Cappy Still Our All Star

Phil Garner must not care too much about winning the All-Star game. Otherwise he would have chosen Chris Capuano to replace Pedro Martinez over his own Astro Roy Oswalt. Anyone watching Cappy's masterful performance last night would have to agree that he deserves to be in Pittsburgh next week.

Chris continued his dominance over the Cubs last night at Miller Park, recording his second complete game shutout of his career. Ironically enough, both came against the baby bears, and most likely would be three if he hadn't gotten hit by that liner from Aramis Ramirez last week.

Cappy limited the Cubs to six hits in his latest outing, and did so very efficiently, tossing only 97 pitches, 66 for strikes. Last night's game was also Cappy's 17th quality start of the season, which leads MLB. I guess Phil was too busy to read up on other pitchers before selecting Oswalt. Just for fun, though, let's compare the stats from this season.

Cappy -10-4, 3.21, 19 G/GS, 2 CG, 2 SO, 129.0 IP, 127 H, 49 R, 46 ER, 10 HR, 3 HBP, 25 BB, 112 SO, 1.18 WHIP, 17 QS
Oswalt - 6-5, 3.10, 17 G/GS, 2 CG, 0 SO, 119.0 IP, 123 H, 44 R, 41 ER, 9 HR, 3 HBP, 24 BB, 80 SO, 1.24 WHIP, 13 QS

Cappy has five no decisions, but the team has gone on to win three of them, which means that the Brewers are 13-6 when he starts. Oswalt, on the other hand, has six no decisions, and the Astros went on to win just two. So in total, Houston is 8-9 when he starts.

Two shutouts leads the majors, and only five other pitchers have recorded more than two complete games. (five MLB pitchers tied for 1st with 3 complete games) 17 quality starts leads the majors. Cappy is tied for 4th in MLB with 10 wins. Six wins doesn't even get Oswalt in the top 50. Chris is tied for 5th in the majors with 112 strikeouts; Oswalt sits 36th. But hey, Oswalt has a better ERA. That must have been the deciding factor for Phil. Don't even get me started on National League stats, cause Oswalt would be taking an even worse beating!

Looking at these numbers, it's easy to see who I'd want on my team. But then again, maybe Phil is pretty sure his team isn't going to be in the World Series this year, so what difference does it make to him who has home field advantage?

Ned Yost said he wouldn't call Garner to lobby for Chris, but would give him his opinion should he call. Maybe today Ned should call Phil and offer to help him pull his head out of his butt. Don't worry, Chris. That Cy Young award this year will make up for the All-Star snub! In the meantime, enjoy Cape Cod during the break. Go Brewers!