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April's Good Month And Bad Month Pitchers
Ah. The smell is in the air. Hot dogs, peanuts, and ice-cold beer are once being offered up at ballparks across the country as the 2008 Major League Baseball season is suddenly underway.
It seems like only yesterday when Colorado stunned the baseball world, only to be swept away in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. The question now looms - can the Rockies earn a spot back in the playoffs, and can the BoSox pull off a hat-trick in 2008? Only time will tell.
There's no doubt that the key to successful baseball handicapping is keeping a pulse on the starting pitchers. And because they are human, pitchers develop a tendency to perform at optimum best, or minimum worst, capacities at various stages of the season. Recognizing their 'good month' and 'bad month' tendencies goes a long way in becoming a winning handicapper.
Thanks to my good friend and professional handicapper Tom Freese, I present a list of the BEST and WORST pitcher performance records during the month of April over the past three years. Note that the Win-Loss figures are team-start records, or the team's record in games started by the denoted pitcher. To qualify, pitchers must have started a minimum of 10 games within the month.
Keep this valuable list handy throughout the opening month of April, as well as future updates at the beginning of each month right here on this web site during the 2008 baseball season, as you'll soon beefing up on a diet of lip-smacking baseball delicacies and winning plays. Hey beer man, pour me a cold one, would ya?.....
APRIL GOOD PITCHERS
Josh Beckett – Boston: 12-3
Eric Bedard – Seattle: 11-5
Mark Buehrle – Chicago White Sox: 11-4
Chris Capuano – Milwaukee: 12-4
Roy Halladay – Toronto: 13-3
Aaron Harang – Cincinnati: 12-5
Tim Hudson – Atlanta: 11-5
Cliff Lee – Cleveland: 7-3
Greg Maddux – San Diego: 11-4
Mike Maroth – Kansas City (AAA): 11-3
Pedro Martinez – N.Y. Mets: 8-2
Mark Mulder – St. Louis: 9-1
Curt Schilling – Boston: 10-4
Brandon Webb – Arizona: 13-4
Dontrelle Willis – Detroit: 11-5
APRIL BAD PITCHERS
David Bush – Milwaukee: 4-11
Matt Cain – San Francisco: 2-8
Aaron Cook – Colorado: 3-8
Zack Greinke – Kansas City: 1-9
Paul Maholm – Pittsburgh: 3-7
Kevin Millwood – Texas: 5-12
Oliver Perez – N.Y. Mets: 5-12
Andy Pettitte – N.Y. Yankees: 4-12
Ben Sheets – Milwaukee: 3-9
Josh Towers – Colorado: 3-11
Kip Wells – Colorado: 3-8
Barry Zito – San Francisco: 3-12
