Willy's always had a really strong arm... but his route-running has left something to be desired. While it has gotten better this year, he still gets fooled sometimes, but its hardly noticeable because he makes up for his mistakes with his amazing speed out there. Now, contrast that with Burke (who has played in the OF for less than a year)... Burke doesn't have as much speed as Willy, but he reads the ball off the bat fantastically... and that makes up for the lack of speed. I guess the key is that the organization wants Willy to utilize his speed out there as an advantage... not just as something to make up for bad route-running. Hopefully, as he gets better, he'll start getting to balls that hardly anybody else gets to... kinda like Edmonds did in his hey-day, and Andruw Jones does routinely. But, this is all without considering his regression with the bat... which is still gotta be the main reason to have Burke out there.
No doubt he has things to work on defensively... but to say that it's the sole reason he was benched is ludicrous. Burke is mashing, and Willy was posting a .319 obp in the #2 hole.
I would say to wait till the game is over to evaluate. Nothing this White Sox team does now would suprise me... they just dropped 11 runs on the Cardinals earlier this week in ONE inning.
Wheeler seems like the only guy who can be trusted nowadays... I guess we're setting it up for the obligatory grand slam by the White Sox.
Never been happier to be in the Naitonal League. This is like playing in the Eastern Conference all those years where we said the "Rockets would be the #4 or #5 seed out there, but in the West we can't make the playoffs".
i disagree with that completely. i was worried all of last year that the degree of wheeler's success was a fluke, and unfortunately my fears seem to be getting realized this year. wheeler makes me just as nervous as the rest of 'em.
Actually, him giving up the HR at that point (with only 2 men on) might actually HELP out the team. If he gives up a 2B, 3B, or a walk... there are still men on base when Wheeler comes in, and theres a chance to have a HUGE inning, with the 3-4-5 guys coming up. As it is now, the 3-4-5 guys can't beat you, and you're still up 4 with 6 outs left to play.
The guy still throws strikes... for bullpen guys, it can be frustrating when you bring them in and they pitch away from contact (especially when you have a big lead), or their idea of throwing strikes is throwing it right down the middle (Qualls). Wheeler is never going to blow you away with his stuff... but its good control, and a good mix of pitches, is what has allowed him to be so effective (not "flukes"). He also pitches well under pressure... he was money in the 2005 playoffs (0 ER's), and he was on the mound when we won the pennant. EDIT: good to see that he didn't make me look bad with those 2 warning-track shots.
Against the Sox, nothing and nobody seems safe from their onsaught. Unbelievable though the difference between last year and this year with the bullpen; the only two guys with an ERA under 4 are Borkowski and Springer. Yikes.
"I could see him tipping his pitches when I was in Houston once..." according to Joe Morgan (which I seriously DOUBT... but if Morgan says it, its gotta be true... )
yeah...that's basically what concerned me about him. i was optimistic about his capabilities of being a solid reliever out of the bullpen for us, but there wasn't much doubt that he had to be pitching a bit over his head with the roll he was on for basically the whole season last year. pitchers without a real dominant pitch, and who don't have the ability to generate much movement on their pitches won't usually be too reliable or dominant in the long-term (unless your name is gregory maddux). that, combined with the fact that he was a journeyman without any success when we acquired him, made me pretty leery about him actually being nearly as good and reliable as his 2.xx ERA was last season.
