WORTH THE HYPE? It’s no secret that a pitchers’ first trip through the league is easier than his second. Here are eight other pitchers who entered the league with loads of fanfare and their first half/second half stats from their first significant year in the majors (minimum 100 innings pitched): JIM ABBOTT: Drafted in 1988 by Angels VIDA BLUE: Kansas City Athletics, 1967 STATS FOR 1989 STATS FOR 1971 181.1 innings pitched 312 innings pitched FIRST HALF FIRST HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 8 5 37 90 58 36 17 3 29 115 188 55 SECOND HALF SECOND HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 4 7 42 100 57 38 7 5 34 94 113 33 CAREER VERDICT: Abbott played for 11 years, CAREER VERDICT: Blue won the Cy Young in performing mostly at his second-half level. 1971 and went on to be a Hall of Famer. DWIGHT GOODEN: Mets, 1982 BEN MCDONALD: Orioles, 1989 STATS FOR 1984 STATS FOR 1990-91 218 innings pitched 160 innings pitched FIRST HALF SECOND HALF (1990) W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 8 5 35 88 133 42 8 5 32 86 63 35 SECOND HALF FIRST HALF (1991) W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 9 4 28 73 143 31 3 3 30 40 29 21 CAREER VERDICT: Gooden played as consistent CAREER VERDICT: Oft-injured McDonald was as his first year until the mid-1990s. adequate, but never great in his nine years. DAISUKE MATSUZAKA: Red Sox, 2007 MARK PRIOR: Cubs, 2001 STATS FOR 2007 STATS FOR 2002 204.2 innings pitched 116.2 innings pitched FIRST HALF FIRST HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 10 6 51 110 123 38 2 2 23 42 65 22 SECOND HALF SECOND HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 5 6 49 81 78 42 4 4 20 56 82 16 CAREER VERDICT: The jury is still out, but CAREER VERDICT: Were it not for his frequent Matsuzaka typically is well above average. arm injuries, he could have been great. TODD VAN POPPEL: Oakland Athletics, 1990 KERRY WOOD: Cubs, 1995 STATS FOR 1994 STATS FOR 1998 116.2 innings pitched 166.2 innings pitched FIRST HALF FIRST HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 5 7 64 82 56 63 8 3 35 63 139 51 SECOND HALF SECOND HALF W L ER H SO BB W L ER H SO BB 2 3 15 26 27 26 5 3 28 54 94 34 CAREER VERDICT: He never found his groove, CAREER VERDICT: Injuries plagued him, crippling spending most of his career as a reliever. what could have been a brilliant career. SOURCE: BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM RYAN MARX | THE TIMES.