Part 1: The Duke, Starting Pitchers, and The Orient Express
The Orioles bullpen has been less productive over the past 14 years than Enron. The post Randy Myers era has been very painful, as the never-ending carousel of closers has become emotionally draining. Armando Benitez, Heathcliff Slocumb, Mike Timlin, Buddy Groom, Jorge Julio, and Kevin Gregg have all been responsible for multiple ulcers while B.J Ryan. Chris Ray, and George “Scooter” Sherrill have provided momentary seasons of effectiveness.
Now the Orioles are turning the 9th inning over to Jim Johnson and demoting Kevin Gregg to the set up role. I like the rationale behind this move because if Gregg blows the lead in the 7th and 8th inning, the Orioles then have more opportunities to get the lead back. Seriously folks, I am positive like a Fred Davis drug test that Kevin Gregg will blow MULTIPLE leads in 2012. The O’s have tried Jim Johnson out as closer a few times during his tenure and it has been a little hit and miss. He had 10 saves in 2009 in limited duty, and locked down the 9th inning towards the end of the 2011 season to the tune of 9 saves (7-7 in September). Jim Johnson does not allow many baserunners, gets a ton of groundballs, and has a high strikeout rate. These are three characteristics that are paramount for Major League closers. I am very optimistic that Jim Johnson will be a solid closer for the Orioles even if his save chances are few and far between.
(UPDATE:) In the words of the great Keith Jackson, "Waaaiiittt a minute!" The Orioles are rumored to be interested in closer Francisco Cordero, formerly of the Cincinnati Reds. CoCo is coming off a season in which he posted 37 saves and a 2.45 ERA. However, he is 36 years old and the velocity on his fastball is fading faster than Lebron James's hairline. With this declining fastball comes an evaporating strikeout rate. Translation: that is not good for a closer. Obviously the Orioles would only be looking to offer a one year deal, but that would mark the third consecutive year the O's have thrown money at a new closer. Whatever happened to developing a closer in our farm system? Oh that's right our farm system is more barren than a homeless mans' cupboard. I feel it would be unnecessary to sign Cordero for one year, watch him blow saves to the point where a contender will not want to trade for him, and then we will have to sell him off in August for a bucket of balls.
The rest of the bullpen is a little bit up in the air, but you’ve got to figure Brad Bergesen will compete with Rick Vandenhurk and Chris Jakubauskas for the longest last name in the pen/long reliever role. Settle down, I know that is going to be one of the more exciting battles in Spring Training. Jason Berken will be back in the pen where he has shown flashes of dominance (when his slider is working) as well as flashes of being dominated (when his slider resembles a Frisbee).
An arm to keep an eye on as a potential 8th inning guy and maybe future closer is Pedro Strop. The HeliStropter (you’re welcome) was a September call up after being acquired form Texas in May and posted a 2-0 record with a 0.73 ERA for the month. Not to mention 12 strikeouts and a stingy 3 walks in 12.1 innings of work. Don’t judge me for getting amped over 12 innings of work because this guy’s upside is taller than the Emerson Bromo-Seltzer Tower, hon.
Every bullpen needs effective left handed pitchers and it maybe nice to find another left-hander on the market, but that’s like finding marshmallows in Andray Blatche’s box of Lucky Charms. The Orioles will bring back Troy Patton and give him an opportunity. Patton will receive competition from newly signed Japanese arm Tsuyoshi Wada. Wada is 30 years old and here is his career profile from Fangraphs.com:
Year | Wins | Losses | ERA | G | IP | SO |
2003 | 14 | 5 | 3.38 | 26 | 189 | 195 |
2004 | 10 | 6 | 4.35 | 19 | 128.1 | 115 |
2005 | 12 | 8 | 3.27 | 25 | 181.67 | 167 |
2006 | 14 | 6 | 2.98 | 24 | 163.1 | 136 |
2007 | 12 | 10 | 2.82 | 26 | 182 | 169 |
2008 | 8 | 8 | 3.61 | 23 | 162 | 123 |
2009 | 4 | 5 | 4.06 | 15 | 84.1 | 87 |
2010 | 17 | 8 | 3.14 | 26 | 169.1 | 169 |
2011 | 16 | 5 | 1.51 | 26 | 184.1 | 168 |
Not exactly impressive, but I like the 2010-2011 numbers. I would rate this guy as a 6, so if you use the Nampa scale from Part 1, he is a 4. Yikes. But he is a lefty and if he just shows up, he is already an improvement over Mike Gonzalez.
The bullpen is expected to be a weakness, but they may have the opportunity to sneak up on some teams, get batters out in the late innings, and be a major plus for the ball club. I’m cautiously optimistic about the potential effectiveness of the 2012 bullpen, but in reality it can’t get much worse than it has over the past 14 years.
Stay tuned for Part 3 on the Orioles Lineup, which includes the search for a new DH (Manny Ramirez anyone?), and the blockbuster signing of Endy Chavez…
No comments:
Post a Comment