This exact poll is running on the Blue Jays team page: Who will finish the season with the most wins?
| Gustavo Chacin |  80 (32.52%) |
| Tomo Ohka | 8 (3.25%) |
| Josh Towers | 158 (64.23%) |
246 votes | 6 featured comments
FYI, the early returns on the team site's version of the poll:
- Chacin - 63%
- Ohka - 11%
- Towers - 25%
Note that they started their poll before Towers' sparkling performance yesterday...
It's still 62% Chacin, and that's who I voted for.
Gus deserves way more love than he gets. The man rarely implodes, that may not be the best complement but its a characteristic that will net him a decent amount of W's if he stays healthy. Towers may have prettier statistical pitching lines when he has good games, but he is going to have a lot more disastrous games, where he is yanked in the 2nd or 3rd innings.
I hate it when people say that Gus just knows how to win, but I have
much more confidence with him out there than Towers. There will
be walks and dingers and he'll be out around 5 innings, yet somehow
things work out. Towers could collapse at any given moment,
like, say in the first inning of a game against TB last year...
Note that the poll is not "Who do you think is a better pitcher?", but it looks like that's how people may have voted.
Note that the poll is not "Who do you think is a better pitcher?", but it looks like that's how people may have voted.
Note that the poll is not "Who do you think is a better pitcher?", but it looks like that's how people may have voted.
I don't think that's the case at all. If you look back at their 2005 seasons, the last season in which either one of them pitched triple digit innings, you'll see some very similar stat lines. Towers - 13W, 208 Innings, 3.71 ERA, ERA+ 120. Chacin - 13W, 203 Innings, 3.72 ERA, ERA+ 119. The biggest difference would appear to be that Towers just walks alot less guys.
Given that the difference in walks is measurable, and that Towers has a track record of 2 or 3 other solid seasons under his belt (last year's implosion notwithstanding), I can't fault people for picking Towers. When he has his stuff and is mentally there he would appear to be a much better pitcher than Chacin. The question is when and if he will next become mentally unglued. Chacin appears to be more consistant, but given his peripherals the question might be, how much of his results are luck and will it run out?
I don't think that's the case at all. If you look back at their 2005 seasons, the last season in which either one of them pitched triple digit innings, you'll see some very similar stat lines. Towers - 13W, 208 Innings, 3.71 ERA, ERA+ 120. Chacin - 13W, 203 Innings, 3.72 ERA, ERA+ 119. The biggest difference would appear to be that Towers just walks alot less guys.
Given that the difference in walks is measurable, and that Towers has a track record of 2 or 3 other solid seasons under his belt (last year's implosion notwithstanding), I can't fault people for picking Towers. When he has his stuff and is mentally there he would appear to be a much better pitcher than Chacin. The question is when and if he will next become mentally unglued. Chacin appears to be more consistant, but given his peripherals the question might be, how much of his results are luck and will it run out?