All Aboard: D-Train Keeps Rollin

What can I say about the D-Train, Dontrelle Willis? This young man has been pretty unhittable thus far, and now I am hitting myself for not drafting him on any of my four fantasy baseball teams. His stats are mind boggling. The last player to start the season 7-0 with an ERA 1.08 or lower was Randy Johnson. Only two other pitchers have accomplished that same feat, the Rocket and Fernando Valenzuela. Dontrelle Willis is pitching so well, that his ERA ballooned from a 1.07 to a staggering 1.08 after allowing 1 Earned in 8 while fanning 5 increasing his total to 40 on the season, and allowing a meager 6 hits and walking 2.

D-Train’s ERA is extremely impressive. But the most impressive stat for Dontrelle is his miniscule 0.88 WHIP (Walks and Hits/Innings Pitched). A WHIP for good pitchers is around 1.17. That means that Dontrelle’s WHIP is .29 below what the average WHIP is for a good pitcher.

And if you’re a big league manager, don’t even think about starting left handed hitters against Dontrelle, unless they are your last resort. Left handed hitters are batting .176 against Dontrelle. He has only walked 1 and struck out 11 while facing just 36 left handed hitters on the year. That’s averaging just under 1K for ever 3 left handed hitters.

So the question becomes…can he keep it up? I think so. Last year he got off to a very good start, but then tailed off once June/July hit. But I think he is more mature now, and understands that he does not have to strike everyone out, which allows him to save his arm, save pitches and go the distance (he has 3 complete games and 2 shutouts). So hop aboard on the D-Train. The Marlins have already, and they are hoping to ride him all the way to the playoffs.