I know it's still spring and I don't want to read too much into it since guys experiment with stuff... but Buerhle is really the only starter who's looked good in Arizona. Garcia and El Duque have been mediocre at best, and Contreras and Garland have been pretty shaky. Considering our home park's reputation as a launching pad, I'm a little nervous about this staff right now.

 

Someone please reassure me...

Garland was 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in ST last season. How'd that work out?

Danny Wright was 3-0 with a 4.12 ERA....

 

 

Seriously, it's not even worth discussing.

Well Buehrle has had some s***ty ST's before because of the thin air and bounced back (maybe someone can look up his Spring ERA in the season he won 19 games) Shingo had a god awful ST last year.

 

A lot of Spring numbers can be decieving. I mean Ozuna is not going to hit .500 this season..

Yes, I am worried.. for the following reasons..

 

Contreas.. Is he going to be the pitcher of hype? When are the Sox finally going to sit him down like a 5 year old and say.. You are not allowed to shake anything off, until you can prove you can call your own game..

 

Hernandez.. A Fly Ball pitcher, pitching in the Cell is not a good Combo also the fact that he has not pitched more than 20 starts, scares me as does his age.

 

Garland.. We all know what to expect.. He is a great Number 5, but would love as most would, to see him do more.. He has the "stuff" still can't mangae to put it together.

 

Garcia.. Which pitcher do we get.. First 1/2 form lof last year or 2nd half?

 

Marky B.. The only concern on him is, his foot. If he plants the wrong way is he going to have it worse than before?

Yes, I am worried.. for the following reasons..

 

Contreas.. Is he going to be the pitcher of hype? When are the Sox finally going to sit him down like a 5 year old and say.. You are not allowed to shake anything off, until you can prove you can call your own game..

 

Hernandez.. A Fly Ball pitcher, pitching in the Cell is not a good Combo also the fact that he has not pitched more than 20 starts, scares me as does his age.

 

Garland.. We all know what to expect.. He is a great Number 5, but would love as most would, to see him do more.. He has the "stuff" still can't mangae to put it together.

 

Garcia.. Which pitcher do we get.. First 1/2 form lof last year or 2nd half?

 

Marky B.. The only concern on him is, his foot. If he plants the wrong way is he going to have it worse than before?

Check Garcia's second half road era. He had a good all around year. The Cell didn't help his numbers.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Mar 31, 2005 -> 05:07 PM)

Garcia.. Which pitcher do we get.. First 1/2 form lof last year or 2nd half?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Garcia pitched very well with the Sox last season.

 

Like any pitcher at the Cell last season, his numbers became inflated.

I posted them yesterday

Road Stats with the Sox:

3.25 ERA

1.04 WHIP

.585 OPS against

10.15 K/9

Marky B.. The only concern on him is, his foot. If he plants the wrong way is he going to have it worse than before?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Buehrle said he's 100% healthy and has no pain whatsoever on ESPN 1000 yesterday. I don't know if his foot is now prone to further injury but I doubt it.

 

 

Garcia pitched very well with the Sox last season.

 

Like any pitcher at the Cell last season, his numbers became inflated.

I posted them yesterday

Road Stats with the Sox:

3.25 ERA

1.04 WHIP

.585 OPS against

10.15 K/9

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow. I didn't realize Garcia was that good away from the Cell last season.

Edited March 31, 200521 yr by Jabroni

Yes, I am worried.. for the following reasons..

 

Contreas.. Is he going to be the pitcher of hype? When are the Sox finally going to sit him down like a 5 year old and say.. You are not allowed to shake anything off, until you can prove you can call your own game..

 

Hernandez.. A Fly Ball pitcher, pitching in the Cell is not a good Combo also the fact that he has not pitched more than 20 starts, scares me as does his age.

 

Garland.. We all know what to expect.. He is a great Number 5, but would love as most would, to see him do more.. He has the "stuff" still can't mangae to put it together.

 

Garcia.. Which pitcher do we get.. First 1/2 form lof last year or 2nd half?

 

Marky B.. The only concern on him is, his foot. If he plants the wrong way is he going to have it worse than before?

 

Contreras will be the most inconsistent starter in the majors. If he is good, as in a 3.50 ERA or so good, I will be shocked. If his ERA is 4.50, I will be happy. I expect him to be around 5.00.

 

Duque has not pitched more then 20 starts??? I don't know where you are getting that from. Maybe you are thinking of how he has only made 30 starts in his career one time, in 99, when he won 17 games. He last made 20 starts in his last season when he was actually with a team in April - 2002. In 03, with the Expos, he was injured all year, and last year he was signed in about June by the Yankees and was rested down the stretch, due to both the Yankees having essentially clinched the division, and wanting him to be healthy for the playoffs.

 

There is no downside to Garland. He will put up 12 wins and a 4.50 ERA, give or take about .25.

 

Garcia will likely be fine. The only concern with him is his health...that forearm is quite scary, and is not something to be messed around with.

 

Buehrle is fine.

Im a little worried about Contreras and the Duke but I feel a little better having a stud like BMac waiting in the wings if one of those two or Garland falls.

We have question marks on staff, no doubt about it. I like our odds of having the majority of those questions answered positively as compared with previous years. I also like the odds as compared to other teams in the league. The bullpen's depth should make the starting rotation that much stronger, and having BMac waiting in wings could prove to be HUGE before this year is out.

