5/19 Games

[GGajewski18]

http://www.milb.com/scoreboard/index.jsp?s...mp;ymd=20150519

 

Charlotte- Penny

Birmingham- Montas

Winston Salem- Wheeler

Kannapolis- TBA

[Feeky Magee]

Penny's ERA is over 6, striking out less than 5 per 9. #StartSurkamp

[Ozzie Ball]

Andre Wheeler done:

 

3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 SO.

[southsider2k5]

Penny's ERA is over 6, striking out less than 5 per 9. #StartSurkamp

 

I think you got what I call Bajenaru syndrome. Surkamp is a 4A guy as a starter. His only hope of the majors is as a reliever, ala Zach Putnam. If batters saw him three times a game, they would kill him at the major league level.

[Feeky Magee]

I think you got what I call Bajenaru syndrome. Surkamp is a 4A guy as a starter. His only hope of the majors is as a reliever, ala Zach Putnam. If batters saw him three times a game, they would kill him at the major league level.

Perhaps. But I'd much rather develop him as an outside shot of being a 5th starter than a chance of being a mop-up guy. He's got 5 different pitches, a strong history of killing AAA as a starter and only 7 MLB starts, all of which occurred before he started dominating AAA. For all the talk of 4A players in baseball, there's a number of players that have been dismissed as 4A players but gone on to be productive players, and many more who I believe were given up on too early.

[Jake]

I like Surkamp and don't think he's hopeless as a starter, but it makes more sense to give him pen innings if the Sox have no interest in giving him an opportunity in the rotation. Last year he was clearly uncomfortable with the short warmup, etc. so preparing him for his likely use case makes sense

[Dizzy Sox]

I think you got what I call Bajenaru syndrome. Surkamp is a 4A guy as a starter. His only hope of the majors is as a reliever, ala Zach Putnam. If batters saw him three times a game, they would kill him at the major league level.

 

Back in the old days we called this the Scott Ruffcorn Disease.

[NorthSideSox72]

Recap posted.

 

[Feeky Magee]

Back in the old days we called this the Scott Ruffcorn Disease.

Or, Nelson Cruz disease. Oh wait.

[southsider2k5]

I like Surkamp and don't think he's hopeless as a starter, but it makes more sense to give him pen innings if the Sox have no interest in giving him an opportunity in the rotation. Last year he was clearly uncomfortable with the short warmup, etc. so preparing him for his likely use case makes sense

 

The other truth is that the White Sox see a lot of other guys ahead of him on the depth chart, with more guys coming. We are WAY thinner for lefties in the pen, versus SP as an organization. Surkamps best chance at helping this team, and sticking in the majors, is in the bullpen.

[Feeky Magee]

We are WAY thinner for lefties in the pen, versus SP as an organization.

Are we? In the pen we have Duke and Jennings, and at AAA we have Zach Phillips who to me is a better candidate for lefty relief work than Surkamp. We have a pretty obvious weakness at the back of our rotation, plus a need for some spot starts with the Rodon plan. And an okay 5th starter is so much more valuable than an okay lefty reliever that I think it's worth pursuing.

[Buehrle>Wood]

It seemed like Surkamp was going to break with the team in the pen before we aquired Jennings. I think he'll be a loogy soon enough, and above Phillips if the situation calls for it.

 

For starters, we have 4 lefties right now. If we're looking for a 5th, I have to imagine Carroll is above everyone with Noesi not too far behind. And if we go to the minors, it'd be Drabek and Beck ahead of him. He'd probably be fighting Guerra and Johnson for the 10th starter spot. On second thought, Guerra might be ahead of them all but he's such a weird case.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Buehrle>Wood

[Buehrle>Wood]

Guerrero *

[southsider2k5]

Are we? In the pen we have Duke and Jennings, and at AAA we have Zach Phillips who to me is a better candidate for lefty relief work than Surkamp. We have a pretty obvious weakness at the back of our rotation, plus a need for some spot starts with the Rodon plan. And an okay 5th starter is so much more valuable than an okay lefty reliever that I think it's worth pursuing.

 

The difference being Surkamp actually put up not horrible numbers out of the pen last year in the major league level, and seemed to get better as his time here moved along. He definitely was used more by the Sox out of the pen. Phillips is a journeyman reliever who hasn't done anything at the major league level. At this stage of the season, Surkamps minor league numbers are pretty much the same as Phillips, or better in many cases. I would imagine unless Phillips gets better and Surkamp gets worse as the season goes on, Surkamp is ahead right now on the depth chart.

 

As to spot starting, the Sox have both Noesi and Carroll on the 25 man roster right now who would probably get first crack at it. After that, guys like Beck, Drabek, and Johnson are guys who I would imagine are ahead of Surkamp, even if he was starting.