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I hate to sound like chicken little but...

Anyone else worried about a starting rotation injury meltdown?


1) Carp - We all know about his current issues.
2) Wells - Considered by many to be an injury prone pitcher.
3) Looper - In his 30's and starting for the first time.
4) Wainwright - He's only pitched 180 innings once in his career and never at the major league level.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... ight.shtml

5) Reyes - An Injury history and he's never pitched more than 170 innings.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... eyes.shtml



I guess every rotation has questions but yeesh...

Michael wrote:I hate to sound like chicken little but...

Anyone else worried about a complete starting rotation injury meltdown?


1) Carp - We all know about his current issues.
2) Wells - Considered by many to be an injury prone pitcher.
3) Looper - In his 30's and starting for the first time.
4) Wainwright - He's only pitched 180 innings once in his career and never at the major league level.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... ight.shtml

5) Reyes - An Injury history and he's never pitched more than 170 innings.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/ ... eyes.shtml


I guess every rotation has questions but yeesh...

scary thoughts there

though my worry is that the bullpen covering for the ills of the rotation will be gassed by midsummer and we will fade quickly

My worries begin and end with Carpenter. If he is injured, then this team is in trouble. He was the one person we were counting on. All the other question marks probably become moot, unless every one of them falls fully in our favor.

What I want to know is what is the reason for Reyes' control problems?

MiLB Career: 9.97 k/9, 1.81 bb/9 (extra sick).
MLB Career: 7.66 k/9, 3.47 bb/9.

Is it simply a product of his stuff not being as devastating to MLB hitters as it was to MiLB hitters and that causes him to nibble more? It would explain the decrease in k's, but that is to be expected. I don't know if there is a correlation.

I really hope it isn't a matter of injury or a flaw in his mechanics.

We're having success right now, but continuation of our current success is what worries me the most. I just don't see these four guys (besides Carp) keeping this kind of success up much past the All Star break. Now, if both of the youngsters (Waino and Reyes) break in our favor, and Looper is replaced by Mulder/the return of Carp, I think we're ok, if Rolen and Pujols start hitting.

I'm hoping that our rotation keeps us in the first half and our bats come around to keep us in the second half. If either falls short, the rotation or the offense, we're in deep trouble. It'll take the two overlapping for a solid month for us to make the playoffs, imo.

thrill wrote:What I want to know is what is the reason for Reyes' control problems?

MiLB Career: 9.97 k/9, 1.81 bb/9 (extra sick).
MLB Career: 7.66 k/9, 3.47 bb/9.

Is it simply a product of his stuff not being as devastating to MLB hitters as it was to MiLB hitters and that causes him to nibble more? It would explain the decrease in k's, but that is to be expected. I don't know if there is a correlation.

I really hope it isn't a matter of injury or a flaw in his mechanics.

I wonder if it's that a lot more of those strikes at the major league level end up in the seats. Which subsequently causes him to, as you say, nibble more.

They can't keep this up all year, that's for sure. We need some runs.

thrill wrote:What I want to know is what is the reason for Reyes' control problems?

MiLB Career: 9.97 k/9, 1.81 bb/9 (extra sick).
MLB Career: 7.66 k/9, 3.47 bb/9.

Is it simply a product of his stuff not being as devastating to MLB hitters as it was to MiLB hitters and that causes him to nibble more? It would explain the decrease in k's, but that is to be expected. I don't know if there is a correlation.

I really hope it isn't a matter of injury or a flaw in his mechanics.

Another thing that has me slightly worried is a few years ago he was throwing a little harder.

Michael wrote:

thrill wrote:What I want to know is what is the reason for Reyes' control problems?

MiLB Career: 9.97 k/9, 1.81 bb/9 (extra sick).
MLB Career: 7.66 k/9, 3.47 bb/9.

Is it simply a product of his stuff not being as devastating to MLB hitters as it was to MiLB hitters and that causes him to nibble more? It would explain the decrease in k's, but that is to be expected. I don't know if there is a correlation.

I really hope it isn't a matter of injury or a flaw in his mechanics.

Another thing that has me slightly worried is a few years ago he was throwing a little harder.

Depending on who you ask, all the questions can be answered with "two-seamer." Seems a little reductionist to me, but I am also not sure the Dave Duncan tinkering angle doesn't have some merit. He also dialed it up a little more than we saw for stretches last year during his outing this season, if I remember correctly.

The Wainwright/180 innings thing is nothing to be concerned about. Minor league schedules are not as long as MLB schedules and teams keep kids on strict pitch counts. He made 28, 28, 27, and 29 starts at the MiLB level, and that's just about the maximum you can make in a minor league schedule.

Had those been on a MLB schedule, he would've added about 3-4 more starts, which would push at least 2 more seasons above the 180 threshhold, and his 180 season above the 200 threshhold.

The guy was a MiLB workhorse.