After Brian Bannister’s a sizzling start, which resulted in many people criticizing Omar Minaya for ever trading him, he has sunk back to earth.  Bannister was traded to the Royals for RP Ambiorix Burgos prior to the 2007 season.  Burgos is now recovering from Tommy John Surgery

Bannister began the year with two earned runs in his first three outings, however since then has lost his last four starts.  He now has a record of 3-4 with a 4.46 ERA. 

Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge has been unimpressive thus far with the Nationals.  Milledge is batting .256 with with only one HR and 11 RBIs. 

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports takes a look at former Met Brian Bannister and his embrace of Sabermetrics. For the stat heads out there, its an interesting read, as Passan and Bannister both look at the numbers behind Bannister. From Bannister:

“I joke about it, but it’s almost like I’m watching the game from the Matrix. You’re not seeing what everybody else sees. You’re seeing the numbers that create it.”

The article takes a look at various pitching stats, such as DIPS and BABIP, not all of which I fully understand. Take a look, and see how Bannister is using the math to help make himself better.

I don’t fully understand all the math, thats why we have Matros, but I always liked Bannister. Makes you wonder, if he hadn’t hurt himself running out a double we might still have him around today.

SNY is currently showing the Giants-Mets Game from April 26, 2006.

Yes, this is the game where Brian Bannister limped home from 3rd. Check it out if you dont remember how we won…

Former Mets pitcher Brian Bannister was named to the 49th Topps Major League Rookie All-Star team in balloting by managers, MLB.com reports.

Bannister finishing 12-9 leading American League rookies with a .571 percentage. His 3.87 ERA was fourth among AL rookies.

Bannister was chosen for the team over Boston right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA.

Brewers 3B Ryan Braun and Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia have both been named Rookie of the Year for the 2007 season.

Braun hit .324 and led all rookies with 34 home runs and a .634 slugging percentage. He was promoted to the major leagues on May 25th and still somehow managed to hit 34 home runs. We could be talking MVP for Braun if he was here all season long.

While Braun did receive the award, he didn’t win by much. Braun just barely beat out Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki, beating him by just two-points, the closest margin in the NL since the current system was adopted in 1980.

Pedroia received 24 of the 28 first-place votes.

Brian Bannister, whom the Mets traded for Ambiorix Burgos, placed third in the AL Rookie Of The Year honors. Bannister was 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in 2006. Burgos underwent elbow-ligament replacement surgery in August and will be out for a prolonged period of time.