We have question marks on staff, no doubt about it.  I like our odds of having the majority of those questions answered positively as compared with previous years.  I also like the odds as compared to other teams in the league.  The bullpen's depth should make the starting rotation that much stronger, and having BMac waiting in wings could prove to be HUGE before this year is out.

 

I am most concerned about the 3&4 holes. I will be shocked if Garland doesn't have the second or third highest win total on the team.

 

Leaving spring training I am believing most of the predictions for this team. Th are competive with anyone in the central, but not clearly better than Minny or Cleveland. Depending on how JR's 2005 House of Cards stack, the division can be won. But this staff isn't as great as I believed a month ago.

 

The pen is actually better than I thought.

 

Welcome to another in a long series of holding the breath and praying seasons.

 

I am planning on spending more time this season paying attention to the Cubbies pitching. After years of bucking it, there are so many games on my cable that I avoided, now I guess I'll be watching. It will be fun to compare. Better to watch the Cubs than a Diamondbacks - Dodgers game

We'll know after the first month. spring training isn't a true indicator of how well or poorly a player will do during the reg. season

 

It's possible though, that one of the three---contreras, el duque or Jon-- may struggle as the season goes into May and nears June. Yet with BMac likely to be able to step in and give the sox 6 IP and 3 runs nearly every start, the worries are minimal. Many other teams don't even have 5 strong starters, let alone a 6th guy who could step in.

 

Even teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Twins would be hurting if they had to go to their 6th SP. The sox are in better shape rotation and bullpen wise than they have been in years

 

Garcia pitched very well with the Sox last season.

 

Like any pitcher at the Cell last season, his numbers became inflated.

I posted them yesterday

Road Stats with the Sox:

3.25 ERA

1.04 WHIP

.585 OPS against

10.15 K/9

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Still Will pitch about 1/2 his starts at the Cell..

Still Will pitch about 1/2 his starts at the Cell..

As will our other 4 starters.

As will our other 4 starters.

 

So will our opponent's pitchers

I think we should kidnap Leo Mazzone.

I think we should kidnap Leo Mazzone.

 

Someone should at least have some good blackmail material on him so he can "volunteer" his advice

Spring training ERAs are notoriously unreliable. Nevertheless Texsox is right. There are so many question marks on this team. Just let me finish by saying that I have little faith in Contreras.

BBTN on Thursday called the Sox pitching staff Jekyll and Hyde quality. You never know what you will get from game to game. I am actually more concerned about the bullpen and I see my friend YASNY thinks that is our strength. I hope so too, but it seems Takatsu, Marte and Politte get nicked every time out. What's up with that?

BBTN on Thursday called the Sox pitching staff Jekyll and Hyde quality. You never know what you will get from game to game. I am actually more concerned about the bullpen and I see my friend YASNY thinks that is our strength. I hope so too, but it seems Takatsu, Marte and Politte get nicked every time out. What's up with that?

 

Shingo's WHIP was under 1.00 last year.

Marte had the worst year he's ever had with us last year.

Politte is our 5th reliever, if that.

 

We also have Hermanson, who will be a solid arm out of the pen(I'm hoping for Antonio Osuna without the constant drama), along with Vizcaino who has some pretty sick stuff, along with Walker/Cotts. We also will have the other of Walker and Cotts in the minors, along with Adkins, Baj, Diaz, and possibly others I'm not even thinking about now.

This is off topic. But did anybody see Harold Reynolds say the Cubs had the "best bullpen" in the nl central last night? I almost choked on my gum when he said that.

This is off topic.  But did anybody see Harold Reynolds say the Cubs had the "best bullpen" in the nl central last night?  I almost choked on my gum when he said that.

LOL, I saw that too. Anyways, I don't agree with the jeckyll and hyde label for the whole staff, for Contreras--definitely but I think he's the only pitcher that works for.

This is off topic.  But did anybody see Harold Reynolds say the Cubs had the "best bullpen" in the nl central last night?  I almost choked on my gum when he said that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Cubs' bullpen = :puke

Edited April 2, 200521 yr by Jabroni

Shingo's WHIP was under 1.00 last year.

Marte had the worst year he's ever had with us last year.

Politte is our 5th reliever, if that.

 

We also have Hermanson, who will be a solid arm out of the pen(I'm hoping for Antonio Osuna without the constant drama), along with Vizcaino who has some pretty sick stuff, along with Walker/Cotts.  We also will have the other of Walker and Cotts in the minors, along with Adkins, Baj, Diaz, and possibly others I'm not even thinking about now.

 

I like the way Baj pitches. If he pitches well again at AAA, as he did last year, Politte is gonna have some real tough competition as far as that righty pitcher, 5th-6th-7th innings. Same with Adkins.

#1 - Buehrle is a given for me right now. 18 wins, 3.50 or less ERA, 150-170 Ks.

 

#2 - Looking at him since the trade, Garcia still seems shaky. Pretty average really.

 

#3 - El Duque is a mystery to me, I haven't seen him pitch this ST.

 

#4 - Contreras really worries me. I would almost be tempted to move him into the number-five spot.

 

#5 - I'm feeling more confident with Garland than I was last year, I think he could handle the #4 job.