In the early 1990's the Mets had a young pitcher by the name of Anthony Young. He lost 27 straight decisions over two seasons; fourteen as a starter, thirteen as a reliever. While he obviously wasn't a great pitcher, he wasn't all that bad. His ERA over three seasons with the Mets was 3.82. He struck out more batters than he walked, and his walks/hits per inning pitched was a little below 1.40 [if I did the math correctly].
Steve Trachsel currently has an ERA of 5.00, and he has given up as more homeruns this season [in around 140 innings pitched] than Anthony Young did in three years [in 270 innings pitched]. Trachsel's walks/hits per inning rate is slowly approaching infinity, and he walks more batters than he strikes out. He's known for a move dubbed the human rain delay, which strikes fear in the hearts of anyone who has to get up early in the morning.
Yet, Trachsel is 13-5 this season, tied for the best record among National League pitchers. The Mets have won 14 of his last 17 starts, a period in which Trachsel is 11-1.
It's almost as if Trachsel puts $5,000 on the Mets to win, and another $5,000 on the opposing team to cover the spread, then takes the mound and gives up just enough runs to make it happen.
To top it off, there's a slim chance that Trachsel will get enough starts over the rest of the season to possibly become the worst 20-game winner in recent memory.
I guess life isn't fair.
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