TheCrew07

Nice start to game 2, D'Vo singles on a line drive to LF and Dykstra homers to the opposite field, 2-0 before an out was recorded.

Everybody Panic sound bitehttp://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/tjflllwkpb/1/1_7154e272_71a6_11df_b026_0019b9e56dac/blank.gif

Now, not in the mid 2000s.

The T-Rats feed died in the top of the 5th with runners on 1st and 2nd down 4-3 with 2, it's back now and Nieves has let Lake County blow the game wide open, currently 7-3 with 2 out in the bottom of the 5th. I certainly thought Nieves was a player on the rise after his tremendous BB and K rates in Helena, but it's been a slow slide backwards since. edit. Mass, I was thinking about the question you asked about Arnett being a high draft pick who started out horribly and turned it around. Ricky Romero is the closest pitcher I can think of, a mechanical adjustment turned him around, maybe the Brewers can do the same for Arnett. For those that don't know he was the 6th overall pick in 2005.

Seems to me that we traded off Lee/Cruz for a closer and crap in 2006, why was FA the only option here? We'd better served doing more research and focusing less on FA and big name players on this forum. Every year there is very nice pitching that isn't showing up on any BA top 10 lists, like Derek Holland from TX. I know he's been very up and down to start the season, but that's not really the point as young players will have their ups and downs. The franchise would have better off picking up a couple of young guys that at least worked in the low 90s as starters along the way than doing what was done. Even if those guys fail there is always the option that they become decent relievers. I'm alright with FA hitters but the FA pitching market has always stunk and continues to stink. Value wise it would have made more sense to trade a hitter for a pitcher, then plug that subsequent position player hole through FA than to sign Suppan, Looper, Davis, and Wolf. I realize that the scenario I just presented doesn't happen but I wanted to make the point.

He was a high 80s guy last year when I saw him pitch, Ritchie threw harder than Meadows, but Meadows has always gotten the better results.

Colby do you think Biddle can realistically end up topping out mid 90s? Or is fixing his delivery the only way he'll add more velocity.

ya I get that argument but once again from my link above.

How did this thread take a serious spin?

If, and that's a big IF, but if that's all true then that would be pretty much be my worst fears realized. I don't want the owner making any baseball decisions, period. That also leads me to believe that we wouldn't get the type of GM I think this team should have.

Esky come on dude, get the bunt down at least.

Well that half inning was less than fantastic, let's get to the 11th so the bottom of the order can get it done.

His best shot will be some sort of utility role, the organization doesn't believe Gennett is a SS. Dykstra hasn't proven to be a competent defender anywhere, he's hitting well enough to play, but he's not better than Gennett in any way so the only positions available to him are 3B or DH. It doesn't make sense to send him up to and put him in front of Gennett. Who's he going to replace up there? Miranda has cooled off lately but is still hitting .298 and has the same number of errors as Dykstra in twice as many games, Cline is having a very nice season as the SS 2B. edit. fixed stupid position mistake

Then maybe instead of signing someone maybe a trade would have made more sense possibly perhaps?

Ouch! Kottaras took that one on the chin.

I like the pitching that Toronto, Baltimore, and of course TB have. Yes I know the youngsters in Baltimore are struggling including super prospect Matusz but that's just part of the process. Sometimes young players struggle... I think those 3 teams have the right idea trying to compete with the Yankees and BoSox through pitching.

I just don't think Biddle has much projection left with all that size already, I rather grab someone who has the potential to regularly run it up there in the mid 90s if I'm going to draft a pitcher in the 1st round.

Wow there's good stuff in the media notes these days, I confess I've not read media notes since Yo was in Nashville... I'm the devil.

Who said that? He should be playing everyday instead of sitting on the bench.

Why should he be at 2B? He's a horrible defender... and why would they put him in Gennett's way?

Why do we care how much production we get out of the Backup Catcher? So we can win or 1 or 2 more games this season max? What are we competing for where 1 or 2 games is going to matter?

He was only in Houston for something like 12 starts, he wasn't pitching well for the Padres at all. Hiis only period of above average pitching since 2005 was Houston - LA. His peripherals were better when he was hurt... I completely agree with the idea that our team defense is bad, but the defense has nothing to do how many guys a pitcher walks or strikes out. BB rates do not include IBBs which could be defense related. I made all these same arguments with Suppan and was met with the bounce back theory and the like, people are going to believe whatever they want to believe. He had a BB rate last year that he wasn't able to sustain and his K rate continues to fall, in addition to having average velocity and stuff. It's rather pointless to debate the issue today, but I'll unhappily revisit this topic in 2 years to see what people think then. I say unhappily because I still believe the Wolf signing was bad for the franchise and I've seen nothing to suggest otherwise.

For record, AAA pitching isn't more advanced, it's just a different type of pitching than what you'll typically see in AA. It's more about finesse with AAA pitchers than power arms which are typically in AA. Location, changing speeds, all that good stuff... Generally speaking the only power arms sitting in AAA are those that have issues throwing strikes or are young pitchers either riding out super 2 status or blocked from the MLB rotation. There are only a handful of true pitching prospects in AAA at any one time. Power arms than can locate in AAA tend to find their way to MLB in a hurry.

So you were expecting him to outperform his past three year averages all while getting a year older and coming to a more hitter friendly home park with an inferior defense behind him? Maybe your expectations were just too high to begin with.A 3 year average is fine and dandy for a player in their prime, but career trends are more important than anything else when trying to predict future success. For aging players, I really don't care at all what they did 2 years ago much less 3 years ago. In the end none of that has anything to do with how a pitcher will actually perform this season. We can project all we want, but when a guy stinks, he stinks. While we have to guard against over reaction, as the sample size to continues to grow, the more definitive conclusions we can draw. In Wolf's case, he's been very average since 2005, claimed to find something in Houston in 2008 to rejuvenate his career, and pitched well in 2009 for LA. Contrary to what's been previously posted, his peripherals do not line up at all. In 2009 his BB rate was only 2.4 while pitching for LA, the best mark of his career since 2004. His BB rate is currently 4.5. Since 2007 his K rate has been trending downwards from 8.2, to 7.7, to 6.3, and currently sits at 5.9. Yea we're only 2 months into the season, but when you look at his entire career, what recent season looks like the outlier? What do the trends tell you? I'm not going to say Wolf is finished, obviously I argued vehemently against both Wolf and Davis being signed, I've made all of these peripheral and stuff arguments before so my opinion remains biased. It wasn't hyperbole when I said that there was a strong possibility Wolf would be the worst pitcher on the staff by the time his contract was up, I wasn't exaggerating for effect, I've just never liked what I saw when examining him as a pitcher.

Yea it's absentee and apathetic ownership that keeps people from coming out to see Fielder, Braun, Yo, Hart, Escobar, Weeks, LaPorta, Gamel, Cain, Lawrie, etc, etc... what about an apathetic fan base that doesn't attend games no matter how much talent is on the roster? No bias in that Huntsville Times story at all.