Stat of the Day: Watch Wakefield Win

Tim Wakefield has quietly been one of the best starting pitchers in the American League this season. After the superhuman Roy Halladay (who has just landed himself a trip to the DL, probably because of all the pitching he’s pushed himself to do (he’s the only pitcher in the MLB to have thrown over 100 innings this season)), Wakefield has the most wins of any pitcher in the AL. With a record of 8-3 through twelve starts, only four pitchers have more wins than he does; three of them have the advantage of playing in the National League, where one in every nine batters is almost a guaranteed out, and the overall offense is weaker. And at age 42, he’s far and away the oldest of any pitcher with 8+ wins; Roy Halladay is closest, at age 32. Nevertheless, of the eight pitchers have at least 8 wins this season, only four, Wakefield being one of them, have thrown multiple complete games. Tonight, Wake goes up against Hanley Ramirez and the Florida Marlins, who are 3rd in the NL East, 6 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.