Devil's Advocate

Who wants this pitcher?

• He's 21st in innings pitched among American League starters over the last three years -- ahead of Chien-Ming Wang, Tim Wakefield, Cliff Lee, Scott Kazmir and Jose Contreras.
• He's made 80 starts, the same number as C.C. Sabathia.
• He's first in pitches per game started, just ahead of Sabathia.
• He averages nearly 6.2 innings per start.
• He's 15th in ERA, ahead of Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander and Josh Beckett.
• He's also 15th in WHIP, tied with Wakefield and ahead of Wang, Verlander, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester.
• He's fourth in K/9, ahead of Sabathia, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Hernandez and John Lackey.
• He's 14th in K/BB, ahead of control artists like Paul Byrd and Andy Pettitte, as well as Kazmir, Hernandez and Mark Buehrle.
• He's fifth in opponents' batting average, ahead of Roy Halladay, Danny Haren, Lackey and Sabathia.
• He's 10th in OPS+ against, tied with Jered Weaver and ahead of Dustin McGowan, Verlander and Wakefield.
• He's thrown quality starts 60 percent of the time, a higher rate than Pettitte, roughly equal to Wang and just behind Beckett.
• He's sixth in average game score, tied with Lackey and Matsuzaka, ahead of Becket, Jeremy Guthrie, James Shields, Haren, Hernandez, Mussina, Verlander and Wang.

He's clearly not first-tier. But maybe he's a little better -- and a little more durable -- than advertised.