FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 04/15, 12:48 PM
Don't you think it's a bit early to be predicting the end-of-season Rookie of the Year?

But I'll play along. I'll go with Dodgers starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Like Cueto, he is 1-1 in 3 starts, but in the most important pitching statistic (ERA), he has a 2.89 ERA, to Cueto's 3.72 ERA (a difference of 83 points). Kuroda is also good in other areas. His WHIP is impressive, and he also has a good BAA and a low number of walks.

Cueto is a good strikeout pitcher, and he doesn't give up a lot of hits, but in his 3 starts, he has given up 4 home runs, with at least one in each game. Just two days ago, he gave up 5 ER in 6 innings. Kuroda, on the other hand, has given up 2 HR, and his worst start was 3 ER in 6 IP.

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 04/15, 02:58 PM
Uhh...Rookie of the Year is Rookie of the Year, it doesn't matter if the guy has played 20 seasons in Japan. He is still a rookie, who is eligible for the award. If you want to argue who should win the award not including Japanese players, feel free to start another TD. According to Major League Baseball, Kuroda and Cueto are both equal rookies.

How is Cueto playing for a worse team make him a better candidate? The only statistic that is actually affected by how his own team plays is the Win-Loss column. Everything else depends on him. And besides, the Dodgers have a worse record than the Reds.

Kuroda has actually faced tougher batting teams. The D'Backs, Padres and Pirates are (respectively) 2nd, 3rd and 14th in batting average. Cueto has faced the D'Backs, Pirates and Brewers, who are (respectively) 2nd, 14th and 18th in batting average. So, the Padres are actually a better hitting team than the Brewers? Thus far, yes.

In the end, what matters is giving up as few runs as possible. Strikeouts are fine, but if we judged who was best on K/9, the greatest three pitchers of all time are Randy Johnson, Kerry Wood and Pedro Martinez.

Lifer: Metallica Sucks! said 04/16, 11:39 AM
"Cueto is the better prospect, thus the better rookie."

Talk about asinine. We're not talking about the better prospect, or the better rookie, we're talking about who will win NL Rookie of the Year. I don't care if Kuroda is 50 years old, if he deserves to win, he will win it.

You also put way too much stock in strikeouts. In 2006, Chien-Ming Wang finished 2nd in AL Cy Young voting. Want to know what his strikeout total was? 76. That's right, 76 Ks. It was good for 61st in the just the AL, behind even relievers. Yet he still finished 2nd in Cy Young voting...

Cueto has "the possibility to lead his team", and Kuroda doesn't? Well, last time I checked, both have the same record and both are on 6-8 teams, so...I guess neither is doing a whole lot of "leading" thus far, am I correct?