The Best Bad Players - Part 1

There have been several great blog posts and discussions about defensive ratings, why some players are under performing, what constitutes good hitting ratings, etc...  While there are many explanations, sometimes, it comes down to this: WIS can just be a dick. Sometimes weird stuff just happens in fake fantasy.  Some players, like the immortal Reagan Matthews, will always have the potential to drive one owner crazy, while providing another with fake fantasy masturbatory material.  

This blog post is in honor of those players who don't fit normal WIS conventions, the players who are outperforming their ratings, and will likely cause someone to eventually overpay for them, then lament the fact that they suck (in MLB, we have steroids and HGH to blame for this.  In WIS, I believe they simply add randomness to the game to make it more fun and confusing. Also known as the Mac Huang corollary).  I went through the top 25 in both leagues to see if I could find a few this year.  Apologies to any average players I may have missed. In no particular order:

• Bill Lloyd, Pittsburgh:  Solid contact and power rating, with an average ML eye, but his splits are terrible: 44 VL and 55 VR.  Despite his vL ratings, he's hitting .273 against lefties with 11 HRs.  For the season, he's hitting n expected .258, but with 235 HRs and 95 RBI (ranked 7th and 4th respectively in the NL). How he's doing this with those splits and average power numbers, in a pitchers park nonetheless, is beyond me.
• Harry Rodriguez, NY Mets:  What do you get from a SP with 82 CTRL, VL73 and VR55?  How about the NL leader in ERA (2.27), 3rd in WHIP (1.01). Must be facing a lot of lefties you say?  Nope.  He's faced 518 RHB and only 135 Lefties. Righties are hitting a paltry .220 against him, with an OBP of .275. Oh, and he's pitched 166 innings, so sample size isn't the issue.  In his defense, he has an awesome 4 seamer. In my defense? Career averages:  4.07 era, 1.3 WHIP.
• Che-Hsuan Lo, San Diego (the Che is silent): I know what you're thinking - any pitcher pitching in San Diego should be disqualified, the ultimate pitchers park.  Bear with me. Che-Hsuan is a SP blessed with 75 CTRL, VL53, VR59 and a 4-seam FB with a 64 rating. His other pitchers don't even qualify for AA (50 and 38).  There's no way this guy should have an era under 5 in any season. This year? 20th in NL in whip (1.22), just outside the top 25 in ERA (3.63).  Yes, pitching in the ultimate pitchers park helps (1.19 WHIP, 3.39 ERA), but his road splits are impressive for a guy who should be a slow pitch softball player (1.24 WHIP, 3.95 ERA). Also cracks NL top 25 in OAV and OBP allowed, just outside the top 25 in Ks. The crazy thing? he's done this 2 years in a row now.
• Mariano Castillo, Little Rock Heads:  Age is slowing him down, 60CT, 68PW, VL88, VR71, Eye59.  Despite this, he's hitting .322 (5th in AL) with an OBP of .386 (9th in AL).  Has belted 21 HRs and 22 doubles. No advantages in a completely neutral home ballpark, but turns into Hawk or Animal on the road .  He's batting .259 with a .331 OBP at home. On the road? .387 AVG, .444 OBP in 227 ABs. 

Random note:  Harry Callaspo has been hit 21 times this year.