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Starting Pitcher: Josh Johnson
Another quick quiz from All-Underrated team central: Which pitcher led the National League in ERA last year? Nope, it was not Roy Halladay. Or Adam Wainwright. Or Ubaldo Jimenez. Of course not. All these quick quizzes are comprised of trick questions, in case you hadn't caught on yet.
The correct answer is Johnson, obviously. Don't go claiming that was just because he got to pitch in Sun Life Pro Player Dolphins Robbie Land Shark Turnpike Exit Stadium in Florida, either. According to baseball-reference.com, Johnson also led the National League in park-adjusted ERA-Plus. So try again.
It wasn't just the ballpark that allowed him to rip off 13 straight starts of two runs or fewer (first to do that since Greg Maddux, according to the Elias Sports Bureau) or to become the third pitcher in the last 100 seasons (also according to Elias) to knock off eight starts in a row of six innings or more with either one run allowed or none. No way. When this fellow is on, which is almost always, "he's the last guy I'd want to face," one scout said. "He can bury you in five or six different ways."
So what was the best thing his home park really did for him? Since there were only about 287 witnesses sitting in it to watch most of his brilliant starts, it propelled him right onto this All-Underrated team, naturally.
Another quick quiz from All-Underrated team central: Which pitcher led the National League in ERA last year? Nope, it was not Roy Halladay. Or Adam Wainwright. Or Ubaldo Jimenez. Of course not. All these quick quizzes are comprised of trick questions, in case you hadn't caught on yet.
The correct answer is Johnson, obviously. Don't go claiming that was just because he got to pitch in Sun Life Pro Player Dolphins Robbie Land Shark Turnpike Exit Stadium in Florida, either. According to baseball-reference.com, Johnson also led the National League in park-adjusted ERA-Plus. So try again.
It wasn't just the ballpark that allowed him to rip off 13 straight starts of two runs or fewer (first to do that since Greg Maddux, according to the Elias Sports Bureau) or to become the third pitcher in the last 100 seasons (also according to Elias) to knock off eight starts in a row of six innings or more with either one run allowed or none. No way. When this fellow is on, which is almost always, "he's the last guy I'd want to face," one scout said. "He can bury you in five or six different ways."
So what was the best thing his home park really did for him? Since there were only about 287 witnesses sitting in it to watch most of his brilliant starts, it propelled him right onto this All-Underrated team, naturally.
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