The one interesting thing I can find looking at Jon Rauch is that he had a seriously down year in terms of infield flyball rate and HR/FB, both of which fluctuate a lot in general. Now, it could mean that he was unlucky or it could mean that he was leaving a lot of balls up and getting punished. For whatever it’s worth, looking at pitch fx data, he threw fewer pitches in the middle of the zone (which I’m arbitrarily defining as a full baseball’s width from the edge of the strike zone in all directions) in 2010 than in ’09, and fewer in far fewer in 2011 than he did in either. He was, however, missing the zone a lot more, going from between 53 and 55% every year from ’07-’10 down to 50.3% last year. To some extent, this probably goes together, since he was pitching away from the middle of the plate. Still, it seems to suggest he may have just been unlucky.

Frank Francisco actually had the same thing with the off year with IFFB and HR/FB, which makes me wonder if I’ve reverse-engineered the Mets’ recipe here. But he also left a lot more pitches out over the plate than he did in the three (good) years before last.

– Seth, comments section here.

Interesting, and probably worth noting. Could easily be a coincidence, too.

Also worth noting on Francisco, from Dustin Parkes at The Score:

A glance at his numbers for the whole of last season may not impress many, but it should be remembered that he missed most of Spring Training, and because of Rauch’s failings combined with the realization of Octavio Dotel’s one dimensionability, he was likely rushed back from the Disabled List and hurried through his rehab stints. As a result, Toronto didn’t get a glimpse of the real Francisco until mid-season when he finally began delivering on the promise that made the Blue Jays trade Mike Napoli for him before the season started.

After a brutal first half, Francisco posted a 1.37 ERA with a 6:1 K:BB ratio in 24 1/3 innings after the All-Star Break last season. Small sample, though, and his full season line didn’t wind up looking all that different than the ones he posted from 2008-2010.