Three of those runs came in the 1st inning, the other one scored in the 2nd. Yeah, 4 ER in 5 innings doesn't look pretty, but he at least picked himself up and finished decently.
If that's a "bad" start for Whitley, I'll take that. Great peripherals (6:1 K:BB), still went 5 innings. I've always liked Fangraphs K-BB% stat as a surrogate for pitcher dominance. ~15% is above average. >20% is really good. >25% is elite (only 3 guys in the majors above 25%). Whitley is sitting at 34.9%. SSS obviously but as a 19 year old in full season ball he's far from overmatched. In fact, he's #4 in K-BB% in the Midwest league and the other 4 guys in the top 5 are 22 or older. Adcock was sixth at 32.3%. Control's a little rusty but also an encouraging start. He actually had a decent leash (threw 65 pitches) but was just inefficient/wild.
Love this stat. Besides for seeing team move a guy up multiple levels in a season, being young for level and having >25% K-BB is the strongest stat indication for pitchers in the minors in my opinion. It stabilizes fast such that when McCullers started off fast at AA, knew that there was a good chance he would be in majors soon and likely do very well. Franklin Perez at 19, is one of two people in Carolina League above 20% K%-BB% that can't legally drink here.
Oh, I didn't say it was. This early in the season, with his delayed start and "index finger issue", the biggest thing I'm looking at now is him getting pitches in and stretching his arm out. The "rest...?" was an unclear statement of me not caring what else he does, really. I have no idea what he's working on or what management is asking him to do.
The K:BB ratio is what has me so excited about Whitley, as many have said. Number that high means his stuff is plus, getting hitters to strike out on pitches that are in or close to the zone.
That's been his M.O. since before he was drafted...advanced command of all his pitches, I'd imagine he's just outclassing guys with his FB/CB at that level. Really curious what the observers have to say about him and what he's trying to do differently re: the change or a wrinkle in his FB or what. He's a great kid, I was hoping he'd be the pick before the draft.
Jorge Alcala @ Dayton: 6.2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 7 K Alex Winkelman @ Down East: 6 IP, 3 H, unearned run, 2 BB, 7 K Dean Deetz vs. Midland: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 8 K Winkelman has a 42:5 K:BB ratio in 31 innings this season. He lowered his ERA on the year to 1.55. In 34 innings, Alcala has a 2.03 ERA and has 36 strikeouts against 13 walks. Also of note... Nick Hernandez recorded his 5th save of the year for Buies Creek. In 16.1 innings, he has a 2.20 ERA, struck out 23 (against 3 walks), allowed a .145 average against him, and has a WHIP of 0.67. D.J. Fisher extended his hitting streak to 15 with a homer, his 8th of the year. J.D. Davis hit his 7th homer for Corpus Christi.
Fisher has earned some MLB PAs in my opinion. This is the biggest downside to 8 relievers...just no room to test a rookie bat. He'll have to wait for an opening.
His mlb test will hopefully come with the Rays, White Sox, Rangers, or Giants (Archer, Quintana, Darvish, Cueto).
It'd be nice if they'd just eat Sipp's contract (or find a willing trade partner). He's not pitching much and rarely pitching reliably.
Considering last time I checked, he was one of worst in pen at getting lefties out I would agree with you. However, as some point, Astros are not going to have a lead and need sacrificial arms. Not sure how long Astros would want to go with seven in pen, but could do it for a while right now and could always send Fisher down if needed for extra arm for a bit.
There's not many extra OF plate appearances to go around either. George should be playing as much as possible. Josh should face all the righties and select lefties. Aoki probably deserves atleast 60-70% time in LF. Jake needs enough AB's to keep a routine. And then on top of that Hinch has to work in MarGo and Beltran to get them enough AB's too. Keep cashing dem checks Tony.
Quintana not looking good this season. Two good outings against a very bad Royals team and nothing else promising. I'll just stay away from him. Darvish will be a high cost rental from our division rival. Stay away from him. The other two I'll look hard at.
I would get him some ABs here and a few at DH. Not a good match both being lefties. Though, I'm not as big a fan of Aoki as most.
The Rangers won't trade Darvish to us, unless they bleed us dry. It will interesting to see if the Astros pursue Darvish next offseason.
I doubt Rangers would trade Darvish to Astros, but highly doubt Luhnow cares too much if it helps Astros. That said, I hope Rangers don't trade him and Astros break their WC hopes.
Fisher's having a strong season, but dang the PCL has some video game numbers going on. The PCL has 21 guys with an OPS over .900. The Texas league has 19 guys with an OPS over .800. Tough to get a real feel for the guy's strengths (and more importantly weaknesses) when the league plays like Lancaster.
Fisher is going to be absolutely perfect trade bait come the deadline. And if they don't include him in a deal for a starter, he'll likely be the opening day LF in '18.
