Zach Britton is Too Filthy for the Pen

[Roll Tide]

Bud Norris has succeeded as a MLB starting pitcher. He may fail in the future, but he has succeeded. Something our Lefty has not done.

I don't disagree with your point.

I will say that Norris is a career mid four era rotation guy with a sub .500 record. I know you can't blame the record all on Norris.

That said I don't think he's a guy you cement a rotation spot if you have somebody yo believe is better.

Also Zach is three years younger.

[QSII]

Think of Britton as a piggyback starter. You hang him on top of a start where the game's on the line, and he shuts them down for more three innings. Arthur Rhodes.

[Can_of_corn]

Think of Britton as a piggyback starter. You hang him on top of a start where the game's on the line, and he shuts them down for more three innings. Arthur Rhodes.

I don't want to limit him in that fashion. I would rather have him as a 100 inning guy that can fill that role, but that can also be brought into the game in the 8th with a runner on.

With the way he is going right now I don't want to shy away from high leverage applications.

[Ruzious]

Think of Britton as a piggyback starter. You hang him on top of a start where the game's on the line, and he shuts them down for more three innings. Arthur Rhodes.

And it's especially good to have someone like Britton in the pen when you have a starter like Norris - who usually tires after 5 innings. Keep Britton in the pen!

[Redskins Rick]

Think of Britton as a piggyback starter. You hang him on top of a start where the game's on the line, and he shuts them down for more three innings. Arthur Rhodes.

Before Arthur was Mark Williamson, emergency spot starter/long reliever was very effective. So much so, he was the front end for a 3 pitcher no-hitter one time during an emergency start.

[Redskins Rick]

And it's especially good to have someone like Britton in the pen when you have a starter like Norris - who usually tires after 5 innings. Keep Britton in the pen!

Unlike Gonzo who made it past the 5th inning yesterday.

[Flash- bd]

Whether you like it...He's one of ours. And a day will come, that you will embrace that.

Thing is, he's always going to lose in a "one of ours" battle with Kevin Gausman, Zach Britton, Dylan Bundy, Eduardo Rodriguez, or Hunter Harvey (almost wrote Harvey Hunter. whoops!). :boogie:

[Tony-OH]

This thread should be "Zach Britton is perfect for this particular team's pen".

We have a host of starters that only go 7 innings on rare occasion. Miguel's outing was the perfect example. Only goes 5, but does well. Now you throw them a lefty flamethrower for 2 innings. Do that every couple of games when your starter inevitably struggles to go 6 innings.

Not to mention the fact that he's a nice compliment to a team with four right-handed starters.

[MrOrange82]

I don't disagree with your point.

I will say that Norris is a career mid four era rotation guy with a sub .500 record. I know you can't blame the record all on Norris.

That said I don't think he's a guy you cement a rotation spot if you have somebody yo believe is better.

Also Zach is three years younger.

Bud's career ERA is 4.35 in 752.1 innings. Zach's career ERA is 4.57 in 266.0 total innings. Exactly 11.1 of those innings, all recorded this season, have yielded an ERA lower than 4.61.

I'm not taking Norris out of the fifth spot on the strength of Zach's most recent 11.1 innings.

[crawjo]

As soon as Buck puts someone in a role where they succeed, then a number of posters immediately call for the person's role to be expanded. This is an endless process on the board (and basically by all fans). Almost all pitchers are better out of the bullpen than when they start. Britton's excellent start to the season out of the bullpen does not guarantee success as a starting pitcher.

It's not about a guarantee, though. There are no guarantees. It's about giving him the opportunity, if someone else in the rotation struggles. I think, for instance, that flipping roles between Britton and Norris after Patton returns from suspension is something that has to be considered.

[Palmoripken]

Wouldn't it be awesome if he ends up having the same renaissance that Chris Tillman has had? I know Zach is older than Chris already but he is showing why it's good not to give up on young pitchers. I was downtown

when he was in that jam yesterday afternoon. Was real impressed that he worked out of it without allowing a run and then went out the next inning and put the Rays down in order.

[Redskins Rick]

It's not about a guarantee, though. There are no guarantees. It's about giving him the opportunity, if someone else in the rotation struggles. I think, for instance, that flipping roles between Britton and Norris after Patton returns from suspension is something that has to be considered.

I disagree, not in mid-season, or even early season. Britton hasn't been stretched out to start in some time, and it would be irresponsible to switch roles at this point. The time to do that is spring training, which is over.

[ChrisP]

Britton for Team MVP. He's almost leading the league in W's and with 3 more innings, he'd qualify for the ERA title.

[OFFNY]

Zach doesn't need a spike. Throwing 95, 96, 97. Always did when he was right.

Can anyone confirm this? I don't remember him having that kind of velocity.

To my surprise' date=' Scott's memory is good. Here's pitch f/x datas from Zach's second start of 2011, in which his FB averaged 94 and touched 97: [url']http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/pfx.php?month=4&day=9&year=2011&game=gid_2011_04_09_texmlb_balmlb_1%2F&pitchSel=502154&prevGame=gid_2011_04_09_texmlb_balmlb_1%2F&prevDate=49&league=mlb[/url] I'm not saying he did that every game, but he was capable of dialing it up to 97 on occasion.

I saw Zach pitch for the Advanced-A Keys back in 2009, and he was throwing that fast back then.

The radar gun in Winston-Salem Stadium (Ernie Shore Field) was registering that he was topping out at 99. Even if it was off, it was not off by much (perhaps 2 miles per hour), because Zach was FIRING.

[Flash- bd]

He was touching 96 against Cleveland (not just Cleveland, but that's the game that is coming to mind at the moment) a couple summers ago.