Dan Haren has been the best pitcher in the AL so far. (AP Photo)

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises this season is how well Oakland starter Dan Haren has pitched.

Haren went eight innings Wednesday, allowing one run on four hits to earn his sixth win of the season. The start also improved his season ERA to 1.64.

While I have always thought Haren was and would be a good pitcher, I think it’s safe to say these numbers don’t quite represent what he is capable of. He’s performing well above his projections: PECOTA projected a 4.09 ERA with 148 Ks. Needless to say he’s on pace for far better.

Note Haren’s stats for the season, particularly his FIP-ERA, which is an indication of how lucky a pitcher is getting. An FIP-ERA over 1.0 for an entire season would indicate an inordinate amount of luck. Haren’s is 1.54.

Lastly, Haren’s batting average against this year is at .184. It was over .250 in 2005 and 2006.

I expect Haren to come back to Earth soon.

Just, out.

A’s knew how to beat their former teammate, but why doesn’t everyone? (AP Photo)

ESPN’s Buster Olney made an interesting observation in his blog today regarding Barry Zito’s start against his former team:

It was interesting to see that when Oakland faced old friend Barry Zito last Friday, the Athletics stacked their lineup with left-handed hitters — their 3-4-5 batters were lefties Eric Chavez, Dan Johnson and Jack Cust, and Travis Buck batted eighth. Did the Athletics have some special insight into Zito, after watching him pitch in green and gold for all those years?

Well, Olney answers his own question a bit later. It wasn’t the A’s that had inside information, it’s all of baseball that should have the answer.

As Olney points out, the Astros filled their lineup with right-handed hitters to combat the lefty Zito, as would be the norm according to conventional baseball wisdom. The A’s did the opposite. Why?

Lefties were hitting .309 against Zito this season while righties were hitting .218 entering the start against Houston.

This brings me to my point:

I think far too often teams will resort to the lefty/righty matchup without actually consulting the numbers. There are plenty of pitchers that work better against hitters than the standard righty/lefty matchup would have you believe. And I assume there are even more who display no difference when facing righties or lefties.

This is why it upsets me when managers will bench a considerably better hitters for a bench player purely for the favorable matchup.

For kicks, here’s a little snippet from the Simpsons, episode 8F13 entitled “Homer at the Bat”:

Strawberry: You’re pinch-hitting for me?

Burns: Yes, you see you’re a left-hander and so is the pitcher. If I send up a right-handed batter it’s called playing the percentages. It’s what smart managers do to win ballgames.

Strawberry: But I hit nine home runs today.

Burns: You should be very proud of yourself. Sit down.

Absolute classic.

Just, out.