he pitches well to start next year, then try to trade him? Answer the poll inside...