Saturday, September 13, 2003

A Look Inside the Numbers of Joe Borowski

I have been thinking about writing about Big Joe for some time. Everyone knows that Joe was almost out of baseball down in Mexico. He has been great for the Cubs, but over the past month and a half he really has been good.

So lets look at the numbers:

Overall
2-2 28 Saves 64.0 IP 2.81 ERA 63 K 16 BB 51 Hits 4 BS
.177 BAA with runners in scoring position


Really not bad numbers for a closer. You would think the Cubs would have more saves, but Joe has only blown 4. In those games the Cubs are 2-2. Borowski has not blown a save since August 2nd. His numbers since that point are stellar.

1-0 8 Saves 13.0 IP .69 ERA 13 K 4 BB 8 Hits 0 BS
The lone run Borowski gave up was the pinch hit HR by Jose Macias in the 4-3 win over the Expos. The Cubs will continue to have a playoff chance with him pitching like this.

Here are some other stats:
.210 BAA
.210 BAA vs. Right .211 vs. Left


He has been equally as hard on the left as the right. The only main difference is that he has given up 4 HR's to Left Handed Batters vs. 1 to the right side. 4 of the HR's were solo shots.

One surprising thing looking at all his splits is that he is much tougher on the road.

Home 2-2 3.97 ERA 12/15 SVS .254 BAA
Road 0-0 1.50 ERA 16/17 SVS .162 BAA


He has almost been spotless on the road. He has only given up 5 ER on the road all season. The HR Tuesday in San Juan was the first ER on the road since May 15th against the Brewers. For a guy that is not a closer by trade, he has done a hell of a job.