GREAT points, T-Rex. We just have to face the facts ... We have many, many holes in the pitching staff, & Roy is no longer a dominator. Sure, we'll see flashes here & there, but Wandy is on his way to becoming our new #1, IMO, if he isn't already.
Oswalt has become a 5 inning pitcher. He is pitching terrible after the 5th so far this year. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=oswalro01&year=2009&t=p#innng Let me add that Cooper continues to be a moron and putting Fulchino out there in close game situations. I'll be happy when Valverde, Brocail, & Geary are back, at least assuming Geary comes back and pitches more like his career numbers.
Really nice find. Roy seems to break down once he hits the 6th inning and these stats confirm it. Since Sampson was available, why didn't we bring him directly in the game after Roy left? 1st and 2nd and 1 out would seem like a great situation for a sinker-ball pitcher. And it's not like the hitter there, Ryan Braun had great success against Sampson in the past: only 2-9 lifetime.
Sampson last night, but in general I would stick with Arias, Byrdak, Sampson, & Hawkins. Not to mention I'm sending Fulchino down and calling up Donnelly or Paronto, and possibly even Daigle. All are guys that have pitched at this level, and had more success than Fulchino
Arias has an ERA in the mid 5's. After Falchino came in and hit a batter, Byrdak came in and let two runs score. Then Sampson came in and let another run score. I don't see how any of those options were any better given that they performed worse than Falchino. Hawkins is your closer, so it makes no sense to bring him in the 7th. Calling up the other guys is not Cooper's job, so I don't see how that reflects on him.
And you think Cooper has much of a choice? Fulchino had just came off a three inning relief outing where he pitched great (albeit the Brewers had a fairly safe lead at the time).
Arias has had one real bad outing this season, and it has caused his ERA to be high and he even leads the team in WHIP & BAA. Sampson should have been in there in the first place, before Byrdak and Fulchino. If Cooper wanted a different player, he could get one, but he'd rather keep playing Fulchino.
