*SLOUGH, ENGLAND – After watching Andy Pettitte win his 250 career game Saturday, it makes one wonder if we will ever see another MLB 300 game winner. Pettitte is currently the ripe age of 41 and at this rate, it would probably take another two or three seasons with the Yankees to reach that elusive 300 mark.
But let’s be honest, with the injuries that Pettitte has endured the past couple seasons, it’s hard to believe he’ll reach the milestone. And the specs of gray in his hair don’t exactly scream that he’s cheating Father Time.
Pettitte’s situation begs the big question: Will we see another 300-game winner? Let’s put three pitchers up to the test and find out if they have what it takes…
Roy Halladay (36 years-old, 201 wins): As much as I respect Halladay’s game, I just don’t see 300-wins on his radar. The fact that Roy Halladay pitched his way to the Philadelphia Phillies’ 60-Day DL doesn’t pose well for the one they call “Doc.” At this point in Halladay’s career you can maybe count on 15 wins a season. This means he would need at least another six years in the league, putting him in a similar spot to Pettitte. However watch for Doc to comeback from injury this season and have a pretty good remainder of the season after the All-Star break.
CC Sabathia (32 years-old, 197 wins): Out of this batch of pitchers, Carsten Charles has the best shot to reach the historic milestone. But even the Big Guy has his areas of concern. Sabathia is 6-4 on the season with an ERA of 4.07, which is far above his career average. Watching Sabathia this season, you can see slight signs of decline. His velocity is down, which scares most Fantasy Baseball owners. Sabathia is a big man and puts a lot behind his pitches and for him to lose a part of his game like that may lead to a wearing future. However, CC Sabathia still can be a 20-game winner each and every season, which makes him a threat to reach 300 wins. If Sabathia has five more seasons of 20 win baseball (not counting this season) that will put him well over 300 wins and certainly in the Hall of Fame.
Felix Hernandez (29 years-old, 105 wins): Hernandez signed a big juicy contract over the summer to ink him with the Angry Ward’s Seattle Mariners for the foreseeable future (through 2019.) King Felix signed the contract that quite possibly eliminated himself from ever reaching 300 wins. Hernandez’s problem is he plays for the Mariners and they just don’t win. The Mariners’ ace hasn’t had run support for years and that has effected his wins total. For a guy who has pitched for nine years in the league with an ERA of 3.17, he should have more wins than 105. This year is a perfect example. Hernandez has an ERA of 2.49 and has only registered seven wins through 14 games. A pitcher with an ERA under 3.00 should total more than 50% of his wins. That is a problem and will continue to be a problem through the decade for him.
Please offer your thoughts below and tune in to Fake Sandy Alderson, tomorrow.
*On vacation
