So the Astros will face Roy Halladay for the 2nd time this season, and the pants-pissing has already started. This got us wondering, which inevitably leads to charts and Baseball Reference, how the Astros do the second time around against a starting pitcher.
It's happened 25 times this season:
Tommy Hanson, Ted Lilly, Carlos Silva (3x), Ryan Dempster (3x), Randy Wells, Aaron Harang, Mike Leake (3x), Chris Volstad, Anibal Sanchez, Randy Wolf (3x), Dave Bush (4x), Manny Parra, Yovani Gallardo, Paul Maholm (3x), Ross Ohlendorf (3x), Mat Latos, Jon Garland, Tim Lincecum (3x), Barry Zito (3x), Matt Cain, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Brad Penny, Kyle Lohse, and C.J. Wilson.
Let's break it down.
First time the Astros faced a pitcher they would eventually see again in 2010 (make sense?) Keep in mind, we're only taking into account how the starting pitcher fared - not the bullpen.
The Astros have faced 25 pitchers multiple times this season. So, let's get some stats from the first go-round:
169.2IP, 134H/40ER, 117K:34BB (and a 9-16 record in those games), 2.13 ERA/0.99 WHIP
The second time the starting pitcher faced the Astros in 2010:
154.1IP, 134H/47ER, 106K:58BB (10-15 record), 2.74 ERA/1.25 WHIP
The third time the starting pitcher faced the Astros in 2010 (9 instances):
49.1IP, 68H/30ER, 35K:18BB (6-3 record), 5.50 ERA/1.74 WHIP
Make of it what you will.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
