How good do you think Matt Thornton will be at seasons end? Bobby Jenks is always the sexy topic title and i felt it deserving that Matt, who has been great with the sox and is only getting better deserved a new topic.

 

As it stands now since were past the half way point the season Matt is briming with confidence and has been great.

 

here are his stats thus far

 

W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB SO

2006 3 1 3.54 29 0 0 0 0 1 28.0 20 11 11 4 11 29

Career 4 7 4.51 103 1 0 0 0 2 117.2 104 59 59 19 78 116

 

 

'06 WHIP 1.11

Carrer WHIP 1.55

Edited July 6, 200619 yr by beautox

Matt Thornton might have been Kenny's shrewdest move over the preseason. This guy has been an absolute anchor out in the pen, no matter where Ozzie has used him. He has been a savior to a pen that has needed a hero for long stretches of this year.

One of Coop's best effort. Thorton's delivery and mechanics were just tweaked, but it has made him almost unhittable, in fact his BAA is better than Big Bobby's. Last night he only needed one pitch!!!

When KW made this trade, I said that Thornton would be a huge contributor to the bullpen by the season's end.

 

Hey, I'm only right once in a while, so I have to point it out whenever I can

I think the cheat will be eating some crow at seasons end, but thats alright I still luvvvv his analysis of the sox.

 

And this truly has to be one of Kennys shrewdest moves, Coop wanted Matt for a long time and when KW finally delivered him, Coop came through. I love it and I'm glad Coop got that contract extension, I'm sure alot of Ms fans will be pissed by seasons end when their former first round pick turns in a career year on the south side and Joe Borchard is soaking up sun down in Miami or in the CFL.

it seems like he's gettin better every time out. More confident when he's out there. Also seems like he's striking more guys out.

 

I think Thorton and Riske really were pretty genius moves. We pretty much got two good solid relief pitchers for nothing.

it seems like he's gettin better every time out. More confident when he's out there. Also seems like he's striking more guys out.

 

I think Thorton and Riske really were pretty genius moves. We pretty much got two good solid relief pitchers for nothing.

Totally. Alot of people dont understand how hard it is to hit a 97mph fastball coming from a LHP. Especially when he cuts it in on righties. Also Riske was very undervalued when we got him. His career ERA is better than Polite's and yet he probably wasnt even as valuable. Strange how that works.

The Pen was an issue as soon as it became clear Politte was not the same pitcher he was last season but now with the addition of Riske and Thornton coming into his own, our pen is stacked!

I remember somebody (you know who you are!) laughing me off the board for suggesting that at worst Thornton becomes the replacement for Vizcaino and at best becomes the lefty Jenks. Right now he's somewhere in between, but he's definitely trending upwards!

agreed hes spotting that fastball so well, i hope he can devlop that slider a bit more, maybe jenks can teach him his funky grip on how to throw a curveball

People say it was Kenny's shrewdest move, but I have a feeling Kenny Williams would be the first to say that he listens to his staff and when Don Cooper said get Matt Thornton he acted. We have a coaching staff that knows how to evaluate and a General Manager that trusts them and does what is needed to get players that can win

Congrats Matt on getting your first career save.

Matt is such a great addition to the bullpen. Thornton to Jenks is as nasty as you get.

I was just over at lookoutlanding.com reading some of the things they were saying about Matt, and all i can say is thank you Don Cooper, in tonights game he threw 6 pitches 5 of them were for strikes, beautiful.

Matt Thornton is a perfect example of how our GM has been willing to make more trades than not to improve this ballclub, and of our pitching coach in Don Cooper who with one main adjustment has helped Thornton to become a potentially damaging set-up man for this ballclub.

 

It also gives me hope that we may still make something out of the likes of Sierra down at B-Ham as well.

Matt Thornton is a perfect example of how our GM has been willing to make more trades than not to improve this ballclub, and of our pitching coach in Don Cooper who with one main adjustment has helped Thornton to become a potentially damaging set-up man for this ballclub.

 

It also gives me hope that we may still make something out of the likes of Sierra down at B-Ham as well.

 

Yeah whats the latest with Sierra i remember the sox picking him up, but i haven't heard anything about him as of late. I know hes got ML stuff but just can't consistently throw strikes.

Yeah whats the latest with Sierra i remember the sox picking him up, but i haven't heard anything about him as of late. I know hes got ML stuff but just can't consistently throw strikes.

Back when I updated my AAP on him (the kiss of death here on Soxtalk), he had just pitched 2.1 IP and struck out about 6 hitters or something like that, and had an ERA of about 5.40.

 

Looking at his numbers now, it hasn't really changed a lot at all, which is disappointing. As you can see with the 21/19 K/BB ratio, his main problem is still obviously with the control aspect of his pitching.

 

But he wasn't going to become an instant success straight away, and he's worth persevering with. Hitters are only hitting .232 off of him, which is not too shabby really.