We are going to stick around 2007 for this one for the most part. There is little reason to look at a 24-year-old Wang when you have a ….. wait a minute, scratch that…… never mind, just take my word for it.

Anyway, there is far more to Mr. Wang (no offense) than funny one-liners and the headlines the day after he pitches. Let’s take a look at his splits.

At 28, Wang is the now pitcher that he will be for a while. He has matured and is backed up by an always potent offense. He won’t give you many K’s no matter where you see him pitching. He also will give up very few homers (9 all of last year in 199.1 IP).

Home/Away: The Short porch effect still influences even the best ground ball pitchers. Wang gave up twice as many HR at home last year as he did on the road, which is expected when you play in The House That Ruth Built (And The Rangers Tore Down). His other numbers are also significantly better. Perhaps the infield feels more comfortable at home as well? In any event, Wang is far better at home than on the road.

Home: .235 BAA, 2.75 ERA, 30/111 BB/IP
Away: .300 BAA, 4.91 ERA, 29/88 BB/IP

Walks are a comfort thing above all else, which makes sense and would tend to explain everything. Ground ball pitchers have very little difference usually from H/A by nature. It doesn’t matter where the fence is if the ball is on the ground.

Left/Right: Again, not a whole lot of fantasy significance here. If you were curious, he is better against righties (.286 - .242) and he gave up 5 more HR and 12 more doubles to lefties than righties (SLG .419 - 3.11). Do with that what you will, in my leagues you can edit close enough to game time to play the other team’s lineup. Kudos to you if you get that in depth.

Stamina: The old “sinker ball pitchers are better when their arm is tired” is just not true. Not in Wang’s case anyway. He is more effective and has more command during pitches 16-45. After 45 pitches his control drops off. This also lines up with the inning splits, his best (by far) being 1-3. Rarely will he go complete. Even though he did once this year, play the averages, it won’t happen often.

You can view his splits for yourself Here.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next week with an update on the leagues I am in. (because you are all dying to know)