Pat Misch Sighting

For those who didn’t notice, former Giant Pat Misch threw a complete game shutout for the Mets today beating the Marlins 4-0.  It was about as ugly a shutout as one can pitch.  Misch gave up eight hits and walked three while striking out only two.

Still, a shutout is a shutout, and I’m sure Misch is excited about it.  I suspect that this game will be the highlight of his major league career.

I’ve been a fan of Misch for some time, since the days when he put up good numbers for various Giants’ farm clubs but didn’t get much recognition for it, as other, more highly touted prospects were promoted ahead of him.  At the end of the day, however, he just isn’t a very good major league pitcher.

He’s 27 this year (turned 28 on August 18), the age at which players as a group peak, and he’s still a marginal major league pitcher, who needs great defense behind him to have any degree of success.  He has a 4.71 ERA this year after today’s shutout, but with 22 walks and 22 strikeouts in 57.1 IP, he’s not fooling anyone.

Still, every dog has his day, and today is Misch’s.  I wish him the best, but I’m not going to get my hopes up regarding his future success either.

Has anyone besides me notices what a fine year Rajai Davis is having in Oakland?  Giants fans will remember Davis as the player the Giants obtained from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007 for Matt Morris.

This was really a great deal for the Giants because Morris had nothing left, and the Pirates not only agreed to assume all of the remaining $13 or so million left on Morris’s contract through 2008, but also through in a useful major league player (Davis) into the pot to boot.

The Pirates made the deal because they wanted a good-in-the-clubhouse veteran to anchor their young starting rotation.  This only really works, however, when the veteran is still a good starting pitcher in his own right.

Davis is no great player, but he makes a good back-up centerfielder and pinch runner (92 career steals in 118 attempts, a 78% success rate).  This year, though, he’s been a great player for the A’s.  He’s currently hitting .309 in 366 ABs with a .364 OBP and 40 steals in 51 attempts.  He’s been just about the only pleasant surprise for the A’s on offense this year, and FanGraphs rates his centerfield defense in the majors’ top five at the position.

Davis is 28 this year (turns 29 on October 19), and I suspect that his 2009 offensive numbers are a fluke.  However, given how well he runs, he has the opportunity, as does the Nationals’ similarly-skilled Nyjer Morgan, to have a Dave Roberts-type career, if his batting skills really have improved.  In fact, in both Davis’ and Morgan’s favor, they are both better defensive centerfielders (by a wide margin) than Roberts was.

He’s another player I’ll be rooting for in the future, if only because he was part of the deal where the Giants successfully dumped Matt Morris’ bloated, free-agent salary.