I second Evan Grant's defense of Kevin Millwood

ESPN.com's Rob Neyer says Kevin Millwood isn't deserving of an All-Star bid, though he'll probably get one. Neyer uses fan graphs to illustrate that Millwood has left a large number of baserunners stranded and benefitted from defense. Basically, Millwood is pitching like he did in 2007 in most categories and getting lucky. First, let me direct you to Evan Grant's defense of Millwood on D Magazine's Inside Corner. I share most of Evan's thoughts on this subject, including this clip: From where I sit, which has been at the park or in front of the TV for all of Millwood's starts this season, as well as in 2007, the stats do help explain something about performance. They help explain just how helpful an above-average infield defense can be to a pitch-to-contact pitcher. The Rangers gambled that improving the defense would have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the starting rotation. What could have been an analysis of just how helpful solid field...