David Wells vs Red Sox and Mo Vaughn
Posted by Andy on May 17, 2010
David Wells was part of the broadcast team for yesterday's TBS coverage of the Twins-Yankees game. He's mentioned a couple of times about how much difficulty he had facing the Red Sox and specifically Mo Vaughn.
I looked up his splits. Here are his career totals against all teams against whom he pitched at least 100 innings:
| Split | W | L | G | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | BF | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 16 | 11 | .593 | 5.25 | 51 | 226.1 | 237 | 132 | 36 | 62 | 152 | 962 | 1.321 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 17 | 13 | .567 | 3.87 | 46 | 246.1 | 256 | 106 | 28 | 40 | 132 | 1014 | 1.202 |
| Boston Red Sox | 14 | 20 | .412 | 4.86 | 50 | 261.1 | 306 | 141 | 38 | 68 | 165 | 1134 | 1.431 |
| Chicago White Sox | 8 | 8 | .500 | 4.58 | 34 | 157.1 | 184 | 80 | 27 | 49 | 95 | 697 | 1.481 |
| Cleveland Indians | 20 | 4 | .833 | 3.78 | 41 | 216.2 | 237 | 91 | 26 | 37 | 138 | 901 | 1.265 |
| Detroit Tigers | 14 | 8 | .636 | 4.60 | 43 | 201.1 | 228 | 103 | 21 | 43 | 144 | 855 | 1.346 |
| Kansas City Royals | 16 | 3 | .842 | 3.11 | 32 | 168.0 | 148 | 58 | 8 | 28 | 108 | 663 | 1.048 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 9 | 5 | .643 | 4.14 | 26 | 111.0 | 109 | 51 | 6 | 29 | 62 | 467 | 1.243 |
| Minnesota Twins | 19 | 6 | .760 | 2.34 | 38 | 200.1 | 172 | 52 | 14 | 31 | 132 | 786 | 1.013 |
| New York Yankees | 19 | 11 | .633 | 3.09 | 45 | 244.2 | 222 | 84 | 26 | 49 | 175 | 988 | 1.108 |
| Oakland Athletics | 10 | 8 | .556 | 4.69 | 36 | 161.1 | 176 | 84 | 23 | 45 | 128 | 698 | 1.370 |
| Seattle Mariners | 11 | 11 | .500 | 4.47 | 44 | 207.1 | 210 | 103 | 34 | 49 | 132 | 870 | 1.249 |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 10 | 2 | .833 | 2.80 | 18 | 115.2 | 120 | 36 | 11 | 14 | 71 | 473 | 1.159 |
| Texas Rangers | 10 | 10 | .500 | 4.75 | 41 | 202.2 | 229 | 107 | 33 | 45 | 127 | 873 | 1.352 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 5 | 10 | .333 | 5.82 | 20 | 130.0 | 157 | 84 | 10 | 27 | 90 | 565 | 1.415 |
Wells said specifically that he felt he always found a way to lose. The stats seem to bear that out. His ERA against Boston was pretty bad but his record was really awful, as Boston is the only team against which he lost 20 games in his career.
Wells also mentioned that pitching as a visitor in Fenway Park was particularly difficult for him. Check out Wells' starts in Fenway (excludes starts in Fenway when he played for the Red Sox):
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc | 2B | 3B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004-06-08 | SDP | BOS | L 0-1 | GS-6 | 5.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 81 | 55 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 2003-07-25 | NYY | BOS | W 4-3 | GS-6 | 5.2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 110 | 66 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 3.18 |
| 3 | 2003-05-19 | NYY | BOS | W 7-3 | GS-7 ,W | 6.2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 102 | 66 | 55 | 1 | 1 | 1.35 |
| 4 | 2002-08-27 | NYY | BOS | W 6-0 | GS-9 ,W | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 129 | 86 | 78 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 5 | 2002-05-25 | NYY | BOS | W 3-2 | GS-4 | 3.2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 93 | 57 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 4.91 |
| 6 | 2002-04-13 | NYY | BOS | L 6-7 | GS-8 | 7.1 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 109 | 75 | 49 | 1 | 0 | 4.91 |
| 7 | 2000-06-17 | TOR | BOS | W 11-10 | GS-7 ,W | 6.1 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 89 | 60 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 7.11 |
| 8 | 2000-05-25 | TOR | BOS | W 11-6 | GS-8 ,W | 7.0 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 107 | 76 | 47 | 2 | 0 | 3.86 |
| 9 | 1999-09-23 | TOR | BOS | W 7-5 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 129 | 85 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 5.62 |
| 10 | 1998-09-07 | NYY | BOS | L 3-4 | CG 8 ,L | 8.0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 106 | 76 | 64 | 2 | 0 | 4.50 |
| 11 | 1998-05-23 | NYY | BOS | W 12-3 | GS-7 ,W | 7.0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | ||
| 12 | 1997-09-10 | NYY | BOS | L 2-5 | GS-7 ,L | 7.0 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 113 | 72 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 6.43 |
| 13 | 1997-06-02 | NYY | BOS | W 5-2 | GS-7 ,W | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 116 | 72 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 2.57 |
| 14 | 1996-09-24 | BAL | BOS | L 8-13 | GS-6 ,L | 5.1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 96 | 65 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 15.19 |
| 15 | 1996-07-18 | BAL | BOS | W 6-3 | GS-7 ,W | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 103 | 65 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 2.70 |
| 16 | 1994-04-06 | DET | BOS | L 4-5 | GS-6 ,L | 6.0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 91 | 59 | 38 | 2 | 1 | 7.50 |
| 17 | 1993-09-28 (2) | DET | BOS | W 7-6 | GS-6 | 5.0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 84 | 54 | 41 | 2 | 0 | 5.40 |
| 18 | 1993-06-25 | DET | BOS | L 2-8 | GS-8 ,L | 7.0 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 106 | 68 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 6.43 |
| 19 | 1992-08-04 | TOR | BOS | L 4-9 | GS-5 ,L | 5.0 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 100 | 54 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 14.40 |
| 20 | 1992-04-17 | TOR | BOS | L 0-1 | GS-4 ,L | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 63 | 41 | 54 | 1 | 0 | 2.25 |
| 21 | 1991-08-03 | TOR | BOS | L 1-4 | GS-6 ,L | 5.2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 95 | 57 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 6.35 |
| 22 | 1991-04-22 | TOR | BOS | L 4-6 | GS-5 ,L | 4.1 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 62 | 32 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 10.38 |
| 23 | 1990-06-26 | TOR | BOS | L 0-3 | GS-7 ,L | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 106 | 63 | 52 | 2 | 0 | 3.86 |
What an interesting progression. As you can see from the "App,Dec" column, he lost his first 6 starts in Fenway and was 0-7 in his first 8 starts there. In the 6 starts that followed, he alternated wins and losses. Over his final 9 starts there as a visitor he went 5-0. So maybe he learned something along the way.
