Showing posts with label Justin Miller. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Justin Miller. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Romo & Runzler are keys to bullpen's success



Firstly, I'd like to apologize for not getting any articles out recently (other than some nonsense). It's been a little hectic (for my standards). I have been Twittering about stuff, and I encourage you to follow @TheDodgerhater if you're into that sort of thing. It's kinda fun, and I never thought I'd ever be down.

With all the Spring Training topics to BS about (or freak out about), I thought I'd kinda do something different for this post. I could talk about the Bumgarner nightmare, or the fact that Buster Posey has a 1.055 OPS while Big Money Molina's is even better (1.077). I'm choosing to look forward, rather than focus the all too tough-to-decipher Spring Training scene.

Last year, Sabean signed some random dudes named Justin Miller and Brandon Medders to throw baseballs for a living. "I'm a Little Bit Country" Medders and "I'm a little bit Rock & Roll" Miller were serious cogs in our 'pen all season long-- especially Miller.

Miller essentially became the 7th inning bridge to Affeldt and Wilson that Lurch Howry was supposed to be, and goddamn did he excel at it. Until he broke down at the end of the year (which was due to serious injury) Miller was sick.

During this time, Sergio Romo was a bit of an enigma. When right, his movement is purely disgusting. His breaking balls almost look like screwballs and he backdoors left-handers like it's his job. (Uh... yeah)

But as a relatively inexperienced dude, he got into a serious funk befitting Earth Wind & Fire or the Ohio Players. Remember last July when he gave up 7 earnies is 3 appearances? Despite his impressive performance last year overall, there were times when he just wasn't trustworthy. This year he will be required to be Justin Miller-- a steadfast 7th inning monster, minus the "LA" tattoo and the August/September breakdown.

(Quick note: Justin Miller is now a Dodger, so from here on out, he shall not be mentioned)

The other guy in the 2010 pen who is both intriguing and hair-raisingly exciting, is rookie Danny Runzler.

A guy buried on many's radars, The Runzmeister burst onto the scene as a late callup in '09, K'ing 11 in as many appearances. Armed with a gaseous heater and some wicked breaking stuff, we could really be looking at the closer of the future. As much as I like B-Weezy, the "Mullethawked One" will become increasingly expensive in his next two arby hearings.

I believe Runzler to be fully ready to step into a significant bullpen role in 2010 as a both a situational lefty (.059 BAA vs. lefties in '09), and a guy who can give you a solid inning or two in any situation. Currently in Scottsdale, he has K'd 9 in only 4.2 innings.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's Spring Training, and he's thrown a limited amount of innings as a real pro, but this guy has shown nothing but promise and deliverance thus far.

As the season goes on, he will likely hit bumps in the road as all young big leaguers do. However, all indications thus far tell me that this cat is ready for the show.

As for the rest of the bullpen, I see nothing but good things. Assuming we keep 12 pitchers (not a guarantee), we're looking at a pen of Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, Romo, Runzler, Medders, Todd Wellemeyer, and either Waldis Joaquin, Steve Johnson, Kevin Pucetas, or Guillermo Mota.

Personally, Pucetas looks like the 5th starter at this point, but that's another article for another day.

Indeed my friends, this bullpen looks deep, it looks solid, and I for one am very excited about it.

Here's to an epic 2010!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Wellemeyer has a legit shot at the #5 spot?


Before I get to Wellemeyer, check this out. It's The Dodgerhater's second appearance on HotStove.com commenting on Giants issues. This time about Aaron Rowand leading off. See my answer, as well as El Lefty Malo's and others right here.

The Giants have signed former Cardinal non-great Todd Wellemeyer to a minor league deal, similar to the one Juan Uribe signed last year. It would guarantee him a cool mil if he makes the team, but after Obama's tax increases, his salary should net him like $20k. Ha. Sorry. Sometimes I can't resist.

What's interesting about Wellemeyer is that he has been a swingman throughout his career and has had a little success both in the pen and as a starter. With the #5 spot now a tossup between Madison Bumgarner, Kevin Pucetas, Joe Martinez, and Wellemeyer, it'll all come down to whether The Carolina Kid is ready to do this thing on the big stage.

Despite the good things he saw from MBG last year in limited action, part of me thinks that if he's thrust into the #5 spot from the get go and struggles, that it could be a real confidence killer. The last thing we need is a talented sadsack. Those are the most frustrating.

It may be best for Bumgarner to start off in Fresno, get his confidence rolling, then promote him in May or June, so that he's in the groove, but doesn't have a tired arm like he did when he was promoted last September.

A look at Wellemeyer's career numbers gives us something concrete to work with. Last year he sucked, and upon further review, he sucked in the following seasons as well: 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009. Keep in mind, he's only pitched in parts of seven big league seasons, and his rough going early on was simply due to inexperience.

So, how do we figure this guy out? His 5.89 ERA in '09 was hideous, but his 4.14, 4.54, and 3.71 ERA's in '06, '07, and '08 are at least palatable. Let's take a look at him when he's at his best.

Wellemeyer is one season removed from his best as a pro. Interestingly, it game when he was exclusively used as a starter (a pattern in his career). In 32 starts, he sported some truly respectable stuff: 1.25 WHIP, a nearly 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio, and stranded 77% of runners on base.

