Gotta Know When to Fold ‘Em
By Blake VandeBunte • Nov 6th, 2008 • Category: Kenny RogersIt seems there has been more and more chatter lately about the possibility that Kenny Rogers may come back for one more season with the Tigers. As some one who watched at least 150 Tigers games last year and saw Rogers in person way too often, I think this is a bad idea.
The Gambler had arguable the worst season of his 20 year career in 2008. Rogers, who will be 44 on Monday, went 9-13 in 2008 with an ERA of 5.70. If not for Nate Robertson and Dontrelle Willis, Rogers would have been the biggest disappointment in the starting rotation. Sure he was durable and logged over 170 innings, but who cares how many innings you pitch if you are ineffective?
Last year 100 Major League pitchers threw at least 150 innings. Of those 100 players, only four had a higher WHIP (Walks+Hits/Innings) than Rogers (Robertson, Livan Hernandez, Brandon Backe, and Ian Snell). Using the same inning requirement, only four pitchers had a worse ERA+ than Rogers. Finally, using that 150 inning mark again, only seven pitchers struck out batters and lower rate than Kenny. Add it all up and you have a 44 year old pitcher who allows a lot of base runners, a ton of runs, and has a really hard time getting out jams via the strike out. Hmm.
I think there is something to be said for his durability. Rogers managed to remain healthy during the 2008 campaign and still fields his position better than most. When you look at his 5.70 ERA and his 30 starts you certainly could find some one to do a worse job. You really could. However, what’s staggering about Rogers is how he managed to end the season.
Over his nine starts of the 2008 season, Rogers posted a 1-7 record. Not only was his record awful, every other statistic you use to measure pitcher effectiveness was off-the-charts bad:
- 47 innings
- 5.2 innings per start
- 68 hits
- 10 homers
- 23 walks
- 9.00 ERA
- Average Against: .345
- OBP Against: .415
- SLG Against: .584
That line of .345/.415/.584 is a great line for a batter. Just to show you how hitters saw the ball against Rogers consider this: The last batter to put up those numbers for a season was Albert Pujols last season. Basically, batters hit Rogers like Albert Pujols over his final nine starts last season. Wow.
So while his overall numbers for 2008 were not the absolute worst in the league, he was dreadful down the stretch and certainly looked like he was washed up. There’s now shame in being washed up at the age of 44, most guys never make it that far. However, I think it really is time for The Gambler to fold ‘em.
Share
Blake VandeBunte is a posting fiend.
Email this author | All posts by Blake VandeBunte
I have to agree, I mean, watching him at the end of last year, he had nothing left in the tank. It’s probably hard to end a career on a bad note like that, but it would be a HUGE risk to have him come back, and we’ve already got more than enough IFs in our rotation. I’ll always give him much love for the 2006 post-season, it was wildly inspiring to watch him on the hill. He should get into coaching–think he’d be great.