It Doesn’t Get Much Less Fair Than This

April 8, 2009 at 4:33 pm | Posted in Chad Billingsley, Walter Silva | 7 Comments

Tonight, for the Dodgers! 24-year-old future megastar Chad Billingsley! Already one of the top young starters in baseball, Billingsley improved for the third year in a row in 2008, cementing his position as the ace of the Dodgers. (Seriously, dig that 2.75 ERA in 28 starts from April 30 to the end of the season.) Billingsley’s good enough to take down just about any lineup in the game, but in 13 career games against San Diego (9 starts) he’s got a 2.37 ERA with 61 K in 57 IP. And some of those Padre games may have even come against major league hitters, which San Diego is clearly in short supply of this year.

Chad Billingsley: awesome.

Tonight, for the Padres! 32-year-old future waiter Walter Silva! Hey, 32 isn’t too late to throw your first professional pitch in America, is it? Not when you didn’t start pitching until 27! That’s right, Silva’s a four-year Mexican League veteran who, if I didn’t make this clear enough, didn’t start pitching until 27. In 21 Mexican starts last year, he was 7-8 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.448 WHIP, striking out just 3.7 per 9. That’s hardly tearing up the Mexican League, so what’s that going to look like in the bigs? Well, Baseball Prospectus took a guess, and they’re saying a 5.85 ERA with a -12.1 VORP.

Walter Silva: giving me hope that since I’m 27, I could start pitching today and still make the big leagues.

Oh, and just to add on, Billingsley gets to face guys like David Eckstein, Luis Rodriguez, and Edgar Gonzalez, while Silva gets Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, and Rafael Furcal. Because that’s fair. Seriously, what a mismatch. I can’t remember anything as egregious as this since DJ Houlton vs Roger Clemens, back during that catastrof*ck of 2005.

So, with all that in mind, be prepared for something incredibly ugly tonight:

Padres 5, Dodgers 1. Yeah, you heard me – this always happens. The goggles! They do nothing!

(Other news: Greg Miller’s back! Score! And Andy LaRoche is benched after 0-6 and 3 errors in two games! Yeah, I regret that trade.)

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The funny thing about that Houlton v. Clemens game is that the Dodgers actually almost won the damn thing.

Comment by Alireza— April 8, 2009 #

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If that’s Silva in the photo, just on eyeball analysis of his midsection I’d say that his waiter job provided him access to many unfinished dinners.

Comment by The Dude Abides— April 8, 2009 #

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2 – He kind of looks like a wax figure, doesn’t he?

Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 8, 2009 #

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Looking at the box score on that Houlton/Clemens game, Duaner Sanchez had the blown save and Yhency Brazoban the loss.
Glad to see Greg Miller back. I don’t think anyone will miss LaRoche.

Comment by Penos Cabell— April 8, 2009 #

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Ah yes, 2005. I note that Jason Phillips and his 30 career HRs was batting 4th that game. If nothing else that shows the era. You know it’s bad when the cleanup hitter signs the next year as a minor leaguer and is waived.
I am still hoping that LaRoche pulls it together, but also Greg Miller. What an odd story he has. Amazing he can walk so many and still have enough talent to be retained.

Comment by b.rock— April 8, 2009 #

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actually Mexico is part of America so mr. silva already threw his first pitch in america prior to his major league baseball debut.

Comment by dma— April 10, 2009 #

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6 – That’s not the same thing and you know it.

Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 10, 2009 #

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