Player Spotlight: Chris R. Young
	written by: Brett Greenfield 03/15/2008

The top 10 reasons to like Chris Young....
1. Last year his 3.11 ERA ranked 8th amongst starting pitchers.
2. Last year his 1.09 WHIP ranked 4th behind only Santana, Peavy and Bedard.
3. Despite ranking 24th in strikeouts last year, his 8.69 K/9 ranked 10th amongst SP.
4. Young ranked 79th in run support, only receiving 4 runs per 9 innings. He only had 9 wins as a result.  Teammate Jake Peavy won 19 games and was given almost 6 runs per game, ranking him 18th. This should even itself out in 2008 for they are relying on the same hitters as one another.
5. Young is one of 6 pitchers to sport an ERA of 3.50 or less over the last two years. His consistency is joined by the likes of Johan Santana, John Smoltz, Roy Oswalt, Brandon Webb and CC Sabathia.
6. Young was second only to Jake Peavy with a 2.35 Component ERA. After those two, the 3rd best ERC was at 2.71.
7. Young ranked 10th in DIPS ERA with 3.46.
8. Young ranked dead last in ERC/ERA differential. Technically that makes him the unluckiest pitcher in the majors. His 3.12 ERA was further from his ERC than any other pitcher in the majors.
9. For two consecutive years, Chris Young has led the majors in BABIP.
10. Young has led the majors in fly ball rate two years running. This is significant because PETCO Park in San Diego allowed the least amount of runs per game of any park in baseball. Only RFK in Washington, which no longer exists, allowed fewer home runs. PETCO now takes over that #1 spot this year.

And as a bonus, for anyone who wants to comment on his 4.80 post-break ERA... He again was the unluckiest pitcher from the All-Star break forward, as his second half ERC was 2.78! That 2.78 is a lot closer to his first half actual ERA of 2.00 than the 4.80 actual ERA. If you want to talk about his road ERA being 4.52 and that he can only pitch in PETCO, consider this:

1. His 4.52 road ERA was the 3rd worst ERC differential in the majors. His ERC on the road was 3.22.
2. In 2006, Young's ERA away from PETCO was 2.41, showing that he can pitch effectively in all ballparks.

For all intensive purposes, Young went through the entire season with an ERA under 3.00. Get him.

Update: Chris Young also led all starting pitchers (who had 170+ innings and 30 starts) by allowing a measly 10 homers in 2007.