My case for Pat

Pat Venditte is widely known as the switch pitcher in the Yankees organization. Some think that is just a gimmick but it probably did punch his ticket to the minor leagues. The Yankees tried to draft Pat in the 2007 but he would not sign. The Yankees eventually signed him in 2008.(info from his wikipedia page) I'm not really focusing on anything here but his 2010 season in Tampa.

At every game you go to they sell a program with the lineup card and stack of information containing numbers from around the league. Pretty much every team is represented somewhere in the stats pack so for $2 its a pretty good deal. There is a section in the pack focusing on reliever numbers. Venditte is the only reliever represented in every category. This information was taken from the Sept. 5 packet once Venditte had been promoted to Trenton, its also from the end of the season so he wouldn't be bumped out of any of the categories.


Lowest Batting Average: Venditte ranked 2nd allowing 49 hits in 247 AB good for a .187 AVG
Highest SO/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 4th striking out 85 in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 10.53
Lowest BB-IBB/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 3rd with 14 walks in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 1.61
Fewest Baserunners/9 IP Ratio: Venditte ranked 1st with 65 in 72.2 innings for a ratio of 8.05

Venditte ended his 2010 season in Tampa with a 1.73 ERA. He allowed 49 hits in 72.2 innings pitched. The opposing team scored 17 runs/14 earned. He allowed 2 HR, 14 walks and struck out 85. He ended his 2010 Tampa season with a 4-1 record. All this can be found on his milb.com player page. http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=t587&t=p_pbp&pid=519381

So Venditte has some pretty good numbers, whether you consider him worthy of standout status... I trust you can make your own decisions. But something has to be said in that he consistently ranked in the top 5 of all the reliever categories. That cannot be a fluke.

I know Venditte had a rough start in Trenton in 2010 so I'm not sure what the future holds for him in the higher levels but he sure was fun to watch in 2010. I wish him the best of luck.

Just an aside:
The departed Jonathan Ortiz, closer for the Tampa Yankees in 2010 became a minor league free agent and was picked up by the Oakland Athletics organization. Ortiz closed the season with 21 saves. He ranked in the top 5 in 3 of the four categories for relievers and was tied with a .202 AVG against which technically puts him ranking in all four of the categories for relievers. He ended the season with a 2.47 ERA and a 7-1 record. I am sad to see him go but he would have probably ended up in Trenton in 2011 anyway.

This post focused on the stats of the game which I don't really like as it becomes boring to me and sometimes difficult to understand. I promise not to make them all like this. On a personal note I can add that I saw one of the home runs off Venditte. I had taken my dad to one of the games and just as they called for Venditte from the bullpen, my dad decides he want a drink and to use the restroom. I told him he had to wait to see the switch pitcher but he left anyway. As soon as my dad was out of sight, Venditte made his first pitch and the ball proceeded to sail over the left field fence. Let's just say that my dad got an ear full when he came back from me blaming him for the home run because he left therefore messing up the mojo.