Tom Brennan: A TEAM THAT MADE TOM SEAVER MORTAL

KRYPTONITE A/K/A WINNING OPPONENTS - CAN SUCK

Tom Seaver was sure an all time great - but there was one team that gave him a world of trouble:

The Cincinnati Reds.  

Sheer Kryptonite.

Seaver was a lethal warrior backed up by a generally weak offense during most of his Mets tenure.

Meanwhile, the Reds of, let's say 1973, had great hitters like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Dave Concepcion, and others.  Pete had 230 hits that season.  They were lethal indeed.  

How did Seaver fare in his career against the Reds? Ouch!

Just 12-20, 3.57 ERA in 250 innings.  

And a 1.274 WHIP normally associated with mere mortals.

The Red were his biggest obstacle.

The Dodgers were also no picnic for Seaver, as he went 22-22 in his career with a solid but not outstanding 3.23 ERA.

He also went 22-22 vs. Houston, despite a stellar 2.75 career ERA.  That one's a puzzler.

Against some of his Mets' era's weaker opponents, the Braves, Phils, Padres, Giants, Cards, Bucs, and Expos?

He mopped them up, to a career tune of  188-84 (.691) in his career, and that included games in his waning seasons. 

Pitching for the Reds for 6 seasons helped him face one fewer team that was over .500.

But despite that, in his career, just 47% of his starts were against sub-.500 teams, while 53% were against .500 or better teams.

How'd he do?

Sub .500: 164-80 (.672), 2.73 ERA.

.500 +:    147-125 (.540), 2.98 ERA.

It sure helps to pitch for a good team, don't it?  

Compare to Mike Mussina: Mike had 52% of his starts against sub-.500 teams, 5% more than Seaver.  Which had to help Mussina.

And Pedro Martinez the Great?  Was only 11-11 career vs. his Daddy the Yanks, while he ruthlessly torched everyone else.  They fought the great one to a standstill.

Poor Jerry Koosman?  A whopping 55% of his career starts against teams .500 or better, only 45% against sub .500 teams.  Overall, Jerry was 34 games over .500 against sub .500 teams, but 21 games UNDER .500 against .500 + teams.  So for Jerry, the 7% differential between him and Mussina of pitching against sub .500 teams?  

Over Jerry's 523 starts, that means he faced sub .500 teams 37 fewer times (and .500+ teams 37 more times) than had he had the same opponent ratio as Mike Mussina.

Mike's in the Hall - Jerry's not - it sure helps to get relatively more starts against weaker teams, ya think?  Had Jerry's career been with the Cicny Reds, he'd be in the Hall right now, as I see it.

Face weaker teams, you just do better.

Lastly, Jake deGrom?  

Much to my surprise, half his starts have been against sub .500 teams (37-22, 2.41)... 

and half against .500+ squads (29-27, 2.83).

So his problem is not the over/under .500 thing - it has been bad offensive support, bad pen support, bad managerial decisions, and facing Might Mad Max, Strasburg, and Clayton the K a few too many times.

After all, when (for instance) you face the Atlanta Braves in 21 starts, and go just 7-7 despite a 1.93 ERA, you've got cause to complain.