Who should the Royals bring up to put in the pen?
by kcscoliny on Apr 14, 2010 9:40 AM EDT
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After one week of the season the pen has been a disaster costing the Royals 4 games. There just hasn't been an answer in the pen, what should they do? The offense hasn't been terrible, the starters have been good they probably can't challenge the Twins but a better bullpen could possibly have them compete with Cleveland,Detroit and Chicago. While most fanbases wouldn't rejoice in a 2nd place finish I think we all would.
Now is the time GMDM and Trey have to make the move. Who do they bring up and why?
Aaron Crow- It's only been 2 starts in the minors but Aaron's stuff is probably good enough to handle the pen for the year.
10.2 IP 10 H 1 HR 3 r 2 er 7-4 So/bb
Carlos Rosa- Fastball/slider throwing righty who struggled in the pen to start the season last season. Similar stuff to Tejeda and Cruz as well as possibly having the same strike throwing problem.
4IP 3 H 0 R 3-2 So/BB
Bryan Bullington- Pirates former 1st round pick Bullington performed well out of the pen last season with the Las Vegas AAA team (Toronto). Fastball/slider with a 3/4 arm delivery could be difficult to handle for righties but a possible liability vs lefties.
7 IP 5 H 2 r 1 er 7-0 So/BB
Blake Wood- Wood is spottin 95 currently and has a solid curveball. First season in the pen after being a starter in the minors.
4 IP 6 H 3 er 3 So/0 BB
Bruce Chen, Phil Humber, Victor Marte, Josh Rupe, Anthony Lerew, John Thompson
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Carlos Rosa
And get rid of Colon and Mendoza. Addition by addition, and addition by subtraction.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 14, 2010 10:21 AM EDT reply actions
Yes
And make Soria a “fireman” rather than a closer. If this means he pitches the seventh and eighth, and someone else pitches the ninth, so be it.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
by RoyalsRetro on Apr 14, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
yes, yes, yes yes yes. yes, yesyes.
Jason Anderson was really harping on this very point last night.
Leverage situation.
It makes the most since.
[name of live body here]
I’d say Rosa as my first pick, but ideally I’d have us trim more fat that that.
Definitely not Crow though. There’s no sense in rushing him or any true prospect for that matter. We have better “parts” lying around the farm than what’s in KC.
I did a FanShot on this
But Omaha has already shifted Bullington to the pen after the good start last week. My hope is that to get him a few appearances to get his approach ready for a bullpen role in KC.
It's all ball bearings these days!
by CentralChamps20?? on Apr 14, 2010 10:40 AM EDT reply actions
He pitched out of the pen last season for AAA Las Vegas
shouldn’t have much to do to adjust
Checkout Royals minor league notes at www.14for77.blogspot.com
Bryan Bullington
I remember watching that guy pitch at Ball State years ago…I remember he was drafted by the Pirates 1 overall, I like to see his get a shot…he’s gotta be better than Mendoza, but honestly Mark Prior would probably be a better option than Mendoza.
Don't Fuccop Succop
by chicks_love_chiefs on Apr 14, 2010 10:48 AM EDT reply actions
How 'bout Ricky Botalico?
Is back from being a KSU fan for a week. Now, onto SPRING FOOTBALL and OPENING DAY!!!
Rosa
The Royals stupidly burnt his last option thus decresing his value and ensuring that to get value for that move, the Royals can’t bring him up for over half the season so that his service clock is set back a year. It was a really stupid decision, and will continue to be a stupid decision.
Go Royals!
Rosa fasho
Not sure if Wood might need more time
Bullington if they have to have a lefty
Not sure what’s up with Disco Hayes at this point, but he probably isn’t any worse than Parrish will end up being, and it’s not like he’s going to get any better.
I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at FanGraphs.
Can't get enough of me? Check out my Twitter feed.
Don't mess with Crow
Otherwise, take your pick.
The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them. -- Albert Einstein
by The Ol' Perfesser on Apr 14, 2010 12:27 PM EDT reply actions
Rosa, Bullington, Lerew
Leave Crow a starter.
Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!
Rosa and Brad Thompson
Really don’t get why Thompson didn’t make this team. He has a decent track record in the big leagues, at least better than the likes of Mendoza or Colon.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
Thompson seems more like an in-case-of-emergency guy
He gets grounders, but lefties pound him, he does not miss bats, and his good but not great walk rate might not be enough to overcome the other shortcomings.
I'm not saying he's a great reliever
But we have two problems with our current pen – they can’t miss bats, and they can’t throw strikes.
Thompson at least solves one of those problems – he can throw strikes. His 2.73 BB/9 in 385 MLB innings is pretty good. He’s pretty good at inducing ground balls and his MLB FIP the last two years – 4.17 and 4.67.
At the very worst I think he can provide you a long reliever and save some of the other, better arms for short relief work.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
I guess I cannot argue
with the idea that the current Royals bullpen qualifies as an emergency.
For an NL reliever, though, his FIP is not very good. Average NL FIP for a reliever was 4.00 in 2009 and 4.09 in 2008. He even had some luck with his HR/FB rate in 2008, so his xFIP that year was 4.47 (4.70 in 2009). In the AL, his already low K rate should drop further and his BB rate should rise a little, so he just does not look like someone who can help much.
He could eat some innings as a long reliever, but he is not really going to fix anything.
Rosa and Bullington
First candidates should be Rosa and Bullington. Rosa is going to have times when he loses his control or gives up the long ball, but he has a well-rounded profile for a reliever — good K rate, manageable BB and HR rates, good GB rate, and little platoon split. He has the skill set to be eventually the guy who takes on the heart of the other team’s order (lefties and righties) in the high leverage situations in the 7th and 8th innings.
As kcscoliny noted, Bullington should be effective against right-handed hitters, but could be combustible against lefties unless his change or curve has improved.
I like the move of Woods to the pen, and relievers tend to not need a lot of time in the high minors, but considering his problems last year, giving him a few months in Omaha is probably the right move.
Crow should be a starter and apparently needs to polish his secondary stuff, so I would leave him alone for now.
move Davies out of the rotation and into the bullpen
put Tejeda as 5th starter, or some other AAA pitcher. Pink slip Colon and Mendoza. I imagine they would make it thru waivers anyway.
"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell
The problem with moving Davies to the pen
is that there really is not a decent candidate to take his rotation spot. Tejeda’s control problems would only be worse as a starter, and the best of the offseason depth signings, Jorge Campillo, is still coming back from an injury.
It is too bad the Royals GM didn’t know he was allowed to make offseason moves.
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