The Efficient Tomko

Brett Tomko is proving to be a very wise signing. Who knew he would easily replace Mr Grumpy on the mound. So far, he has outpitched Jeff Weaver, having gone 3-1, with a 4.20 ERA. Weaver is 1-3 with a horrible 7.48 ERA. Tomko has been sharp and reliable. Weaver has been wild and terrible. Tomko went seven innings yesterday while giving up 2 runs, on 5 hits and no walks. One run was as a result of a freak play- a bloop single between short and left field. It should have been caught.

Overall, Tomko, a highly respected artist (Really! This guy shows his paintings in galleries), seems to have founds his grove this season. He has gone at least 6 innings his past 3 games, and has a walk to strike out ratio of 6-16. I think we have a solid middle of the rotation starter. He makes $3.6 million this year, and is starting to look like a bargain.

Jeff Weaver at $8.5 million is looking like a major bust. He has been utterly terrible. In has last game, against Chicago, he got ripped for 8 runs in 2.1 innings. He has given up at least 4 runs in each of his past 5 starts. The league is batting .316 against him.

What strikes me as even more remarkable, though, is that throughout their careers, Tomko has been better than Jeff Weaver- if not just as good. Look at the stats.

Tomko came into the league with the Cincinnati Reds in 1997 as a starter. He has gone 84-74 with a overall ERA of 4.51. His WHIP average is 1.36, and he strikes out 2 batters for every walk he gives up. Additionally, he has given his team nearly 200 innings a season the past 4 years.

Weaver joined the Tigers in 1999 and has gone 79-90 in that time. Sure Detroit was pretty bad then, but he has no excuses for his bad play in New York. As we all know he was booed out of there louder than Barry Bonds at Dodger Stadium. His lifetime ERA is 4.49, with a WHIP average of 1.32. He does get more strike outs as he gets 2.5 strike outs for every walk. Additionally, he has given up less walks in his career, only 388 to Tomko's 470, despite having pitched almost the same amount of innings.

Incredibly, though, Tomko appears like the better pitcher. Albeit, slightly better. Heck, they are almost identical. They seem to be the exact same pitcher. And for $4.9 million less, Tomko appears to be a diamond in the rough. Coletti is starting to look like a genius.