Barry Zito, WHIP-killer.

Last time out, I looked at the disappointing hitters of 2007. Having too many of those guys was bound to sink a team regardless of the supporting cast around them. Plenty of past luminaries found themselves right smack dab in the middle of the list and today, as we look at the pitcher’s version of the same list, the same can be said for some. The numbers breakdown for this list will be similar to the one for hitters in that I will pace out 2007 totals based on the data through the end of August and compare it to the final numbers from 2006 to judge the level of depreciation for each.

I broke the 15 starters down into three rotations, there wasn’t an exact science in slotting the sets of five, but roughly the guys with the highest level of success in the past are in the first one, those with moderate levels of success in the second and the final one is guys who have tasted some, if only little, success, but had big expectations heaped upon them heading into the season.

A quick look at some interesting facts about the list breakdown before jumping into the individuals and their failures: four teams feature two of the 15 players studied, nine of the 15 are from contending teams and one is the highest paid pitcher in baseball.

Without further ado, your ERA & WHIP killers for 2007:

Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants

So much for the National League being easier, eh? Anyone with half a brain knew that the contract the Giants gave to Barry Zito was easily one of, if not the, worst in baseball’s long and storied history. The guy is a flake who is more interested in becoming a rock star, or at least hanging out with them, than trying to recapture his 2002 Cy Young form. All the Giants saw was Zito’s three-year decline in earned run average and three-year incline in wins and figured he was good to go. Of course in the third of those years, he also posted a career high in WHIP (1.40) and walks (99), while registering his second lowest strikeout total ever (151). This year, he has been a disaster overall, though credit where credit is due: he an earned run average nearly one full run lower since the All-Star Break (4.90 to 4.02). That said, he posted two straight sub-4.00 ERAs in the American League and moves over to the inferior league to set up shop and pace for a career-worst earned run average. Few paid top dollar for this clown in their auction or draft, but his name alone made him a significant cost and his 2007 stats cost teams much, much more.

Jeremy Bonderman, Detroit Tigers

The ever-wunderkind of the Motor City threw 34 innings of 3.18 baseball before even registering a decision at the beginning of this season. He made up for his slow start by reeling off eight straight wins. He entered the break at 9-1 looking poised for the breakout year that many have been predicting since the 2006 off-season. He will need one heckuva September for 2007 to go down as a breakout. Since the All-Star break, he is 2-6 with a 6.86 earned run average. His horrific first inning problems have been well-chronicled this season. He has allowed 37 runs in first innings this year while opponents have tattooed him for a 1.155 OPS in 119 at-bats during the opening frame. Many, including yours truly, had Bonderman pegged as an elite American League starter ready to join the ranks of Johan Santana, John Lackey, and C.C. Sabathia, but at this pace he has been one of the league’s biggest busts in 2007.

Dontrelle Willis, Florida Marlins

Though it will look like hindsight is just 20-20, I can honestly say I had both Zito and Willis nowhere near anything resembling a target list for any of my leagues coming into this season. Neither was very good in 2006 and if you get hung up in draft or buying names in your league, you are going to end up with a lot of finishes out of the money. A shiny 3.87 earned run average helped mask just how awful Willis was in 2006. He crushed his previous high in walks finally landing at 83, he raised his WHIP 0.29 from 2005 to 1.42 and batters clubbed a career-worst .274 off of the eccentric lefty. Too many folks were still stuck in 2005 when rating Willis as anything but an average to slightly above average starter coming into the season. If his career numbers were an SAT question in which they asked which of these does not belong, I think even Paris Hilton could guess properly:

For those of you that guessed anything but C, please stop reading now. Ha, who am I kidding? If you picked anything but C, you clearly can’t read anyway! Back to Willis, now. Not satisfied with the career-worsts posted a season ago, he is now on pace to establish new low points in walks (84), batting average against (.300), earned run average (5.12) and WHIP (1.62).

Mike Mussina, New York Yankees

Moose-hunting season started early and extended through August for the American League hunters in 2007. After two mediocre years in 2004 and 2005, Mussina bounced back with a very solid 2006 campaign that included 15 wins and his best ERA and WHIP since 2003. No one on this list saw as precipitous a drop as Mussina having gone from solid 2nd tier starter on the best offensive team in baseball to waiver wire fodder in just about any league format, now without a rotation spot for the time being as well. His earned run average soared over two runs higher than the 2006 total of 3.51 taking the WHIP along with it to establish horrific career-highs. The closest hitters ever came to sniffing .300 against Mussina was in 2004 when they checked in at .284. That was of course until this year when .300 was blown past to the tune of .313. Mussina has gone from 37-year old reliable veteran to almost 38-year old potential retiree.

Chris Capuano, Milwaukee Brewers

Wrap your head around this: the Brewers have lost each of Capuano’s last 18 starts dating back to May 13th. To that point, he was 5-0 with a 2.31 earned run average, but now he is 5-12 with a 5.37 earned run average. He has always put base runners at a fairly regular clip, but this year he is on pace for a career-worst 1.51 WHIP. Meanwhile, after two years right at the 4.00-mark in earned run average (3.99 & 4.03), he needs to put together a strong September to get below 5.00! Well removed from his 18-win season of 2005, this is just one more example of how win totals do very little to predict future success. Those keeping maybe half an eye on baseball throughout the season might be wondering just how the Brewers have faded after opening up such a huge lead, start by looking at the meltdown of Capuano.