Steve is not the only commentator who does this, so it’s hard to be overly critical, but I hate this sort of selective use of statistics to make a point.

I think that Farnsworth bites about as much as the next guy, but why choose “May 17th”? Well, because it was Farnsworth’s WORST OUTING OF THE YEAR, where he gave up 3 ERs on a HR.

Of course, when making the point that he’s been “awful lately,” and way that those May 17th statistics inflate Farnsworth’s overall stats since that date, by virtue of the small sample size, there’s really no reason to mention that Farnsworth gave up exactly 0 ERs in his six (6) SIX appearances prior to May 17th, over 5 2/3 IPs.

Farnsworth has *only* given up two or three runs three of his 33 appearances this year. I think three is too many, but whatever. Basically, if you give Farnsworth a two-run lead going into the 8th inning, he will hold it more than 90% of the time.

I hate watching him walk guys and give up HRs, too, but a 90+% success rate is pretty livable, no?

Hey something we agree on!

You don’t even have to use a small sample to make Farnsworth look bad. The whole season hitters have a .307/.369/.598 line. In other words, if we were to rank the American League leaders in OPS:

1. Milton Bradley (1.079)
2. Alex Rodriguez (1.025)
3. J.D. Drew (1.107)
4. Jason Giambi (.978)
5. Hitters against Kyle Farnsworth (.967)

i think they should run him out as soon as possible. see if he can work out his issues on the mound and offer him up to whatever team needs bullpen help at the deadline.

i would say hold on to him and maybe you get some sort of draft pick for him when he leaves after the season as a FA, but i dont want him to be an option for Girardi to have and to use down the stretch.