Roch: Rick Adair Talks About Jake

[Redskins Rick]

I just think people should take it with a grain of salt when looking at the numbers.

in some cases, a mountain!

[Il BuonO]

Time, effort, and determination are signs of someone who is a bulldog. Good for him for continuing to work at it. I agree he seems to think a lot about his craft. The fact that he thinks a lot doesn't mean that he thinks well. I'd argue that someone that took this long to harness such impressive natural gifts despite thinking about it a lot and working hard can't be very cerebral. I'm happy for him that he got there though.

It occurs you may only mean cerebral to mean "he thinks a lot" rather than "he thinks effectively". If so, I misunderstood and we are in agreement.

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Well, the fact that he's thinking a lot and having success now should indicate he thinks effectively, no? I think Jake is definitely determined, but many of the characteristics that we're seeing now he has a great deal to do with and that was stifled when he was with Baltimore. Listen to Montero or David Ross, or Maddon talk about him. The success he's having is largely due to them just letting him be himself.

[Stotle]

I just think people should take it with a grain of salt when looking at the numbers.

Okay, but then the point is what? "It's not THAT bad. He wouldn't be the best pitcher in the game in the AL -- maybe just a top ten arm in the league."

[Tx Oriole]

Adair can be thrilled and happy but Im not. I dont wish success for Jake. He's no longer an Oriole so why would I wish him success when he didnt do it for us and now somebody else is benefitting?

I hope the Cubs get to the World Series. I am not against Jake at all.

[DrungoHazewood]

Jose Bautista made a slight adjustment, look at where he is now.

As someone already mentioned, Bautista spent years as a mediocre player before putting it together in a way that you rarely see. He went through multiple teams and God only knows how many coaches between his brief stop in Baltimore and eventual success. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to gig the Orioles, but Bautista isn't one of them.

[Sanfran327]

My opinion (and that is all it is) is that the really smart guys running the Cubs have Jake in "just pitch, don't think meat, you thinking can only hurt the ball club" mode. Of course they aren't going to say that to reporters or even to Jake overtly, but when I read what they say about what he is doing, I don't see a whole lot of rocket science.

And yes, it drives me crazy that we couldn't just let this physical specimen with a lightning bolt attached to his right shoulder go out and just freaking pitch rather than getting him in his head. It seems pretty clear to me that he was thinking too much when he played for us. He basically said as much.

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I infer the same when I read about him. I hope that's not what we did to Matusz, or what we're doing to Gausman and Bundy. Those guys just need to go out there and pitch the best way they know how. Turning athletes into something they're not is always a recipe for disaster.

[JR Oriole]

As someone already mentioned, Bautista spent years as a mediocre player before putting it together in a way that you rarely see. He went through multiple teams and God only knows how many coaches between his brief stop in Baltimore and eventual success. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to gig the Orioles, but Bautista isn't one of them.

Agree. I don't actually think the Bautista situation is even comparable. Arrieta was in Baltimore only, actually got worse every year, went to the Cubs, immediately pitched better than in any year in Baltimore, and then proceeded to get better each year to the point that he is now the most dominant pitcher any of us have EVER seen for this long a stretch. 1999-2000 Pedro wasn't this good. Neither was 1992-1995 Maddux.

[DrungoHazewood]

Okay, but then the point is what? "It's not THAT bad. He wouldn't be the best pitcher in the game in the AL -- maybe just a top ten arm in the league."

Sometimes I think it would be helpful to have a chart of relative/average league strengths. It would help illustrate this point:

AL: 100

NL: 97

Japan: 92

AAA: 90

AA: 82

Korea: 78

A+: 74

Cuba: 72

Taiwan: 71

Atlantic League: 70

A-: 68

SS A: 60

Frontier League: 58

Rookie: 55

DSL: 50

Pecos League: 42

Numbers not to be taken literally, but they're probably reasonable.

[JR Oriole]

Although last night, I started to see Orioles Jake in the 6th and 7th innings. His pitches started to look very hittable and at one point he looked a little rattled. The Pirates were making great contact, and some extremely fortunate positioning at third base (Bryant) on two occasions probably saved him at least two runs. Marte is not a clean up hitter, but he hit that DP ball hard and if it gets up the middle, that's 2 runs right there.

[DrungoHazewood]

...he is now the most dominant pitcher any of us have EVER seen for this long a stretch. 1999-2000 Pedro wasn't this good. Neither was 1992-1995 Maddux.

I don't think that's true. Not unless you're dividing this up into fractions of a season. Certainly Pedro had several better years with lower relative ERAs, higher K rates and lower walk rates.

[weams]

The facial hair policy was obviously holding him back.

Imagine if we had just DFAd him or traded him to the Yankees. At least we placed him where he could succeed and not hurt us.

[Redskins Rick]

I don't think that's true. Not unless you're dividing this up into fractions of a season. Certainly Pedro had several better years with lower relative ERAs, higher K rates and lower walk rates.

Since I am an old far.

Gibson 68-70 was pretty dang good, 2 Cy Youngs and a MVP.

[JR Oriole]

I don't think that's true. Not unless you're dividing this up into fractions of a season. Certainly Pedro had several better years with lower relative ERAs, higher K rates and lower walk rates.

Right. I meant this particular stretch (in Jake's case, the last 20 games.....which is a lot).

[JR Oriole]

Since I am an old far.

Gibson 68-70 was pretty dang good, 2 Cy Youngs and a MVP.

Gibson gave up runs sometimes. If Jake was a hitter, it would be the equivalent of hitting 1-2 homers a game for 20 straight games.

[weams]

I don't think that's true. Not unless you're dividing this up into fractions of a season. Certainly Pedro had several better years with lower relative ERAs, higher K rates and lower walk rates.

Ubaldo was that dominant for a stretch.