He's a three pitch guy, (fastball, slider, change), of which his best is an 85 mph slider that he threw for 26% of the time in '08. Last year, in which he blew big time, he only threw it 17% of the time. This would indicate that he either lost confidence in it, or simply couldn't command it worth a damn. Confidence is a bitch.

It's really hard to say what exactly happened to T-Dub last year. He did deal with an elbow injury where he missed 25 days on the DL, but his strike percentage was nearly identical to '08, and his velocity was only down about 1 mph overall.

This just looks like a common case of lost command and a little bad luck.

In '08, his BB/9 rate was an excellent 2.91/9 innings. In '09, this rate ballooned to nearly 5 per 9. This, coupled with a rise in BABIP up from a below average .273 in '08 to a high .346, shows me that the man was just getting the ball up in the zone, and he was losing batters to walks that in '08 he was able to get out.

It could've been injury, confidence, fatigue, whatever...

I will end the most epic post about a minor league signee/potential 5th starter ever with this:

If we get the '08 Todd Wellemeyer who went 13-9 with a 3.71 ERA, Sabean has unearthed another gem off the scrap heap, a la Juan Uribe, Brandon Medders, Justin Miller, etc.

If not, it's another minimum risk/high reward signing. A pattern this offseason.

Now, we eagerly await the outcome of Timmy's arby case in Tampa...
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Also, a melancholy happy trails to one of my favorite TV personalities of all time, Captain Phil Harris of The Cornelia Marie and of Deadliest Catch fame. It is not often that a total stranger's passing makes you feel this crappy. Allow me to say a few words.

Phil was a man's man. A brash, chain-smoking, tattooed outlaw of the seas. A father, a husband, a skipper.

A guy you'd work hard for, even if it meant staying up for 36 hours hauling crab pots during 20 degree weather in 30 foot seas.

People like us only knew Phil for a few years on television, but those of us who watch Deadliest Catch religiously, felt like we knew him well.

I speak for myself when I say, I'll miss you skipper.

Smoke a Camel Filter, pound a redbull, and slay those crab up in heaven. We'll miss you buddy.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Another heart-attacker


Nothing comes easy with these guys!

Great to see Uribe and Ishikawa going deep. I really think that Travis has gotten a fire lit under his ass since the arrival of Garks. Unfortunately, that hasn't translated into too many hits. He's still pluggin away though, and his three run dong tonight was huge.

As for Lurch Howry... well, the guy is simply a disaster right now. He threw 7 pitches, and 6 of them were balls. He was removed in the middle of an at bat with a 2-0 count. I can't remember the last time that's happened to a Giants pitcher, except when injured. The guy has absolutely derailed!

It may be time to make up an injury for Lurchy like they do for Rich Aurilia and get him on the DL. Just call it swine flu or arm fatigue, or an anxiety disorder, or strike zone-itis. Whatever... just fix this guy! He cannot find the strike zone to save his life, and is seriously down on himself. Each game is too critical to have liabilities in the bullpen. This also includes Justin Miller and Merkin Valdez, who have derailed almost as severely as of late. These three guys have combined for some absolutely ghastly statistics.

Since August 20th, Miller, Valdez, and Howry have combined for 4.1 IP, 13 ER, 11 BB, and 9 Hits. That of course comes out to a 27.00 ERA and a 4.62 WHIP.

Us fantasy freaks just threw up in our collective mouth a little bit. Good Lord. When you can't trust 43% of your bullpen, you've gotta make a roster move.

-- Despite throwing 91 pitches in the last calendar week (including 41 last night), Brian Wilson trucked himself out there again. Things were looking okay, but you could tell he didn't have his best stuff. As Kruk and Kuip pointed out, his velocity was down, and when he did reach his normal speeds, the balls were wild. Bochy had little choice but to put him out there, but I think Romo for the 9th would've been a better choice from the get go. When closers are throwing 97-100 mph for over 100 pitches in 8 days and 41 pitches within 24 hours, you're looking at a disaster. With the back of the rotation coming up, the bullpen situation is looking scary.

God forbid this happens, but what if Sanchez and Martinez bomb out in 4 or 5 innings? Who will Boch cart out there? These guys seriously look like their arms are going to fall off all at once. The only guys I'd even want to throw tomorrow are Romo and Medders. Wilson is off limits, Affeldt is effective but exhausted, and How-Merk-iller is a trainwreck.

Right now in AAA Fresno, there are a few names that jump out at you, but none have been throwing particularly well lately. Despite decent ERA's on the year, Geno Espineli, Alex Hinshaw, and Osiris Matos have all been knocked since August 16th to the tune of a 9.53 ERA.

A better bet might be to call up Kevin Pucetas or Ryan Sadowski to move into a long reliever role, despite the fact that both have been working as starters. Obviously, I'd lean toward Pucetas because of Sadowski's last outings at in the bigs.

Anyway, let's hope The Spaniard shuts down the D-Bags tomorrow.

Keep the faith. We're still in this. Tuesday's win was a huge statement. It wasn't easy or pretty, but hey, we beat one of MLB's best pitchers and were able to reload after a 14 inning demoralizing disaster. That really says something.

Get well Freddy Sanchez and Kung Fu!