Ryan Dempster Should Bounce Back In 2012
As disappointing as the 2011 Cubs were, few players had more of a disappointing season than Ryan Dempster. The team’s Opening Day starter, Dempster had a miserable season, statistically, on his way to a 10-14 record.
But as poor as his stats might look, they could have been a lot worse. Dempster got off to a very rocky start in April, sporting a 9.58 ERA in six April starts, surrendering 33 earned runs in 31 innings in the season’s first month. That includes the start against Arizona where he got blasted for seven runs and only recorded one out before getting yanked.
Dempster would spend the rest of the season battling to try and get that ERA back to respectability, though it wouldn’t be easy. It stayed above five until the middle of July until a decent finish brought it to the mid-four range. Of course, his disastrous start against the Padres, giving up nine earned, to close out the season left him with the 4.80 ERA.
As far as the amount of runs Dempster gave up, the totals were some of his highest since he was a Florida Marlin back at the beginning of the 2000s. He gave up over 200 hits and the 108 earned runs he surrendered was his highest total since 2002. Yet, he did manage to, once again, eclipse the 200 inning mark.
There’s no doubt about it. Ryan Dempster was bad in 2011. But was he really as bad as it would first appeared? One look at his peripherals, and it might not be as bad as it seems.
All three of Dempster’s strikeout, walk, and home run rate were right in line with his career totals. His strikeouts per nine were just a touch lower and his walks a bit higher, but his home runs were down in 2011. One glaring statistic for Dempster in 2011: a .324 BABIP.
So was Dempster just unlucky in 2011? That’s part of it. That .324 number is, by far, the highest of his career. That’s at least one reason that Dempster should be able to rebound in 2012.
Dempster comes into the 2012 season the no. 2 starter for the Cubs, behind Matt Garza. He’s been mentioned in trade rumors just a bit, but has stated repeatedly that he has a desire to remain on the North Side for the rest of his career. Whether or not that actually happens, though, depends on this season.
It’s hard to imagine Dempster having as bad of a season this year as he had in 2011, as far as his ERA and run totals go. As long as he continues to maintain the numbers he’s put up since he moved to the rotation, which he even did for much of last year’s campaign, then he’ll be fine. It’s almost impossible to imagine him being that unlucky again.
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