That was Arrighetti's exact problem when he first got called up, then he started getting his "out pitch" dialed in. He still wasn't perfect at it (still walked a ton of dudes), but he improved on that a lot the more starts he had.
Word. Game 1/2/5/6 1-6: Framber/Brown 7-8-9: King/Abreu/Hader Game 3/4/7 1-4: McCullers/Arrighetti 5-6: Javier/Okert 7-8-9: King/Abreu/Hader Low leverage: Dubin, Gusto, 2 of Ort/Ullola/Blubaugh/Walter/Gordon/Whitley/Sousa/Garcia
I just don’t understand how they didn’t mention Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito (or Eric Chavez or Tejada).
They probably will bring in somebody (maybe not a SP3 though), but part of me hopes they gamble it. Walter deserves some starts. Even after his last outing, I'm still intrigued by Gordon. Moreover, I'm tired of trading guys for vets with no upside to plug short-term holes. I don't want another Wilyer Abreu to fall through the cracks. Things like that are catastrophic, IMO, for keeping this thing going.
Teams have used prospects to fill holes in their rosters forever and I hope the Stros continue to do this and not live in fear of making a mistake. See the JV/Kikuchi trades. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you cant live scared about what a low level prospect might become. With this said, I wouldn't be trading Kenni Gomez/Brito/Ullola/Baez/Janek unlees I could get a controllable Ace.
But they did ultimately get “better” as a team despite letting their all-star level closer, 1B and CF leave in one off-season in part due to their replacements actually providing equal if not better performance…. That was part of the inspiration/message for writing the book to begin with. And it basically cause all teams (including larger markets) to buy into the concept that as soon as players become expensive at the cusp of their FA year (which also usually coincides with their late 20’s or early 30’s)…. They’re really not going to be “worth it” if you properly assess the true value these guys bring on the field. It also made some previous mid market teams decide to become permanent small market fixtures… benefitting off the luxury tax payouts and never having to feel pressured to have even a respectable payroll (let alone a competitive one). Baseball economics really does need a 3rd party to come in and fix it. It’s never going to figure it out on its own.
