Supan makes top 10 overrated list.
Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 5:38 pm
Jason Stark wrote:Back when Suppan was just a dependable back-of-the-rotation arm on a team like the Cardinals, he was probably underrated. But nothing can mess with a guy's underratedness like (a) a big postseason series against a team from New York; and (b) a hefty free-agent contract from a team that doesn't exactly hand those deals out like bobbleheads.
So poof. Here he is, on the overrated list -- though just barely. It's never fun to throw a wonderful guy like Jeff Suppan into a list like this. But that NLCS MVP award and those dollar signs (all 42 million of them) have painted an exaggerated portrait of what he really is.
He has never had a season in which he gave up fewer hits than innings pitched. His career strikeout rate is just 5.04 per nine innings. And, in fact, the only other active pitcher who has made 150 starts, has a career strikeout ratio lower than Suppan's, and has a higher WHIP and opponents' batting average than Suppan is (holy, schmoly) Josh Fogg.
In other words, put this guy on a team that catches all those balls he puts in play and scores plenty of runs, and his inning-eating dependability looks like a good thing. Put him on a team like the ones Fogg has pitched for, and he suddenly looks pretty ordinary. So we'll give Suppan credit for picking the right teams to work for. Unfortunately, it's just not enough credit to keep him off our All-Overrated Team.