A Few Good Men: 3 - Lannan

Today is Part 3 of our 44 part series examining each player that suited up in a Curly W this year. Yes, this is probably a fool's errand and the worst CapBall move since Joe asked us to take over this blog - but it's also fun.

So sit back, relax, grab a nice cup of (Irish) coffee and enjoy the ride.

John Lannan

How he became a Nat: Drafted in the 11th round of the 2005 Draft.

The Raw Numbers:
Record - 10-13
IP - 184.2
ERA - 3.70
FIP - 4.28
WHIP - 1.46
K/9 - 5.17
WAR- 1.3

Key Stat: 89.8. This was John Lannan's average fastball velocity this year. It is a full 1.0 MPH faster than it was last year and 1.3 MPH faster than his career average - 3.1 MPH faster than his rookie year . I believe that this was directly related to the increase in K/9 from the previous two years, and the decrease in both ERA and HR/9 (both a career best's).

Best Game: May 27th vs. the Friars - a 2-1 Nats Win. John Lannan threw 7.2 innings of 2 hit, 0 run ball. His GB/FB ratio was 14/6, the sign of a solid sinker. Lannan doesn't get much better than this.

Worst Game: May 5th vs. the Phillies - a 7-3 Nats loss. One of the biggest issues plaguing John Lannan is that the Phillies essentially own the 27 year-old lefty - to the tune of a 2-12 career record with a 5.79 ERA. This start pretty much summed up his failings. 2.0 IP. 7 hits. 6 R. 6 ER. 1 HR allowed. 1 HBP. Ouch.

CapBall Grade: C+. Lannan righted the ship this year after a rocky 2010. He posted career best numbers in ERA and FIP but he simply must reduce the amount of walks (76 - 8th worst of any NL Starter) and HBP (7 - a career high) to be able to beat the tough NL East competition.

2012 Nats Status: Lannan will be given a spot in the rotation next year, along with Strasburg and Zimmermann. However, if Milone, Peacock and Detwiler can all repeat their 2011 performances and Lannan doesn't continue to improve I wouldn't be surprised to see Lannan traded mid-season to make room for someone else.