Matt thornton did well as a starter in the minors pitching 28 inning with 35 strikeouts allowing only 8 walks.. Seattle never started him although they were desperate for starters. it was stated in a Mark gonzales article that he would like the opportunity.I would love to start again. They're having a heck of a time getting [brandon] McCarthy in the rotation right now. He had a great career as a starter in the minors. That's something I don't worry about. If they came to me down the road to see if [i'd] want to start, I'd be more than willing. I'd love to. ... I threw about 28 innings [in the minors], struck out 35 and walked eight, but I never got a start in the majors again. It blew my mind, especially with the way their starters [seattle's] struggled." Maybe the #5 starter isn't a lock for Brandon. Have we seen all the contenders does Matt have enough?

Matt thornton did well as a starter in the minors pitching 28 inning with 35 strikeouts allowing only 8 walks.. Seattle never started him although they were desperate for starters. it was stated in a Mark gonzales article that he would like the opportunity.I would love to start again. They're having a heck of a time getting [brandon] McCarthy in the rotation right now. He had a great career as a starter in the minors. That's something I don't worry about. If they came to me down the road to see if [i'd] want to start, I'd be more than willing. I'd love to. ... I threw about 28 innings [in the minors], struck out 35 and walked eight, but I never got a start in the majors again. It blew my mind, especially with the way their starters [seattle's] struggled." Maybe the #5 starter isn't a lock for Brandon. Have we seen all the contenders does Matt have enough?

 

i dont see him starting this year, since we are pretty well set up as of now, if we made a move with a starting pitcher and got some great bullpen relief in return, then he might have a shot, otherwise i see him having a chance in 2008 or beyond to start, but his performance from the 'pen was amzing last year and his velocity has been better out of there anyways so look at him more as a setup man than starter

Little reason, if any to start Thornton. He is still in the process of mastering the relief role. He made good progress last year and I am hoping he will dominate in 2007.

Why risk losing all the progress he made as a reliever? He was dominant in the second half of the season and will probably be even better this year. He is only a two-pitch pitcher (arguably only a one-pitch pitcher,) so its not a good assumption to think he would be good as a starter against MLB hitters. IMO, he would be disastrous as a starter.

Edited December 20, 200619 yr by maggsmaggs

BMAC is your 5th starter.

 

Sorry.

I don't think Thornton has proven himself as a relief pitcher yet. Bmac should be all set as the 5th starter.

He'll have to begin throwing sliders for strikes, in addition to developing a quality changeup, before legitimate discussions begin. We're quite a ways away from that period.

 

If I were Thornton, I'd use spring training as a testing ground for certain pitches. Hell, perhaps management will allow him an opportunity to pitch 5 innings in one or two games.

Damn, the title scared the s*** out of me.

It's not a competition, McCarthy is the No. 5 and by season's end I expect him to be the 3rd or 4th starter in terms of statistics.

I have no doubts about Bmac ability as a starter. If it would have been up to me he would have been starting last season.

Matt's far too important in the pen.

Matt's far too important in the pen.

 

That sums it up nicely. Matt may very well be a damn good starter if given the chance, but as of now we need him right where he is.

Matt Thornton simply doesn't have the "stuff" of a starter. Out of the bullpen, he is coming in there with a bit of a funky delivery and bringing gas. You just can't get used to how fast the ball comes out of his hand in an inning or two, and then on occasion he changes speeds and can be pretty dangerous, but for the most part, he seems to be a 1+ pitch pitcher. He is that style that will work well out of the bullpen, but would have a lot of difficulty as a starter just because people could adapt to him after 6-7 innings.

Matt Thornton simply doesn't have the "stuff" of a starter. Out of the bullpen, he is coming in there with a bit of a funky delivery and bringing gas. You just can't get used to how fast the ball comes out of his hand in an inning or two, and then on occasion he changes speeds and can be pretty dangerous, but for the most part, he seems to be a 1+ pitch pitcher. He is that style that will work well out of the bullpen, but would have a lot of difficulty as a starter just because people could adapt to him after 6-7 innings.

 

Pitchers are one or two pitch pitchers out of the pen because it's hammered into their head not to get beat on your third best pitch. Which is as it should be, but that doesn't mean they don't have the capability to be a good starter because they don't use more than two pitches out of the pen.

Pitchers are one or two pitch pitchers out of the pen because it's hammered into their head not to get beat on your third best pitch. Which is as it should be, but that doesn't mean they don't have the capability to be a good starter because they don't use more than two pitches out of the pen.

Aside from the fastball and the occasional slider, what other pitches does he have? As far as I can recall that's all I've seen him throw, and some brief googling of scouting reports didn't turn up any mention of other pitches.

Thornton throws very hard and has a nice smooth delivery. He ought to be able to throw a nasty change up.

Aside from the fastball and the occasional slider, what other pitches does he have? As far as I can recall that's all I've seen him throw, and some brief googling of scouting reports didn't turn up any mention of other pitches.

 

I honestly don't know, and never said that he did throw anything else. I was thinking along more generic terms than specifically about Matt. I guess I could have worded my post better. Still, hearing that someone in the pen is a two pitch pitcher and can't start because of that is very common around here, yet while in the pen that's exactly what they should be. If Matt was given notice he'd get a shot at the rotation at the end of the year, I'm sure he could develope something by spring training.

Firstly, McCarthy is unequivocably in the rotation for 2007.

 

He is likely to have one of the best seasons of any Sox starting pitcher. Last year he might have done as well as Vazquez as the 5th starter.

 

Secondly, Thornton is still developing as a reliever and if he gets better it could help make the Sox bullpen really dominant. That would be huge for the Sox.

 

Trying to turn him into a starter would be a big project with low probability of success. But, mainly it looks like he is close to becoming a top notch relief pitcher so the Sox won't mess with that.

 

Besides, if the Sox really need another starting pitcher right now, I would think that Haeger, Floyd, Sisco, Broadway and Gio would all be better bets than Thornton. Probably Heath Phillips too.

There is no way that Thornton has enough secondary pitches to succeed as a starter, imo.

Too damn good out of the pen. Absolutely no reason to make him a starter.

Of course Thorton would want to start. So would any reliever who thinks they could cash in on the dumdum market if they threw just mediocre enough to get 10 million a year by starting. He's not coming out of the pen anytime soon. Christ we had to trade Freddy just to make room for Bmac, aint no way in hell Kenny is moving another starter to make room for a project in 2007. This team's goal is to win the world series and so far they've set themselves up to be pretty good on paper. This isnt the time to rebuild and mess around. Just as easily as the Sox got Thorton right, it could all go to hell if he was put out there as a starter and got bombed out a few times.

We dont wanna turn this guy into Kerry Wood

Would you take a tamed lion from birth and release him into the wild?

his fastball is like a reverse change up. he looks like hes throwing slow and bam 96mph.

 

 

I dont know about starter. But he does have a chance to be a closer in the MLB. Better than alot of other closers.