Chien-Ming Wang an Ace (written 4/08)

Wang has been criticized by fans and scouts alike for the success he has had the last two seasons. People are contributing his large share of wins and high rate of success to factors other than his talents and his abilities. Many believe that Chien-Ming has just gotten lucky over a long period of time, or that he gets way more run support than any other pitcher in the game. The fact of the matter is these people are wrong and maybe blind to what Wang posses. It takes a lot of talent and hard work to win 19 games in the Major Leagues for two consecutive seasons, especially in the first 3 years seasons one has been pitching.

Proving wrong the luck or run support theory is my first order of business. First off any pitcher will get their share of luck, whether it be calls for strikes or calls in the field, it is part of the game, it is part of nature. I don’t understand how people can say that Wang has more luck than any other pitcher, because really that is impossible, unless of course he or the Yankees are bribing the umpires, and I highly doubt that. If anything Wang should be better than he is, he should allow less base runners because he is more unlucky than most pitchers. He is a groundball pitcher, which means the fielders behind him are more likely to make mistakes than if he was a strikeout or flyball pitcher. In order to prove that luck nor run support has played a roles in his victories, I would like to regurgitate some stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference. In games that Wang has won, which for his career is 46, he has pitched 323 Innings, allowed 282 Hits, given up 88 Runs (only 85 earned), allowed 13 HR’s against, allowed 71 BB to 151 SO, and carried a 2.37 ERA, now is that luck? In the games that Wang has lost he has been nothing more than atrocious, in losing 18 career games, he has pitched 105.1 Innings, allowed 148 Hits, 89 Runs (only 83 earned), allowed 9 HR’s against, allowed 41 BB to 45 SO, and in these loses has posted an ERA of 7.09. For the sake of saving space his no decision stats are 104.2 IP, 113 H, 54 ER, 8 HR, 31 BB, 31 SO, and a 4.64 ERA. His ERA for in his wins for 2007 was an astounding 2.19. Now to the run support conundrum, Wang had an RS of 7.04 runs per game when he started. Justin Verlander was the only pitcher above Chien-Ming Wang on the list, yet he is commonly regarded as an ace. Several other pitchers that had high success rates last season also showed high RS rates, including (those above 5.5 runs per game) Roy Hallady, C.C Sabathia, Dontrelle Willis, Felix Hernandez, Kelvim Escobar, and Josh Beckett. I can draw a conclusion from these stats that he has been an ace type pitcher in all 46 of his wins. Also I have concluded that you cannot discredit any of those wins from Wang, because he had a high amount of run support. These stats are proof that even if Wang were to get 5 or 6 runs in a game he won, he pitched good enough to win with a lot less runs than he got. I will make a comparison of Josh Beckett (who people say is a #1 starter) to Chien-Ming Wang (who people say is at best a #3 starter). In 2007 Wang had a lower ERA in the games he won than Josh Beckett did (2.19 vs. 2.50), but Beckett’s ERA in his losses and no decisions was lower ( 5.40 and 3.63 to 7.23 and 5.61). Josh Beckett’s runs support was 6.59, while Wang’s was 7.04. My question is how is Beckett considered more of an ace than Wang, yes the Taiwanese Terror is much worse in his losses and no-decisions, but what matters is the wins and how dominant the pitcher pitching was. Beckett and several other big name pitchers got a lot of run support as well, yet they can still be aces, they are not doubted. I think that strikeouts play a big role in this, as Wang is swept to the back of the pack because he doesn’t strike 200 or more batters when he wins his 19 games. Strikeouts are like homeruns, they are good and nice to pad stats, but they don’t mean that you are any better than the guy that doesn’t. This is like trying to compare Derek Jeter to Barry Bonds, it just doesn’t work. They are two different style players, you just can’t compare them based on a single statistic. Wang is in his own way an ace, and anyone who says that he won 19 games because of run support or luck should look at the facts.

There are several other reasons why I see Wang as an ace and as an asset to this team. First off he shows tremendous confidence and poise on the mound, and rarely do we see him show emotion on the mound. Seldom do we see him lose confidence and get shelled in starts following a bad one. It takes a lot to go out there give up seven runs and then come right back out five days later and shut a team down, it is not easy, and that is one reason I like Wang. He is always ready to battle. Another reason I like Wang is his consistency. Ever since being called up to the Yankees he has been an asset to the team, he is 46 and 18 in his career so far, and I’d say that is a pretty damn good start. Not only are his stats consistent, but his delivery and his mechanics seems to be for the most part consistent. Yes he has the few occasional kinks that every pitcher needs to work out, but every time he is out there the set, the wind up, and the follow through are exactly the same. This is important because it shows that the pitcher is polished, and that he will not be injury prone or be wild because his motion shows inconsistencies. Another factor and probably the most important thing about Wang is his ability to be able to go far into games, while maintaining a fairly low pitch count. That is something that is hard to do as a strikeout pitcher, and that is why I’m glad that he is not one of them. An ace is supposed to be able to pitch long into games and give up as few runs as possible, the strikeouts are just a bonus. That is why I am perfectly happy with the fact that Wang strikes out so few. Not only does Wang strike out very few, but he also walks very few, and that is extremely important for any pitcher, but especially a sinker baller. Now it is understandable that he will have too many walks in a few games, but it is not very often where we see 4 or even 3 walks in one start. Now onto the pitches that Mr. Wang possesses. He obviously has the sinker, which is his most important pitch, usually sitting between 92-95 it can be considered one of the harder sinkers in the game. This has been his main pitch for the entirety of his career, and really has had not had to use anything else, because it has been so successful. This pitch has allowed him to post a career 2.70 GO/AO ratio, which is very very good. Wang also has a slider, which he doesn’t use all that much, but we were able to see its true effectiveness in the game against the Mets, when he struck out 10 batters almost all with that one pitch. Finally Chien-Ming has been developing a changeup, which hopefully will come along nicely, and allow him to set batters up better. The addition or use of a secondary pitch has been Wang’s biggest weakness, it is his Achilles heal. The negative part about just using his sinker is now people are beginning to sit on it a little more, let the ones out of the zone go, while hitting the sinkers in the zone that have less movement. He needs, and I have every confidence he will, begin to use his changeup and his slider a little more frequently, especially when a situation arises for the punch out. Overall Wang has a solid build and a solid mentality.

I think that will do it for my argument on why Chien-Ming Wang is an ace. I believe I made several points that prove why he should be given this status, and why he should not be discredited for anything he has done. I can look past the lack of strikeouts and the bad games, because behind all that I see something special, I see the Pride of Tiawan, Chien-Ming Wang.

Thanks for reading,Dan G.