2016 Outlook for Eduardo Rodriguez

[cp176]

it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Wright is the depth option with the most experience and the highest floor making him the safest choice. The depth option with the most upside and highest ceiling is probaly Owens. So do you want the high floor guy who's less likely to crap the bed or the high ceiling guy who could be terrible but might also break through and be awesome? It's really a question of priorities.

 

The highest floor and the highest ceiling? hmm - I think that you could put their names in a hat and give them each a chance. Of the group of candidates, Elias has the big league resume I guess. Wright is what he is - a knuckleballer. I don't know that we have given him a long enough look at the ml level to really know how good he can be on his "on" days. Haven't seen anything out of Owens yet to indicate that he could be any more at best than a mid rotation type - that is at his best. Johnson has shown signs of actually knowing how to pitch. Actually, to use your wording, I think that Wright has shown enough to make his ceiling appear as high as Owens. All in all, they can spin it any way they want to , the situation still looks a tad iffy.

[Kimmi]

Wright is what they call a high floor option. Very likely to be a good bottom of the rotation guy, vanishingly unlikely to be much more than that. Still, there's value for a guy like that, especially a cheap one.

 

I agree that he's the safe choice if there's a gap in the rotation on opening day.

 

I'm not trying to say that Wright should fill in for Rodriguez because he will be as good as Rodriguez. I see Wright as a very solid #4 or #5 pitcher. He is not going to replace Rodriguez in terms of ability/production.

 

Rodriguez shouldn't (hopefully) miss more than a few starts. For that short a time at the beginning of the season, Wright is the logical choice.

[Kimmi]

it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. Wright is the depth option with the most experience and the highest floor making him the safest choice. The depth option with the most upside and highest ceiling is probaly Owens. So do you want the high floor guy who's less likely to crap the bed or the high ceiling guy who could be terrible but might also break through and be awesome? It's really a question of priorities.

 

If it were a longer term injury, later in the season when you have a better idea of how everyone is performing, I think you give Owens/Johnson/Elias a shot. For a few starts at the beginning of the season, you go with Wright. One reason is that he is more experienced and more polished. But the main reason is that the other guys have options. If one of them is on the Opening Day roster, then someone else is going to be cut.

 

Why cut a player before having a chance to see if he can help out the big league club if you don't have to? IMO, you want to keep as much depth and flexibility on the team as you can.

[User Name]

The highest floor and the highest ceiling? hmm - I think that you could put their names in a hat and give them each a chance. Of the group of candidates, Elias has the big league resume I guess. Wright is what he is - a knuckleballer. I don't know that we have given him a long enough look at the ml level to really know how good he can be on his "on" days. Haven't seen anything out of Owens yet to indicate that he could be any more at best than a mid rotation type - that is at his best. Johnson has shown signs of actually knowing how to pitch. Actually, to use your wording, I think that Wright has shown enough to make his ceiling appear as high as Owens. All in all, they can spin it any way they want to , the situation still looks a tad iffy.

 

This is like 50 shades of wrong. Wright is a finished product, Owens has way more upside, but needs to get his control issues in check. I just don't understand how you can realistically compare the ceiling of the two guys. If anything, Wright has a lower ceiling but way higher floor.

[cp176]

50 shades or wrong - maybe my ceiling is lower than my floor. One question though - What does a knuckleballer who is considered a complete project look like? great games and bad games- i sure don't know. I'm pretty sure that I am not as high on Owens as you are but maybe ultimately you are at least going to know what you might get from him regularly. I just don't think it makes a whole lot difference which one of these guys gets the ball.

[mvp 78]

I heard they would want to have Elias in the rotation over Wright. Also, they think Owens should start in AAA.

[Dojji]

That decision is understandable based on Elias' performance in 2014.

[mvp 78]

@peteabe - Still no bullpen session set for Eduardo Rodruguez. Farrell didn't rule him out for OD roster but acknowledged that was unlikely.

[User Name]

50 shades or wrong - maybe my ceiling is lower than my floor. One question though - What does a knuckleballer who is considered a complete project look like? great games and bad games- i sure don't know. I'm pretty sure that I am not as high on Owens as you are but maybe ultimately you are at least going to know what you might get from him regularly. I just don't think it makes a whole lot difference which one of these guys gets the ball.

 

It does, because if Owens breaks out and puts his tools together the way he would in an ideal setting, he's a high-end #3 guy. Wright is what he is, but what he is is serviceable without needing to put anything together. There is a significant difference between both guys in what they could offer right now, and what they can offer in their best-case scenario.

[Dojji]

that said, there's room to gamble in April, so I wouldn't be too shocked if it was Elias or Owens rather than Wright. Wright's value to the team will start to overcome the siren call of upside probably in early June, when the standings start to really shake out and teams start to figure out exactly how ahead or behind they are. but in the first couple months it can be worth trying some unconventional ideas -- as long as you have a high-floor Plan C to slot in if needed.

[cp176]

It does, because if Owens breaks out and puts his tools together the way he would in an ideal setting, he's a high-end #3 guy. Wright is what he is, but what he is is serviceable without needing to put anything together. There is a significant difference between both guys in what they could offer right now, and what they can offer in their best-case scenario.

 

I think it is a crummy situation but i do sort of agree with you. Owens is young, tall, and left handed and has shown some signs of being able to get it done. If I had to pick between actually keeping one or the other, I would keep Owens. All that being said, much like Dojji said, I would bet on Wright getting the first look. Not saying I agree with that because I still will be that guy beating the Brian Johnson drum - just saying I bet that is what they will do.

