Show Me a Starter
Written by joe on March 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pm in Pitching Staff, Spring Training 08.
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In his latest bid to take claim of the fifth starter spot, Mike Pelfrey didn’t fare too well. The man who relieved him, however, didn’t look so bad.
Scott Schoeneweis came into a bases loaded situation and struck out Mike Jacobs, gave up a bomb to Jorge Cantu to clear the bases, then got the final out of the inning.
Here’s a crazy idea: give The Show a shot at the fifth starter spot. He began his career as a starter, and started 19 games as recently as 2004. He’s become more of a junkballer since (getting off PEDs and) losing 5 or so MPH from his fastball, and as a result works harder on changing speeds and hitting spots. If the Mets can’t trade him for somebody decent, why not see what he can do as a starter? Pelfrey certainly isn’t the answer, and who knows when we’ll see El Duque.
Before you scream “but he can’t pitch to righthanded batters”, let me tell you that I don’t care much for that fact, nor platoon splits in particular. Crazy? Consider the following:
Tom Glavine, 2007 (13-8): RH batters hit .266; LH batters hit .326
Kenny Rogers, 2006 (17-8): RH batters hit .268; LH batters hit .200
Jamie Moyer, 2007 (14-12): RH batters hit .279; LH batters hit .309
Scott Schoeneweis, 2007: RH batters hit .316 ; LH batters hit .204
Throwing it out there … if we end up stuck with him, maybe Scott Schoeneweis could be a candidate as a spot starter.
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