Cesar Valdez as a starter

[Aristotelian]

Duh, I mean not overstatement. 

[TommyPickles]

I don't want to watch LeBlanc every five games...

[HowAboutThat]

1 hour ago, Aristotelian said:

Those guys will get their chance. In the meantime, see what Valdez can do.

Anyone skeptical of his age did not watch him pitch last year. He has figured out something with that changeup. He uses it almost like a knuckleball. Admittedly it was a small sample last year but I don't think dominant is an understatement. I think he could be the next Bleier, and I thought there was a very good argument for making Bleier a starter/opener type. I am very high on Valdez. 

I would love to see him do well, And I will not say that he cannot, and if he could give us 30 or 40 good innings, we might be able to trade him.

I would rather see him than the other two guys, that’s for sure.

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Philip said:

I would love to see him do well, And I will not say that he cannot, and if he could give us 30 or 40 good innings, we might be able to trade him.

I would rather see him than the other two guys, that’s for sure.

I’d like to see whoever pitches most effectively.    

[HowAboutThat]

21 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’d like to see whoever pitches most effectively.    

Well of course, It should go without saying that my  comment is making an assumption as to which one of the trio will do that.

 

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Philip said:

Well of course, It should go without saying that my  comment is making an assumption as to which one of the trio will do that.

I’m not making that assumption.   Baseball is full of surprises, good and bad.   Maybe Hernandez has something left in the tank.   Maybe LeBlanc figured something out.   I’m not holding my breath on those contingencies, but Valdez isn’t exactly a high probability to be an effective major league starter, either.   But who knows?

[HowAboutThat]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’m not making that assumption.   Baseball is full of surprises, good and bad.   Maybe Hernandez has something left in the tank.   Maybe LeBlanc figured something out.   I’m not holding my breath on those contingencies, but Valdez isn’t exactly a high probability to be an effective major league starter, either.   But who knows?

As the man says, “that’s why we play the games.”

[interloper]

Certainly no harm in trying him out in starts during spring training. He's already stretched out. I think there's a relatively good chance he could pitch with similar success to LeBlanc, at least, as a starter, with a chance for more. 

[interloper]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

Certainly no harm in trying him out in starts during spring training. He's already stretched out. I think there's a relatively good chance he could pitch with similar success to LeBlanc, at least, as a starter, with a chance for more. 

However, I think at the end of the day the O's will want him as one of their go to guys in the bullpen. I would not be surprised to see him close a few games. I know Scott is kind of lined up as the closer, but I think Hyde will still mix in other guys at the end of games. Let's say Scott gets out there and his 96 mph fastball isn't finding the plate, walks a couple guys. Switch it up and let them deal with 83 mph with movement now. 

[Jammer7]

I will be fine with ONE of the group of Felix Hernandez, Wade LeBlanc or Cesar Valdez starting every fifth day. To go along with Means, Kremer, Akin and Zimmermann (or Lopez), the veteran can eat some innings and hold a spot until June or July when Baumann, Lowther, Wells, Bradish and Smith may be ready. If two of them make starts regularly, it is troubling for me. 

[NCRaven]

We need lots of guys that can go multiple innings.  John Means pitched 43 innings last year.  And the others much less, plus what they threw in the alternate camp.  None of them are likely to move up to 150-180 innings this season.

In this situation, someone like Valdez had a lot of value as either, a starter or multi-inning reliever.