2016 Starting Rotation

[mvp 78]

The first inning for Wright was scary. He turned it around quick though. I'm more confident in him than Buchholz or Kelly.

[Kimmi]

He made 2 bad pitches to the best homerun hitter of the last five years. I'll take 30 of those outings.

 

There is a reason why I like you SK.

 

Actually, there are many reasons.

[Kimmi]

That seems to be a real issue, people not being able to look past the contract.

 

And then there is option 2 - Haters gonna hate.

[iortiz]

Well how do you define "what we expect?" What is the role if a middle of the rotation starter? It's to keep the team in the game and give the team a chance to win. From that standpoint, mission accomplished. If you expect a #3 starter to pitch like an ace day in day out you're begging for disappointment.

 

Forget the contract. Porcello is a mid rotation starter. That's what he's been for most of his career, that is what he is now, and that is exactly what he pitched like in Toronto. Mission accomplished.

 

Ok, let's forget the contract, which is a key issue, but let's forget it for a bit.

 

What is a mid-rotation guy? A guy who is going to allow 4 Rs/6IP per game? i.e. 6 ERA pitcher?

[iortiz]

Also, Porcello is a 4.4 ERA pitcher, is that a mid-rotation guy? Or more likely end-of-the-rotation?

[Dojji]

Ok, let's forget the contract, which is a key issue, but let's forget it for a bit.

 

What is a mid-rotation guy? A guy who is going to allow 4 Rs/6IP per game? i.e. 6 ERA pitcher?

 

Against a good lineup? yes, and they make up for it against weak offenses to average in the 4's

[sk7326]

Four runs on two joey bats homers ... 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. Good strikeout and walk numbers. There is something to build on. Which neatly describes first time through the rotation.

[Spudboy]

He made more than 2 bad pitches.

 

He sure did.

[iortiz]

Against a good lineup? yes, and they make up for it against weak offenses to average in the 4's

 

If he posts this in a regular basis, what are you going to say? Most of the ALE teams have good line-ups.

[iortiz]

Don't take me wrong, I'm not saying that this was an atrocious performance (he has allowed 6 or 7 Rs, if I recall well, and not against TOR), but this is not what I expect from my 20 M arm. He sucked bad time last year, to the point that we are seeing this as an acceptable. This is not acceptable by any means. He is supposed to pitch against ALE teams most of the times, and most of those teams have potent Lups. He was signed to post at very least a 3.5-4 ERA numbers. He is way far from that.

[iortiz]

Four runs on two joey bats homers ... 1 walk, 7 strikeouts. Good strikeout and walk numbers. There is something to build on. Which neatly describes first time through the rotation.

 

He needs to settle down his FB/HR% i.e. Location/command. If he accepts 2 HR per game and with runners on bases, his SO/BB is going to be meaningless.

[mvp 78]

If the rotation was:

1. Price

2. Mystery #2

3. ERod

4. Porcello

5. Wright

 

I think the Sox would be fine. They just needed one other top of the rotation guy.

 

Porcello is fine as a 4. I don't really care about the contract even though it was silly to sign him early.

[iortiz]

If the rotation was:

1. Price

2. Mystery #2

3. ERod

4. Porcello

5. Wright

 

I think the Sox would be fine. They just needed one other top of the rotation guy.

 

Porcello is fine as a 4. I don't really care about the contract even though it was silly to sign him early.

Well, I've been saying this since 2011, I guess. Finally we have Price, but he can't do all by himself. Yes, we need another one, badly.

[mvp 78]

Well, I've been saying this since 2011, I guess. Finally we have Price, but he can't do all by himself. Yes, we need another one, badly.

 

2011, they were just beat up at the end and would've been smoked in the playoffs.

2012, they just quit on the coach.

2013, they had a #2.

2014, they blew up the team.

2015, they didn't have a 1 or 2.

2016, is the first year they really needed a 2.

[cp176]

If the rotation was:

1. Price

2. Mystery #2

3. ERod

4. Porcello

5. Wright

 

I think the Sox would be fine. They just needed one other top of the rotation guy.

 

Porcello is fine as a 4. I don't really care about the contract even though it was silly to sign him early.

 

 

I think that you might be right here. the problem is that we keep hoping that Buchholz and Kelly morph into something that resembles special.

[User Name]

Ok, let's forget the contract, which is a key issue, but let's forget it for a bit.

 

What is a mid-rotation guy? A guy who is going to allow 4 Rs/6IP per game? i.e. 6 ERA pitcher?

 

You can't just extrapolate a single start into a statistical prediction, or an honest assessment of someone's pitching skills. Stuff like this is why your arguments are terrible, and it's almost impossible to have an enjoyable baseball argument with you. It's not the language barrier here either. This is an issue where you agreeing with Ted is actually the right call.

[iortiz]

2011, they were just beat up at the end and would've been smoked in the playoffs.

2012, they just quit on the coach.

2013, they had a #2.

2014, they blew up the team.

2015, they didn't have a 1 or 2.

2016, is the first year they really needed a 2.

 

I meant both at the same time.

[iortiz]

You can't just extrapolate a single start into a statistical prediction, or an honest assessment of someone's pitching skills. Stuff like this is why your arguments are terrible, and it's almost impossible to have an enjoyable baseball argument with you. It's not the language barrier here either. This is an issue where you agreeing with Ted is actually the right call.

 

I'm not assessing a single start, what are u talking about? Go and read, and take it in the context.

