Jeremy Bonderman allowed one run in seven innings to beat the Padres, 3-1, and run his record to 8-4. Bonderman is on target to win 19 games and owns a 3.84 ERA.

The odd thing is that two years ago, in his rookie year, Bonderman lost 19 games and owned a 5.56 ERA, over 1.70 points higher. That made me wonder if he were the first pitcher to go from losing at least twice as many games as he won in his rookie year to winning twice as many games as he lost two years later.

Greg Maddux came to mind. He went 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA in 1987 and won 18 and 19 games the next two years. However, he started his career with a 2-4 six-game stint in 1986. Lefty Gomez started his career with a 2-5, 5.55 record and two years later was 24-7, 4.20. However, I'm looking for someone who has at least ten decisions in his debut year to qualify

Let's see. Here are the pitchers in descending order by ERA differential:

Getzein is the only one who saw his ERA go up, but then again the 1886 Detroit Wolverines were 87-36, which helps one's winning percentage.

It's an odd list overall. Gleason had the most success, winning at least 20 games four straight years, but he very quickly converted to second base due to injury. Farr converted to the bullpen by his third year. All of the starters but Stigman established career highs in wins in his third year, and Stigman would have just one more successful win.

So maybe Bonderman would be better off just stinking up the joint for the rest of the season rather than join this list.