.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.37 - What is Iwakuma-san's career ERA, as a starter (132 IP)
3.37 - What is Justin Verlander's career ERA, as a starter (lots of IP)
AN INTEGER - What is the difference between the two ERA's, currently
VERLANDER and schlub for IWAKUMA, SEAGER, and SWEETENER - dream rotisserie trade, and easy to execute
1.02 - Iwakuma-san's lifetime ERA vs the Angels (5 starts, 35 IP, with 30 K and 3 BB)
BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID - what is the Angels' visceral reaction to a Mariner series with Felix and Iwakuma going
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5.6+ - how many strikeouts per game does a finesse pitcher need to star, per Ron Shandler
6.1 - Greg Maddux' K rate, career
7.8 - Maddux' K rate, 1995 (career best; he went 19-2, 1.64)
8.8 - Hisashi Iwakuma's strikeout rate, 2013
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2.7 or so - ceiling for BB rate, if you are a star finesse pitcher
1.99 - BB rate for a freaky low-BB pitcher
1.8 - Maddux' BB rate, career
1.19 - Hisashi Iwakuma's walk rate, 2013
NO - Is Hisashi Iwakuma as good a pitcher as Greg Maddux was, 1992-1998
YES - Might Hisashi Iwakuma lead the American League in ERA, 2013
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EXTREMELY - how effective is Iwakuma within his Madduxxy finesse-pitcher template
TOP 10 - Where, among SP's, would Dr. D draft him in an AL-only roto league, if a May 1 league were forming
YES - Does this imply that Iwakuma is -- in effect if not in reputation -- an elite ace (doesn't have a robust track record, though)
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1.67 - Iwakuma's ERA, current season
6 - How many games has Iwakuma-san started in 2013
4 - How many times has he given up 0 or 1 runs
THE OTHER TWO - How many times has he given up 2 or 3 runs
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SALE, DARVISH, VERLANDER, ANGELS #3, A'S #2 - who has Iwakuma faced in 2013 so far (along with one Astros schlub)
ALL OF THEM - how many of these people has Iwakuma outpitched
$19MM - what did the Oakland A's bid for the right to negotiate with Hisashi Iwakuma in 2011
$16-18MM per YEAR - what did Don Nomura use as a baseline for negotiations (arguing Zito and Schmidt as comps)
$21MM TOTAL - what will the Mariners pay Iwakuma, over 3 years, if they exercise his option for 2015
YES - Was Iwakuma in fact comparable to pitchers of Zito's and Schmidt's caliber, as Nomura argued
YES - Should he receive a voluntary team raise (okay, extension of options with biiiggggg signing bonus)
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3-2 and 2-1 - By what scores did Koufax and Drysdale just beat the Angels this weekend
CHUCK ARMSTRONG - which M's executive loves classic 1960's NL-style pitchers' duels
CHUCK ARMSTRONG - which M's executive is influential as it pertains to contract extensions
2 - How urgent is it, scale 1-10, to extend Iwakuma (objectively speaking)
7 - How important is it, scale 1-10, to voluntarily be fair to your franchise players
10 - How important has it been, past years, to treat WBC stars well in Seattle
I DUNNO - Do Japanese influences still come into play with respect to WBC stars in Seattle
? - Number of times that Felix and WBC-san will win back-to-back, during the next 5 months
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I imagined Iwakuma outpitching Darvish in Year 1 last year before he got smashed by the Hanshin Tigers... But it turns out that Year 2 was when the gears really started turning.
Darvish is totally overshadowing Iwakuma as the West Coast Darling of the East Coast Bias.
They will learn. They WILL learn.