Ode to Jeff Suppan

Pre-game tonight the Cardinals announcers were praising how well Jeff Suppan is doing.  Come on people, look into this stuff before pontificating!

I can’t believe I live in a world where this stuff happens.  First Volquez, now Jeff Suppan.  Jeff Suppan, entering tonight’s game, has an ERA of 3.00.  His BB/9 is virtually the same to his career numbers.  His K/9 is a wonderfully funny 1.7.  Career wise he K’s about 5 per 9 innings, so that may come up some.  Like Volquez, his HR rate is down massively.  1.2 career, 0.4 this year.  That’s coming up.  A lot.  And I’m not buying the Petco excuse for him.  His career number has been pretty constant whether pitching in a pitcher’s haven (like Busch) or in a hitter’s haven (like Miller Park), so I guarantee that’s coming up.  A lot.  And soon.

Also, like Volquez, his BABIP is incredibly low.  In his career, he is a .301 (which is actually about average).  This year?  .253.  Yeah, that ain’t keeping.  He will come back down and be the good ol’ 4.5-4.8 ERA Jeff Suppan.  When?  Well the Cards touched him up for 3 in the first inning, so I’d say by the end of June we’ll be seeing the really real Jeff Suppan shine through.

I loved Suppan when he was a Cardinal (which, if you haven’t noticed yet, there are very few I don’t).  Never thought he was more than an average pitcher, and overperforming in the 2006 NLCS will always be one of my favorite baseball memories.  Seeing him in Game 7 (greatest NLCS game in history) get Jose Valentin to strike out and Endy Chavez to pop up to center with the bases loaded after Chavez made that catch was incredible.  In 15 innings in that series he gave up 1 earned run (first inning of Game 7), 5 hits and 6 walks.  You were amazing.  I thank you for that.  But, really, you sorta suck now.