We're screwed this year......

[Ryanwb]

I just heard on the news that Orlando Hernandez was smoking the ball at a high of 85 MPH yesterday in his start in which he left with back spasms. Russ Ortiz is having a horrible spring..

We can look forward to a train wreck of a starting rotation lead by Brandon Webb who for all intensive purposes would be the #2 or #3 starter on any other team.....

This is going to be a long season

 

[The Commish]

To be honest I don't really expect much from out pitching staff this year. I would like to see Halsey get some more time, as well as give Nippert a shot. I think this year we should be giving guys a shot to come in here and do something. Brandon Webb is a perfect example of a guy who wasn't expected to do much but really blossomed into a good player once brought up. Next year we will go out and get an ace or two to insert into the top of the rotation. I won't deny that our pitching will be a definite weakness, but I already expect that. I just want to at least see some young guys get solid amounts of innings under their belt.

 

[Yuma]

I thought our starters and relievers sucked on paper before we even started spring training. I know the franchise has to tout them and get fans excited, but I was very disappointed we didn't make a few more moves for pitching before we hit spring training. The new GM isn't exciting me much with the staff he has accumulated. We will probably end up putting up a lot of runs this year, but end up a frustrating 5 games out of winning our division because of the pitching staff. We're gonna have to put up 10 runs a game to have a shot at winning.

 

[CardNots]

Same as last spring. Regardless of the runs we scored in the spring last year, I said I was concerned with our pitching.

Acutally I like Webb, Bautista(?) and the guy we picked up from the Nationals last year we look like we have a few holes.

Worse than last year, not sure yet. Hopefully the bullpen is not helpless as last year.

 

[Phill11]

Maybe I'm drinking too much green koolaid but I think our staff is fair. In the top 20 or so pitching staffs.

I think a rotation of:
Webb
Hernandez
Halsey
Ortiz
Nippert

Wouldn't be AWFUL. I mean what have we put into our pitching staff? Nothing yet. So far we haven't paid a ton of money, nor used many high draft picks. You can't expect dog poo to turn to gold guys.

I love Webb. Perfect pitcher for BOB. Ortiz is awful but I think he can have a couple decent outings in him if he got it together. Halsey and Nippert have potential. As for Hernandez I think you can flip a coin if he has a good year or bad. Because right now, I can't tell. He pitched nicely in the ST game I saw this year.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

I'm not too concerned because I have few expectations for this year's team. The starting staff will most likely be a disaster other than Webb and perhaps Batista and Vargas but it was nothing to get excited about year either. Hopefully the improved bullpen will be able to shorten games unlike last year and lead us to a few wins. We're just going to have to accept that it's a rebuilding year and hope our vets can produce to get us some value in return around midseason.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Maybe I'm drinking too much green koolaid but I think our staff is fair. In the top 20 or so pitching staffs.

I think a rotation of:
Webb
Hernandez
Halsey
Ortiz
Nippert

Wouldn't be AWFUL. I mean what have we put into our pitching staff? Nothing yet. So far we haven't paid a ton of money, nor used many high draft picks. You can't expect dog poo to turn to gold guys.

I love Webb. Perfect pitcher for BOB. Ortiz is awful but I think he can have a couple decent outings in him if he got it together. Halsey and Nippert have potential. As for Hernandez I think you can flip a coin if he has a good year or bad. Because right now, I can't tell. He pitched nicely in the ST game I saw this year.

If Brad Halsey is our #3 starter, we will lose 100 games.

 

[FinleyLover]

I think it's safe to say that most people don't have high expectations for the pitching staff this year. What we have to look for, is after next season, is when we have the two biggest contracts off the books, the team will then have the money to pursue some decent or possibly great pitching.
With the offense showing the kind of promise that they are now, couple that with a good rotation and WATCH OUT!!! This year will be making the best of what he have kind of situation, probably no more than that.

 

[WildBB]

I just heard on the news that Orlando Hernandez was smoking the ball at a high of 85 MPH yesterday in his start in which he left with back spasms. Russ Ortiz is having a horrible spring..

We can look forward to a train wreck of a starting rotation lead by Brandon Webb who for all intensive purposes would be the #2 or #3 starter on any other team.....

This is going to be a long season

Hernandez isn't a starter anymore. The Chisox knew that. he'll give you two good innings of middle relief or setup.

Vargas and Halsey should nail down 4 & 5 in the rotation. Whos' the other Rook P they have? They'll need him for depth.

 

[green machine]

Rotation should be some mixture of Webb/Ortiz/Halsey/Vargas/Batista. With El Duque as relief, and Nippert a bit more time to get himself ready. Not sure why the infatuation with having El Duque in the rotation, I don't think that will work for him. And Halsey I think deserves a shot, he was solid last year, and if I recall correctly, Vargas finished the year pretty good, even having a really dominant stretch where he was just great.

 

[WildBB]

Rotation should be some mixture of Webb/Ortiz/Halsey/Vargas/Batista. With El Duque as relief, and Nippert a bit more time to get himself ready. Not sure why the infatuation with having El Duque in the rotation, I don't think that will work for him. And Halsey I think deserves a shot, he was solid last year, and if I recall correctly, Vargas finished the year pretty good, even having a really dominant stretch where he was just great.

