Tim Wakefield is not an All-Star.
Posted by John Gugarty on July 5, 2009
You will not find a bigger fan of Tim Wakefield than myself. From his incredible debut in ‘95 to his service out of the bullpen to his brief but memorable stint as closer, Wake has done everything that a pitcher can do for the Red Sox. Having him be the man to surrender Aaron Boone’s crushing home run in 2003 was the cruelest part of that entire ordeal, and seeing him vindicated just a year later remains one of the highlights of my baseball-watching life. Couple all of these things with his ridiculously team-loyal contract (you’ll have to scroll down quite a ways), and you have a man who is genuinely one of the best people to play the game.
In addition to being a model of integrity and loyalty, Wakefield has also become a model of consistency–certainly not on a start-to-start basis, but rather from year to year. As evidence, I present his ERA+, strikeout rate and walk rate from 2004 through 2009:
2004: 100 ERA+, 5.54 K/9, 3.01 BB/9
2005: 109 ERA+, 6.03 K/9, 2.72 BB/9
2006: 103 ERA+, 5.79 K/9, 3.28 BB/9
2007: 100 ERA+, 5.24 K/9, 3.05 BB/9
2008: 112 ERA+, 5.82 K/9, 2.98 BB/9
2009: 108 ERA+, 4.65 K/9, 3.16 BB/9
Wakefield in 2009 is, for all intents and purposes, the same pitcher he has been for the past five seasons: A solid back-of-the-rotation arm for a very good team who can usually be counted on to eat some innings when the bullpen needs saving. The only notable difference between his 2009 season and any of the others is his win total. Wakefield’s ten wins match his total from 2008, and are already higher than his total in 2006. And although he won more games in 2004, ‘05 and ‘07, none of those seasons–nor any in his career–saw him reach ten wins before the end of June, as he has in 2009.
Tim Wakefield is a tremendously valuable pitcher whose lengthy career should hopefully see him enshrined in the Red Sox Hall of Fame when (or if) he eventually retires. He is also 29th among American League starting pitchers in ERA, 26th in WHIP, and 17th in innings pitched. Kevin Millwood, CC Sabathia, James Shields, Nick Blackburn, Jered Weaver, Dallas Braden and Matt Garza are superior in all three categories; none of them were selected to the team. Wakefield’s career deserves recognition, however, much like Jason Varitek last year, being chosen to the All-Star team for silly reasons is not the proper way.
