Odd Stat of the Day

[Frayed Knot]

From the crew at [u:dcae68f7aa]The Hardball Times[/u:dcae68f7aa]

Infield pop-ups are virtually as good as strike-outs for a pitcher since 99+% of them are turned into outs and runners can't advance.

The average number of fly-balls kept in the infield is 11%.
Currently the Mets lead the majors with 17% and Steve Trachsel leads all pitchers with 21.7%. Glavine is 4th at 18.2%

[MFS62]

That stat really is odd. Youwould think that fastball pitchers get most of the infield popups because they're throwing up in the zone. (There's probably a better way to say that, but you know what I mean.)

Traschell and Glavine aren't exactly flame throwers.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Popups are better than strikeouts in most ways. They're less taxing on the pitcher and provide fewer opportunities for baserunners to advance on steals, wild pitches, and passed balls.