Here’s an interesting Player A/Player B game…

Player A: 3 wins, 29 IP, 2.48 ERA, 164 ERA+, 0.97 WHIP over 4 starts

Player B: 2 wins, 27 IP, 1.67 ERA, 244 ERA+, 0.89 WHIP also over 4 starts

Some obvious differences between A and B, but overall, pretty dominant right? Here are a few more interesting clues:

Both players were drafted by the Giants.

Both made opening day starts for their respective teams.

Both pitched yesterday and won their starts behind strong offensive performances by their teams.

So, who are these players?

Starting with Player B

Timmy…not super surprising. Now, for Player B…drumroll please…

Ah, yes. Kevin Correia. Of course.

I’m no Correia apologist, and I have been pretty surprised by his run of success the past three years as a starting pitcher. Who knows if he develops this way if he stays with SF. The reason I even bring this up is Ryan Vogelsong/Barry Zito. But, Correia is the number one guy in Pittsburg…he’d be a pretty nice number 5 in SF. Again, a huge number of factors have contributed to Correia’s exit from SF and I sure wasn’t disappointed when he left. If anything this just highlights the depth of pitching the Giants have enjoyed recently. But, right now, I wouldn’t mind having this guy on our side taking over Zito’s slot in the rotation.

That said: one more reason to not care a whole lot about Kevin Correia…

Player A: 12 K, 3.7 K/9

Player B: 32 K, 10.7 K/9

I think it’s safe to say that Timmy has slightly more nasty stuff = )

(-SB)