55Cents

You didn't understand a word he just said and attacked him for no reason. Good job. No, you didn't understand a word of what I said. I did not attack him or anyone... I was referring to the overall vibe of the entire thread. Thanks and have a great day.

Ok, I know I've said I'm done with this thread a couple of times, and Renteriaupthemiddle has too... and somewhere El Penguino is in pain, either from laughing, or from disappointment in someone putting themselves through this again. Here's the breakdown everyone: "JJ has officially reclaimed his spot as Ace of the rotation" - this is an opinionated (highly) statement, I disagreed with this statement based on the conventional baseball knowledge that "Ace" pitchers put up "Ace" numbers all the way around. Josh Johnson hasn't done this, THAT is a fact. Josh Johnson's WHIP is MEDIOCRE, THAT is a fact. How is it a fact? Mediocre pitchers have WHIPs of 1.4 (As I listed what seems AGES ago), Josh Johnson has a 1.4 WHIP, now, I never claimed Johnson was mediocre, but if Ace pitchers don't have 1.4 WHIPs and Johnson DOES than that means he is not pitching like an Ace. Point Two: Anointing ANYBODY an ace after 1-2 seasons is HIGHLY disparaging to the other pitchers who have EARNED that title. Mark Fidrych had one OUTSTANDING season and then fell off the face of the map, he was NOT an ace. An Ace pitcher is one that has established himself as one that has low ERA, low WHIP, low walks, high K:BB ratios (even if they're not a strikeout pitcher they strikeout a LOT more than they walk, see: Maddux, Greg). Point Three: Saying something is your opinion does not make it so, SEVERAL times I've clarified my point... which is a fact.... and several times it has been argued against. So, once again, here is my point: "Josh John has a high WHIP, Josh Johnson has a low ERA... these two stats correlate over 90% of the time, such that, pitchers with HIGH WHIPs almost always have HIGH ERAs and vice-versa... THEREFORE if Josh Johnson continues this trend of allowing MANY RUNNERS PER INNING HE PITCHED, these runners will start scoring... and it will be the result of bad luck, because Josh Johnson is human and is subject to such things. Once the runners start scoring, his ERA will rise accordingly.... HOWEVER if his WHIP lowers then his ERA becomes sustainable to the point where this type of debate isn't needed. So, as a result, our pitcher, Josh Johnson, is showing SIGNS of being on the verge of giving up runs at a much higher rate than he currently has... as a fan of Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins, this alarms me, because it is a bad thing. If Johnson gives up more runs, we are LESS LIKELY to win games. If we win fewer games, we lower our chances at the playoffs. The secondary argument to this is that you don't seem to worry about this ill-boding omen for a pitcher as being bad, but several of you have gone out and vilified Josh Willingham for "not holding HIMSELF accountable for the team's failures" which I find to be contradictory. You'll blame 1 guy for 9 guys' inability to "get the job done" on a given night, yet you will not say "Hmm, our pitcher is apparently very likely to start giving up more runs, that could be a bad thing" Regardless of the analogy (and many have been given) every time they are the same... Something happens that is very likely a bad, bad thing (JJ likely to give up more runs) is preventable through certain recourse (in JJ's case, allowing fewer baserunners). If the only counter argument was the opinion that "I think JJ will stop allowing baserunners as much and we'll be fine" I would agree completely, that makes sense, that is logical, that's a great thing for a fan to say... but the consistent counter-argument is "JJ can keep giving up these baserunners and get himself out of jams and keep the low ERA" that is NOT a good thing to say, because it is not logical and WILL result in more runs scored, regardless of luck or skill, more baserunners will result in more runs scored. Dude, get over yourself. I do understand what you are saying (as do many others) and I do agree with the WHIP/ERA correlation, however; that does not mean I agree with the overall vibe of this entire (8 page) thread. Just to reiterate more facts... Josh Johnson has recently returned from TJ surgery; He has only started in 6 games; The Marlins have recorded wins for each of his 6 starts. As a fan of the Marlins and a Josh Johnson fan my sole intent is to ride high on his success thus far and to hope that with each start he will bring his WHIP down, keep his ERA down, keep helping the team get more Ws... basically, do his job well. We have 5 young starting pitchers who are all doing well... none of them are veterans that we can say without a doubt deserve to be our Ace but many of them have the potential and what a great ride it has been and continues to be to see them all progress. This last week has been a good one for Josh... instead of spending 8 pages of over explaining what most of us already understand... why not give the guy some props. We all know that when he or any other of our starting pitchers doesn't perform well they will get a thread bashing like no other so why not show some love for the time being while pointing out that we hope he keeps helping us get Ws and that in the process his WHIP will decrease. In closing... Go Josh! WooHoo!

Josh Johnson