The Bullpen

[az240zz]

Last year we all lamented the lack of pitching on this team. This year it appears that the starting pitching has improved but has the bullpen? Time will tell if it is bettar but I don't think there has been a lot of improvement.

az240z

 

[moviegeekjn]

Way too early to tell ... bullpens take time to sort out and develop

 

[AZZenny]

It's definitely too early to tell if the starting pitching has improved, actually - it's early, but Russ Ortiz looked in midseason form today. As to the pen - there's no way of knowing who is really in the pen, esp with Aquino hurting, Valverde wild as he finishes his rehabbing, and Villareal fat.


Man, Oakland knows how to draft young arms!!! Sigh. We were pretty useless against them.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Heh, I knew somebody was going to start complaining about the outing Ortiz had (3 runs and a pair of walks in a couple innings).

That said, it looks like we've got a lot of young talent in the pen, but health is an obvious concern.

6 or 7 of the following probably gets spots in the pen, the last three on this list are vets that signed minor league contracts, and have a slight chance to make the team.
Aquino (Slight current injury, hopefully wont be a concern)
Valverde (Coming off of major injury)
Lyon (Coming off of major injury)
Koplove
Choate
Bruney
Villareal (shot at the rotation though, also coming off of major injury)
Jimenez
D. Osborne (sp?)
Acevedo

Theres probably a couple extra candidates that escape me at the moment.
Edit: like Adam Peterson

 

[Lefty]

It's definitely too early to tell if the starting pitching has improved, actually - it's early, but Russ Ortiz looked in midseason form today. As to the pen - there's no way of knowing who is really in the pen, esp with Aquino hurting, Valverde wild as he finishes his rehabbing, and Villareal fat.


Man, Oakland knows how to draft young arms!!! Sigh. We were pretty useless against them.

Don't forget Koplove. He has looked horrible so far. If Aquino is seriously hurt, they are in deep trouble.

 

[AZZenny]

It IS early and my clear recollection is that Koplove always sucks the first couple outings in ST. But yeah, he looked about as bad as Valverde, and that was really bad.

Schill and RJ often looked rusty as heck the first couple outings, so I won't panic until mid-late March - but I have to say, contrasting the very early ST outings of 4yr-$48M Ortiz with $350,000 Rich Harden was enough to make me a bit glum, and I left the park thinking: "1) .500 is probably a real good goal to set. Watchable defense and .500 in 2005. Yeah, that's the ticket. and 2) We've GOT to get Billy Beane!" Btw - Lance Cormier looked pretty decent once he got over the jitters of the first couple batters - better than Daigle.

btw - the Royce "Rasta" Clayton watch - I got to the park at the top of the 2nd inning. The guy next to me - complete stranger - said, "That Clayton guy just stood there staring at the balls as they went by first time up. Something's weird about that guy." LOL

 

[Lefty]

It IS early and my clear recollection is that Koplove always sucks the first couple outings in ST. But yeah, he looked about as bad as Valverde, and that was really bad.

Schill and RJ often looked rusty as heck the first couple outings, so I won't panic until mid-late March - but I have to say, contrasting the very early ST outings of 4yr-$48M Ortiz with $350,000 Rich Harden was enough to make me a bit glum, and I left the park thinking: "1) .500 is probably a real good goal to set. Watchable defense and .500 in 2005. Yeah, that's the ticket. and 2) We've GOT to get Billy Beane!" Btw - Lance Cormier looked pretty decent once he got over the jitters of the first couple batters - better than Daigle.

btw - the Royce "Rasta" Clayton watch - I got to the park at the top of the 2nd inning. The guy next to me - complete stranger - said, "That Clayton guy just stood there staring at the balls as they went by first time up. Something's weird about that guy." LOL

Why does Koplove get an excuse but not the other guys?

 

[schillingfan]

Generally pitchers who have good velocity on their fastball look better than "crafty" pitchers who need to hit their spots. It takes longer to get command in the sense of hitting spots than it does to get velocity, which makes up for the sin of not hitting your spots.

So it's generally not worrisome if some pitchers look really bad their first couple of outings.

Curt and RJ generally looked better their first outings because of the good velocity. They might give up some home runs, because remember, they are supplying the power with their velocity. But they won't look so wild or completely hittable as a spot, softer tossing pitcher will.

 

[AZZenny]

Why does Koplove get an excuse but not the other guys?

Because I like Koplove.
But it wasn't meant to be an excuse, just an observation that some guys historically have looked pretty bad their first few outings - I'm saying it's early for all these guys, and too soon to judge, and I have no track record in ST to know how fast or slow the new guys get ready. BUT - Ortiz looked like the Ortiz of regular-season, while Koplove, and Valverde, and Vazquez have not.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

BUT - Ortiz looked like the Ortiz of regular-season

Ortiz so far in Spring Training has looked like a pitcher thats gone 67-36 with an ERA under four the last four years? Sweet.

 

[Lefty]

Ortiz so far in Spring Training has looked like a pitcher thats gone 67-36 with an ERA under four the last four years? Sweet.

Agree. I like Ortiz and think he will be okay. People have been bashing the guy and we have not even started the regular season. I guess you can't please everyone.

 

[FinleyLover]

"1) .500 is probably a real good goal to set. Watchable defense and .500 in 2005. Yeah, that's the ticket. and 2) We've GOT to get Billy Beane!" Btw - Lance Cormier looked pretty decent once he got over the jitters of the first couple batters - better than Daigle.

btw - the Royce "Rasta" Clayton watch - I got to the park at the top of the 2nd inning. The guy next to me - complete stranger - said, "That Clayton guy just stood there staring at the balls as they went by first time up. Something's weird about that guy." LOL

I think "Watchable Defense" is the key phrase here