As for Mo Vaughn, all I can say is HECK YES he killed Davis Wells:
| PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR ▾ | RBI | BB | SO | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mo Vaughn | 76 | 66 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 18 | 7 | 16 | .455 | .526 | .864 | 1.390 |
| Alex Rodriguez | 77 | 74 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 18 | 3 | 15 | .338 | .364 | .730 | 1.093 |
| Ken Griffey | 83 | 78 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 13 | .282 | .325 | .667 | .992 |
| Chili Davis | 79 | 74 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 19 | 5 | 16 | .351 | .392 | .716 | 1.109 |
| Albert Belle | 63 | 56 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 9 | .375 | .429 | .804 | 1.232 |
| Frank Thomas | 71 | 59 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 10 | .356 | .465 | .797 | 1.261 |
| Gary Gaetti | 27 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | .250 | .296 | .875 | 1.171 |
| Miguel Tejada | 49 | 48 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 6 | .333 | .347 | .688 | 1.034 |
| Juan Gonzalez | 68 | 63 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 11 | .286 | .338 | .571 | .910 |
That's 9 homers and a 1.390 OPS in 76 plate appearances.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:10 am
On the opposite spectrum, he must have loved going to Cleveland... Going 20-4 against them and also the baby Devil Rays, going 10-2 with a 2.80 era
May 17th, 2010 at 9:01 am
Lefty's struggling in Fenway is pretty common historically. Whitey Ford's splits are similarly lopsided and the Yankees gave up even trying to pitch him there.
Its to Wells' credit that he eventually figured it out.
May 17th, 2010 at 10:47 am
the only other team against them wells has a losing record are the Toronto Blue Jays, and its even worse posting an 5.82 ERA with a .333 W-L%
May 17th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Two of my favorite "oh no, not HIM again" batter-pitcher matchups are Hank Aaron vs. Ron Perranoski and Hank Aaron vs. Don Gullett.
Aaron against Perranoski: 24 PA, 13 H in 18 AB, 2 doubles, 2 HR, 6 BB, .722 BA, 1.958 OPS.
Aaron against Gullett: 36 PA, 12 H in 26 AB, 2 doubles, 7 HR, 9 BB, .462 BA, 1.929 OPS.
Frank Howard's overall numbers against Sam McDowell aren't quite as devastating as these (1.253 OPS in 95 PA, including 2.528 in 18 PA in 1968), but during his last four years with Cleveland (1968-71) McDowell pretty much pitched around Howard every time he saw him. In this 1970 game, McDowell twice walked Howard intentionally leading off an inning. In the sixth inning, with Howard coming to bat, the Indians brought in Dean Chance to pitch, moved McDowell to first and replaced their left fielder; for the seventh inning, McDowell came back to the mound and a new left fielder was brought in. Granted, Howard was hitting everyone hard in those seasons, but McDowell must have felt as if he were Frank's personal chew toy.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Seems like the Sox went for Wells after they noticed he had learned how to pitch at Fenway. In his 18 home games for the Red Sox in 2005 and 2006, Wells was 10-3 and 3.96 (hitters .281/.434/.308) in 116 innings. He also one complete game.
May 17th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
I remember that Dave Hollins of the Phillies owned a pitcher named Butch Henry for a while in the 1990s. I also remember that Paul O'Neill, probably when he was with the Reds, always did well against Don Robinson.
May 17th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Dave Hollins owned every particle of Butch Henry: 27 PA, 23 AB, 15 hits, three doubles, six homers, 11 RBI, two walks, .652 BA, 2.232 OPS. Brrrr.
Paul O’Neill did very well against Don Robinson: 44 PA, 39 AB, 11 hits, one double, five homers, 13 RBI, five walks, .282 BA, 1.056 OPS. But O’Neill’s numbers were even better against Joe Boever: 9-20, six doubles, one homer, nine walks in 29 PA, .450 BA, 1.521 OPS.