 

He has been a mess since he landed here, which is not the context either.

[a700hitter]

I don't think we need to extrapolate from one start when we have last year's body of work to look at. This first start just looks like continuation of last year -- lots of pitches up in the zone.

[User Name]

I don't think we need to extrapolate from one start when we have last year's body of work to look at. This first start just looks like continuation of last year -- lots of pitches up in the zone.

 

So he's a 6.00 ERA guy and he's going to allow 64 home runs on the year if he takes all of his turns?

[iortiz]

I don't think we need to extrapolate from one start when we have last year's body of work to look at. This first start just looks like continuation of last year -- lots of pitches up in the zone.

 

Thanks.

 

On the other hand, is he going to improve, honestly I really really doubt it.

[iortiz]

So he's a 6.00 ERA guy and he's going to allow 64 home runs on the year if he takes all of his turns?

 

Are you really this dumb?

[a700hitter]

Thanks.

 

On the other hand, is he going to improve, honestly I really really doubt it.

This first start didn't give much reason to think that he will be better than last year.

[iortiz]

This first start didn't give much reason to think that he will be better than last year.

 

ST and this first start, my friend. Hopefully we are dead wrong, though.

 

As you said, he needs to improve his command/location. His FB/HR% worries me.

[User Name]

This first start didn't give much reason to think that he will be better than last year.

 

You didn't answer my question though: Is he a 6.00 ERA guy, and is he going to give up 64 homers if he makes all of his scheduled starts.

[iortiz]

Again, no one is saying that he is a 6.0 ERA pitcher, because he is not. He is a 4.4 ERA career pitcher who has increased dramatically his HR/FB% since 2014 and looks like 2013 actually (which worries me), but that's not the point. The point is that his recent performance, (ST and this first start is not encouraging), in order to think that he is going to improve what he did in 2015. Some still think that his 2014 numbers or even more is his potential, I still think that it was a fluke year. Take away his best and worst years and you will figure out what Porcello really is.

 

We'll see though.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

It's a pretty low bar when 4 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings where he got away with a lot of bad pitches and was unable to keep the ball down is considered an outing fans are happy with. At this point I don't know how anyone could not be concerned with the starting pitching.

[cp176]

Trying to break it down and make it sound better than it is is just ridiculous. On any given day, will he better, for sure. On any given day, will he be worse, probably. On the more positive side, he is fairly durable and will pitch quite a few innings for us. A solid number 4/5 starter. Every team needs players like him. Projecting him to be better than he has ever been is as bad as saying that he is worthless.

[Dojji]

Can we focus just a little attention on Wright's strong performance in the loss last night? We're not going to solve the porcello question right here and now and it would be nice if people paid at least some attention to positive developments too.

 

Wright is right up my alley as a nontraditional prospect. As a knuckleballer, he's exactly the sort of guy who's always going to be at least somewhat underestimated by prospect watchers who struggle to find the virtue in older prospects that come to the league from odd directions, and sometimes those guys come out of nowhere to make a place for themselves in the league.

 

Wright can pitch. Over his career in 11 starts as a starter he's got a 4.01 ERA with a WHIP of 1.23 and a k/bb ratio of over 2, which actually marks him as, not an ace, but a potential mid rotation guy if he can establish himself for a season at roughly that level. Steven Wright, if he holds to form, is not anyone's #5, and I'm delighted that he's getting a real chance to prove that this year. I think he's on track to be one of the pleasant surprises this season. Last night's start against a pretty powerful lineup was a good sign in that direction, especially the part where he pitched into the 7th inning with good peripherals.

 

It could all turn to dust of course, but combined with what he accomplished in short stints in the prior 2 years and his great Spring, I'm really encouraged about this guy. We could have found the heir to Tim Wakefield, and that would be a decidedly good thing for this rotation right now.

[SoxnCycles]

Can we focus just a little attention on Wright's strong performance in the loss last night? We're not going to solve the porcello question right here and now and it would be nice if people paid at least some attention to positive developments too.

 

Wright is right up my alley as a nontraditional prospect. As a knuckleballer, he's exactly the sort of guy who's always going to be at least somewhat underestimated by prospect watchers who struggle to find the virtue in older prospects that come to the league from odd directions, and sometimes those guys come out of nowhere to make a place for themselves in the league.

 

Wright can pitch. Over his career in 11 starts as a starter he's got a 4.01 ERA with a WHIP of 1.23 and a k/bb ratio of over 2, which actually marks him as, not an ace, but a potential mid rotation guy if he can establish himself for a season at roughly that level. Steven Wright, if he holds to form, is not anyone's #5, and I'm delighted that he's getting a real chance to prove that this year. I think he's on track to be one of the pleasant surprises this season. Last night's start against a pretty powerful lineup was a good sign in that direction, especially the part where he pitched into the 7th inning with good peripherals.

 

It could all turn to dust of course, but combined with what he accomplished in short stints in the prior 2 years and his great Spring, I'm really encouraged about this guy. We could have found the heir to Tim Wakefield, and that would be a decidedly good thing for this rotation right now.

 

Positive developements? Where's the fun in that?

Fans seem to put too much emphasis on what "number" a pitcher is in the rotation.

If they help the team win on any given day, I don't care if they're the #12 guy in the rotation.

 

It's too bad the Sox couldn't take advantage of Wright's good outing.

Swihart had a tough time handling some of his pitches, unfortunately.

Hopefully, Swihart can improve on that, or perhaps Hannigan can do a better job.