Yea , Nippert , he's the other guy who could start some times during the season.

 

[Espo]

Rotation should be some mixture of Webb/Ortiz/Halsey/Vargas/Batista. With El Duque as relief, and Nippert a bit more time to get himself ready. Not sure why the infatuation with having El Duque in the rotation, I don't think that will work for him. And Halsey I think deserves a shot, he was solid last year, and if I recall correctly, Vargas finished the year pretty good, even having a really dominant stretch where he was just great.

See the problem with this is Vargas and Halsey are borderline starters at best and Batista has bounced between the bullpen and the rotation the past few seasons for Toronto. El Duque is a veteran starter and at some point will spend extended time in the rotation. This pitching staff is Webb and a whole lot of nothing. It is the glaring weakness on this team and throughout the organization.

 

[devilfan02]

See the problem with this is Vargas and Halsey are borderline starters at best and Batista has bounced between the bullpen and the rotation the past few seasons for Toronto. El Duque is a veteran starter and at some point will spend extended time in the rotation. This pitching staff is Webb and a whole lot of nothing. It is the glaring weakness on this team and throughout the organization.

While our staff is weak after Webb (who is pitching unbelievable! He WILL establish himself this year as a #1 starter), I'm not too worried. If our offense can hit like they are in ST, we should be in NL West contention at All-Star break. We are loaded with skill position prospects and I can very easily see Byrnes dealing one for a above avg starter. On the other hand, if we are struggling at the break, I can see a Gonzo being sent to an AL contentder for a SP prospect or Gonzo and one of our prospects for an established SP although I think that is unlikely. While I would like to hang onto all of our prospects, there won't be enough room for them all..... I would def say Drew, Upton, Q, and Jackson are untouchable but you never know. Lets just hope some of the big SP's that are supposed to hit the FA market next offseason are not traded or resigned during this season. With all the money we will have available next offseason, I can very easily see us landing 2 elite starters. I would love to see us get lucky with performance and health regarding our SP's but I think 2007 and beyond is what we should really gear for. We are very close and come August we should get our prospects some big league experience (Q and Drew).

 

[HooverDam]

Whats the upcoming draft crop of pitchers look like? I hope the Dbacks are able to grab some quality future starters there. While its nice to sign free agents like Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, the team needs to start developing some stud pitchers like they have w/ their position players.

 

[green machine]

See the problem with this is Vargas and Halsey are borderline starters at best and Batista has bounced between the bullpen and the rotation the past few seasons for Toronto. El Duque is a veteran starter and at some point will spend extended time in the rotation. This pitching staff is Webb and a whole lot of nothing. It is the glaring weakness on this team and throughout the organization.

I look at Halsey and Vargas as young guys who showed enough potential/ability to warrant a spot in the rotation this team has. Batista has a rubber arm, but I think he's best suited as a starter. Besides, if either Halsey or Vargas turn into quality starters it's just gravy, but at this point with the current staff, why not give them a shot?

 

[devilalum]

I hope they just wait and see what happens with the guys they have. Like someone pointed out sometimes good pitchers come out of nowhere.

Next year they'll have money to spend on free agents or to trade for a top starter. They might even trade one of their top position players to get an ace starter next year. Even if they have a slightly worse record I'm a lot more excited to watch this team.

If they win great. If they lose we may get to see some of the young talent on a more regular basis.

 

[AZZenny]

Terry Mulholland allowed four runs and five hits in one inning. "Yeah, but how many balls did they hit hard off him?" manager Bob Melvin said. "His velocity was up again. They found a lot of holes."

Here we go again. Making excuses is not the same thing as being supportive. BoMel is just pulse-less, and he cannot motivate or energize anyone.

 

[IndyDevil]

...yikes...

As I glance at the ESPN News ticker while listening to The Bud Show, I see that El Duque (a.k.a #2 starter) is having a nice outing: 4-0 Cubs in the 1st inning.





Be afraid...be VERY afraid!!

 

[FinleyLover]

Here we go again. Making excuses is not the same thing as being supportive. BoMel is just pulse-less, and he cannot motivate or energize anyone.

GAWD!!! It doesn't matter how HARD those balls are hit, A RUN IS A RUN IS A RUN. Yeah, the BS machine has already started.

IMHO, I think we should dump everyone except Webby, put Miggy in the pen, bring up AAA/AA guys NOW. It certainly can't be any worse than what we are facing for this season with the cast of clowns currently slated as the starting rotation.

 

[AZZenny]

I was perusing SI's baseball preview issue this evening, which is SO wrong, but that's OK -- and couldn't help but notice the picture of John Patterson on their DC National's page.... and the picture of Chris Capuano (WAAAAAAH! >sob<) on their Brewer's page... and how important both of them are as the guys in the upper-middle starting rotations, how both have 'broken through' etc etc.

I get absolutely homicidal when I think about how unbelievably stupid both those trades were, and most of us KNEW it at the time.

What a different rotation we would have...