fathom

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:22 PM) You should start all your posts like that, definitely made me laugh. I've noticed some noobies on the board recently, so I just wanted to make sure they knew who they were dealing with.

Hermanson hurt? Dustin.....the DL is calling your name.

In my pessimistic opinion, we're going to have to acquire another big league arm for our bullpen before the season starts. Our starting pitching is too talented/expensive to waste because of a couple of glaring holes in the pen.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:17 PM) I really don't even see him doing anything this year. He'll probably have to start out the year on the DL simply because he'll go down with back problems near the end of spring training. IMO, Sean Tracey is a better option out of the pen than Dustin Hermanson. I'll take option C at this point.

Hermanson's last fastball = 83 mph

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:14 PM) Hermanson = Toast Would it be so bad if he started the season on the DL in order to gain strength? It also looks like he's changed his arm angle on his pitches.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 09:12 PM) Hermanson is giving up shots. Anderson misplays a ball in the gap and it turns into a triple. BTW, Hawk said he's still concerned about our bullpen. Hermanson looks TERRIBLE! At this point, he's not ready to face MLB hitters.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 08:50 PM) Weaver is pretty good. I think his older brother's stuff is much better though. I remember the younger Weaver having more electric stuff in college.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 12, 2006 -> 01:22 AM) He was. Take that to the bank. Yep, and you were one of the sources I was referring to.

Mackowiak's the most dangerous hitter we have ont he bench, but he's incredibly streaky.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 10:26 PM) It could be a blessing in disguise. If we made the playoffs--with the slim chance it was--we would have been bounced in the first round. Now, we will suck the rest of the year, get the lottery picks and become much better next year. I made the same argument, but was shot down by the boss on here .

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 10:05 PM) I still think Koch was juicing. I've heard rumors of this from more than one source.

We've had two straight seasons where our closer (Shingo/Hermanson) pitched out of their minds. Both of them were amazing during their closer stretch during their particular season, and I think we took them for granted. I'm confident Jenks will do well, and I don't anticipate Koch Jr.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:50 PM) That's actually who I was thinking of when I mention Kaz Matsui. I think the Boss remembers him.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:45 PM) See also Suzuki, Ichiro; Matsui, Hideki; Iguchi, Tadahito There's a huge difference between Japanese pitchers and Japanese hitters. Japanese hitters frequently use "junk" or gimmick pitches to get hitters out. It's a lot easier to adjust to that than a guy throwing 98 mph.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:41 PM) But being a stud for many years in Japan certainly is. Much like Dick Allen, I was posting on this board before last season that we should be very concerned with Shingo. Japanese pitchers are notorious for losing their stuff in a flash due to the extreme amount of pitches they throw at an early age. Shingo was no spring chicken, and it was very possible he was going to flame out like he did.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:31 PM) Sure, and spending extra money in March for a player that may or may not be needed may financially-inhibit KW from pulling off a big trade in July. Ummmm...we just traded for Cintron and his 1.6 million dollar contract.

How's this for another concern....I don't know how well McCarthy's change-up will be if he comes in for one inning every couple of days. He keeps saying it's a feel pitch, and it's hard to get in a rhythm if you're facing only a few batters at a time.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:26 PM) Kenny did recently say that he was gonna wait until spring training to see where Dustin is at and evaluate from there. I took that as him probably going out and makin a move if he doesn't feel Hermy is at or close to 100%. And that's all we're saying in this thread. We think that it's very likely that KW will have to add bullpen help.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:14 PM) How about the "eternal pessimists" who are complaining about how bad the 'pen might be? Given that this team already has six starting pitching options that range from "pretty good" to "great", I don't think that adding another middle reliever is something that has to be done right away. Never thought I'd see Tony and Felix be characterized as eternal pessimists.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:09 PM) If Hermanson is healthy, I have faith in him. He doesnt have the best stuff, but I beleive he knows how to get the job done. However, health is the key word, and like yourself, I dont beleive Dustin will ever get to 100% this season, let alone 80%..... I don't know how confident he is in his own stuff right now. Even if he was healthy, I don't think he would have kept his ERA in the low 3s. No one appreciates what Hermanson did last year more than me. I think he was the MVP of our team for the first 100 games of the season. However, he seemed to be able to do no wrong. He got away with a lot of meatballs right down the plate, and the opposition seemed to have warning track power against him.

I'm going to duck after I say this, but I was hoping that KW would look into trading Contreras for a package including Brad Lidge this offseason.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 09:03 PM) ^^^^x100. Im almost getting sick of myself because it seems like thats all I post anymore. We need at least 1 more veteran in pen. I threw out the name Ray King, but there 20+ other guys that fit the bill, and will be available by June. I know it sounds greedy when we keep saying that we're going to need another bullpen guy, but it's the truth. It's the one spot on our team that looks like it could be a big downgrade from last season. I have absolutely no confidence in Hermanson. Between his back problems and his lack of velocity/splitter, I think he's going to be serving up homers left and right this season (if he's not on the DL).

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 08:09 PM) You have to go with those that had GOOD years last year and hope that they can hang on. And that's why many baseball experts believe you should never pay top money for a bullpen guy. The position is just so inconsistent year from year. I agree with some of the other posters that potentially our main weakness is the bullpen.

QUOTE(maggsmaggs @ Mar 11, 2006 -> 07:14 PM) This is a huge blow to Bulls playoff run. He is a 10 points per game player and we got no one to relace his scoring. I guess more Noc and Luol in at the same--which I like, but it looks like our playoff aspirations have taken a huge hit. Does this mean big Luke will get signed for the rest of the season?