[jung]

Owens is a control pitcher who has shown no ability to control it for over two years now?????

[User Name]

Could you please stop making s*** up? He's not a soft-tosser.

[Dojji]

Owens is a control pitcher who has shown no ability to control it for over two years now?????

 

Umm he kinda is, Soxprospect says he sustains at 91 and tops out at 93. not exactly overwhelming. That said command isn't really his biggest problem, he tends to give up a lot of contact and in the big leagues that contact has been pretty hard. A FIP of 4.28 doesn't suggest a great pitcher.

Edited March 13, 2016 by Dojji

[User Name]

You do know AFB is almost a full two MPH lower for lefties than it is for righties right? Owens has above-average fastball velocity for a lefty starter. That said, the rest of your post is also not really correct. Contact is a problem, but command and control are issues also.

[User Name]

Self-correction: The info on AFB is not fully up-to date, but the point stands.

[jung]

Umm he kinda is, Soxprospect says he sustains at 91 and tops out at 93. not exactly overwhelming. That said command isn't really his biggest problem, he tends to give up a lot of contact and in the big leagues that contact has been pretty hard. A FIP of 4.28 doesn't suggest a great pitcher.

 

for a guy like him that is just another version of no control. He is wild both in and out of the strike zone. Gets tagged in the strike zone...produces walks out of the strike zone. I have not been excited about Owens ever and I guess I likely won't be until he is wearing some other uni.

[Dojji]

Owens' peripheral numbers aren't that bad for a rookie, Jung.

 

You really need to smoke a joint or take some laxative or get laid or something. Something is making you really really really excessively grouchy.

[User Name]

Owens' peripheral numbers aren't that bad for a rookie, Jung.

 

You really need to smoke a joint or take some laxative or get laid or something. Something is making you really really really excessively grouchy.

 

Or all of them at the same time.

[Dojji]

Doing all of those at the same time may be one for the diary.

[jung]

OK so here is why I am not excited by Owens or his peripherals or anything else about him. Do you really think he is going EVER be anything but a control/location pitcher. I would say NO. He is not getting stronger. He is not going to get stronger. At best his 92 mph FB might some day turn into 92.5. You can watch him pitch till he and you are blue in the face and he can't hold it together for more than two innings....not three innings....not four innings and certainly not five. He is going to top out as either a AAA pitcher or a 5 on some low rent rotation and thats it. I don't have any patience for that...I don't have any desires for that...no expectations of a guy that will actually help us some day.

 

And if anybody noticed in the cold of October he just folded like a cheap suit. The wind cut through him like it was taking slices off. The opposing pitcher didn't fold like a cheap suit but he did. So pardon me but I don't need a joint. I need more depth to our starting pitching.

[Dojji]

What's wrong with being a control-location pitcher? Legit question here. Some of the best pitchers the league has ever seen have been that kind of pitcher.

 

I mean I'd take your criticisms more seriously if Owens was a finished product, but he really isn't. He's supposed to get better, and I think he can. I mean I think a rookie can have a few bad games as he's still getting his sea legs without histrionics about "folding like a cheap suit."

[jung]

Please when he is gone from here come back to me. They really don't have better options YET down on the farm which is ANOTHER problem. But when they do...he will be gone and that will be that.

 

Maybe this will work.

 

We are losing Eddie for anywhere from 1-3 starts as along as he does not have a set back. and who is going to get that job....WRIGHT....the knuckleballer that nobody likes....the guy that is basically a long term knuckleball project. That should tell you everything there is to know about Owens.

Edited March 13, 2016 by jung

[Spudboy]

Dojji bringing the lulz.

[Spudboy]

I don't understand what a knuckleball project is. I do think that by nature that pitch is harder to replicate pitch to pitch. Never the less, when a knuckleballer is on he is very effective. Like many pitchers.

 

And why no patience with Owens? He is what? 22? If he was 25-27 I would say his arc would not be promising.

 

He is young and eager. I see no reason why he can not be more than a #5 on a low rent staff. That is ridiculous.

[User Name]

jung is ridiculous.

[a700hitter]

Play nice.

[User Name]

True, I apologize. Then again, come on.....

[jung]

Owens is still here because we have nobody else down there other than Johnson who may not be really back from injury yet. Owens has already been on a glide path into solid ground when he simply did not make the progress that was expected of him. Since that time not only has he NOT made more progress. He has regressed. But since we don't have any viable replacement yet he gets to stay. But he will only be a space filler for as long as there is nobody else to fill the space. Just to cover the base Owens is 23, turns 24 in early July this year.

 

As for Wright..what is a long term Knuckleball project...a guy that can't quite throw it consistently enough so that there are not instances when they cannot even get a guy up in the pen fast enough before the game has been lost. Knuckleballers are inconsistent. We know that. They have got to at least be able to hold it together enough in their bad outings so that you don't lose the game just trying to get a guy up to come in. Nobody wants to lose a game between deciding it is time to get somebody up and getting said replacement in the game.

 

I suspect Wright has it in him. But he probably has this year to prove it or he might be gone as well. At some point you need to come to terms with the issue of simply not having good options for these guys and we don't. In some cases that is why they are still here. Thank God for Eddie who we got for Miller. Where the heck would we be WITHOUT EDDIE?

[Northern Star]

I think having Erod start the season on the DL or in AAA is a great way to manage his tipping pitches.

 

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