CWSGuy406

Yeah, Walker was actually decent for '01-'02. Since 2002, he's pitched a little over 16 innings, with ERA+'s of 68, 73, and 27. Ah, the joy of the sample size. And 87 innings still isn't a whole lot of innings to judge a guy off of. I guess the difference is Cotts is still a few years younger than Walker, and struck guys out at an unbelievable rate in the minors. Walker, on the other hand, didn't do anything spectacular -- better walk rate than Neal, but nothing special, with a worse K rate. And he had a 4.10 ERA in his minor league career. Cotts is better than Walker at this moment.

QUOTE(aboz56 @ May 9, 2005 -> 02:47 AM) As much as I don't like Wells, Buehrle has given him a lot of props for teaching him a few things during his one year stint with us. I am not surprised at all by this comment. I'd have to think -- just by observation, not that Buehrle or Wells said this -- but, the two have similar curveballs. Slow, pitches with big breaks. Not sharp, but just big and loopy.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 02:44 AM) After 31 games into the season, it's quite obvious that Ozzie likes to play the matchups and doesn't mind throwing in a reliever to face just one batter. I think Walker will see some action for us. This will save Marte from having to pitch to only one or two lefties, if Walker is any good that is. That's all fine and dandy, but Walker isn't that good. If Ozzie is using Walker in a situational spot, that probably means it's a close game. And that's the problem. Walker shouldn't be in if it's a close game.

QUOTE(3E8 @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:39 AM) Can someone give me a link to these splits so I can see how much better Baj has been against lefties? I wish I could find 'em, but offhand, I don't think Baseballcube has them.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:38 AM) Why bother complaining about this anyways? We don't have a voice in the matter so why whine about it? They obviously want another lefty in the bullpen. But I guess if the Sox were being run by you guys, they would obviously have a better record than 24-7. 'Cause it's a message board. That's what it's here for, talk about the team and their moves... Sheesh, it's what it's here for. :rolly No, but it'd be nice if we were a little more efficient (with the bling-bling, of course ). It's a stupid move, and nothing you've said has changed my mind, and by your post, it seems like you're not gonna argue it anymore either.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:34 AM) Which pitcher has been better against lefties this year? It's funny, WH1. I love how this double-edged sword is working. Walker has a 5.50+ ERA at Charlotte? Well, it's only 11 IP. Baj put up a huge ERA in 8 IP with the Sox last year? Oh, he sucks.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:32 AM) Getting strikeouts and not walking guys would be a good way to avoid those things. 189 IP -- 3.61 BB/9, 10.96 K/9. 8 IP -- 6 BB/8.1, 8.64 K/9. Which line am I going to look at? Easy.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:27 AM) 6 walks, 15 hits, and 10 earned runs in 8.1 innings pitched must just be bad luck, right? :headshake That's the thing. Judging a player on 8 IP is really pathetic. Pretty funny, actually.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:21 AM) Yah but Kevin Walker has never posted here! I could care less if Baj posts here or not. That's a non-issue. And yes, I'm looking at minor league numbers. What else am I supposed to look at? Am I supposed to believe that Baj, who's put up a sub-2 ERA for a good portion of the time at a small ballpark at Charlotte, is dumb luck, and he's going to forget everything and just fall apart with the Sox? Are minor league stats the end-all, be-all? No, certainly not. But I want to see more than 8 IP in the majors before I make a good judgement on him...

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:13 AM) We shall see. Afterall, he's only pitched 9 innings. I think it's far too early to look at his trends through 9 innings pitched. I look at Cotts' full season last year for his strikeout-to-walks trend. Neal is always going to walk guys. Afterall, in the minors, he walked about five guys per nine. But he's always been able to fool hitters and strikeout hitters. Over 11 per nine. Which is (somewhat) able to negate his erratic control. Walks or no walks, he's better than anything we have at Charlotte.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:07 AM) And that's the deciding stat is it. My god, he's young and only going to get better. Of course Joe Crede's career batting average is pretty damn bad too I take it, so that automatically means he sucks. The only reason I'm mad about this is because it's a waste of money. And that's now 1.4-2.4 million that they've wasted -- IMO, of course, which is debatable. And, when you have Jeff Baj, who's done just about everything he can do down at Charlotte, waiting in the wings, it's really a questionable move. Well, Ozzie wanted a lefty -- a LOOGY? Fine, Arnie Munoz can do the job better than Walker. He's done a better job this year. I don't see the point of calling Walker up.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:05 AM) Cotts career ERA of 5.75 sure bears that out too. The fact is that he walks too many batters. I think most Sox fans would admit to this. Yes, he does. But he's still better than anyone else we have. Yes? You can't tell me that Walker is better.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:02 AM) What bait is there to take? The guy issues too many walks and they are usually in the leadoff variety. Am I wrong? Still doing a helluva lot better than the guy you wanted up with the Sox... in Walker, of course.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 9, 2005 -> 01:00 AM) Also, Neal "Leadoff Walk" Cotts of 9 K's and 7 BB's in 9.0 IP on the season. Well, the walks aren't too pretty, but it's better than a 5.50+ ERA at Charlotte.

