19 November 2008

Tommy Hanson's having a pretty good couple weeks down in Arizona. He's leading the field in wins, ERA, and strikeouts -- the pitcher's triple crown -- and he doesn't have a lot of competition. He has 5 wins in 7 starts, while no one else has more than 4; he has an ERA of 0.63, while the guy in second place is at 1.84; he has 49 K, while no one else has more than 33. He's also leading the league in WHIP, with a WHIP of 0.59; second place is Max Scherzer at 0.88.

His K/9 is an eye-popping 15.4, which is second in the AFL to the Giants' Alex Hinshaw, who has 16.5 K/9 (30 K in 16 1/3 innings) but an ERA of 6.61. He's got the lowest H/9 in the league, with 3.14 hits per 9 innings, while the guy in second place has 5.87. And he has the second-highest K/BB among starting pitchers in the league, with a K/BB of 7. Only the Indians' Josh Tomlin has a better K/BB, 9.3, but he also has an ERA of 6.43.

Among starting pitchers, there is virtually no statistical category for which he is not at or near the top. Basically, Tommy Hanson is treating the AFL like Pedro Martinez treated the AL in 1999. He's pretty good, guys. Just so you know.

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