QUOTE(JDsDirtySox @ May 8, 2005 -> 11:19 PM) You guys aren't seeing the whole field here. At this point... Walker is really the only move that makes sense. This doesn't mean he is better than Baj, this is just a move to fill a hole. Baj will get more use out of pitching every couple of days in AAA, rather than being the 5th righty out of the pen for the Sox. Walker will only pitch to one or two batters per game when he does pitch. Jaimie Burke is rotting away on the bench and will be better served back in AAA. Plus: With Walker coming up for a brief stint... It could put pressure on Neal Cotts to step it up. Lets hope so. Neal Cotts of the 3.something-something ERA? That Neal Cotts? I'm mad 'cause it's a waste of money. There's no point in bringing up Walker over Baj, when Walker can't even gets lefties out.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:57 PM) When would Bajenaru ever have a chance to pitch in a bullpen with Hermanson, Politte, Shingo, and Vizcaino? He would pitch even less than Cotts. Walker shouldn't be on a team that is the best in baseball. Period. And yes, I'm more confident in Baj getting guys out than Walker. Hands down, easy. I'm out, gonna go eat some Mother's Day fish.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:51 PM) You haven't even seen him throw a f***ing pitch in the bigs. Are you JR's accountant or something? How confident are you with our current LHP in the bullpen? Perfectly confident. Walker sucks. What, I assume he'll come up and dominate due to... what, exactly? No, I haven't seen him throw a pitch. But you know what, not many guys with a 4.10 career MINOR LEAGUE ERA are good. Not many at all... EDIT: They're few and far between. I wouldn't be looking at the stats if Walker was dominating Charlotte, but he was getting killed DOWN THERE. What makes you think he'll do anything different up here?

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:46 PM) Cotts is NOT a lefty specialist. Take a look at his career splits. Lefties hit .268 against him while righties hit .232 against him. .....so? Walker still sucks.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:43 PM) If Walker can't get out AAA hitters what makes you think he can get out major league hitters? Do you want a AAA left with an ERA of 6.00 or a AAA righty with an ERA of 0.71? It has to be options. That's the only acceptable reason... And, he's only been called up once, so it can't be that, can it? Gosh, what a waste of 400K... Dumb dumb dumb move. Dumb.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:39 PM) Bajenaru wasn't exactly stellar last season. We do need another lefty in a bullpen, not a righty. I just hope Walker pitches like he did in the beginning of Spring Training and not how he did toward the end of ST and at Charlotte. Why do we need another lefty? Cotts? Marte? Vizcaino (yes, he's not lefty, but I thought Kenny/Ozzie were confident in his ability to get out lefties)? So what he didn't do good in the show last year. Eight f***ing innings... you wanna judge a guy off of eight f'n innings... What more does Baj have to do at Charlotte? He's dominated. It's time to get him up here, and see what he can do. There's absolutely no point in leaving him there... See if he's got what it takes to pitch at this level.

And I echo Tony's sentiments. Some of you are b****ing that guys like Marte and Shingo and Cotts are giving you heart-aches? Walker couldn't even get AAA hitters out, and we reward him with a half a million bucks. Sheesh.

QUOTE(Jabroni @ May 8, 2005 -> 10:27 PM) Well, the good thing is that it shows Kenny and Reinsdorf are willing to spend money on this team. Walker gets $425,000 to come to the big league roster. http://rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/p...guenum=&id=6453 Yep, good thing that we're spending pointless money on a guy that shouldn't be called up. Way to spend that money, Kenny! (And I'm not bashing you, either) It's a stupid move. Baj should've gone before him, if not Baj, then what about Josh Fields? Walker sucks.

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ May 8, 2005 -> 08:24 PM) Damaso makes me more nervous than anyone else in our pen. Yet he's our second best reliever... No, but he's still been awesome. I imagine it was probably pretty tough for Marte to get back into the game after that Zaun play. He got the job done, though -- certainly, could have done better by not giving us all a heart attack, but other than today, he's done everything he's been asked to do. And done a very good job of it, too.

How many pitches did Zambrano throw?!?!?!?!?!

And quietly, Damaso Marte has been our second best reliever out of the bullpen this year (or, perhaps tied with Politte). I believe our top two relievers have emerged...