Trying to make sense of OD pitching staff

[Tony-OH]

Before we even do this, I still think more moves are coming and potentially with pitching though I think Elias is on the hunt for second basemen and catchers.

What we know:
1. John Means is the opening day starter
2. Matt Harvey is the 2nd starter
3. Bruce Zimmermann is the 3rd starter
4. Tanner Scott and Cesar Valdez are in the bullpen.

What we think we know:
1. Dean Kremer is in the rotation somewhere.
2. Shawn Armstrong, Paul Fry, and Adam Plutko are going to be in the bullpen.
3. Jorge Lopez has pitched his way onto this team as a starter or reliever
4. Wade LeBlanc is on the team as a starter or long reliever (hopefully long guy)
5. Elias and company like Connor Greene and realize he will be part of the team at some point this  year, but because he's not on the 40-man he may have to start year in alternate site.

What is possible for Opening Day:
Rotation:
John Means
Matt Harvey
Bruce Zimmermann
Dean Kremer
Jorge Lopez

Bullpen: (8)
Scott
Valdez
Armstrong
Fry
Plutko
LeBlanc
Tyler Wells
Mac Sceroler

Dillon Tate would make it if they go with nine relievers or if they ship one of the Rule 5 guys back (most likely Sceroler if they choose one to go back)

Remember, as Elias has said, this is about finding ways to keep arms and use them throughout the season. They could option Tate, Sulser, Lakins and have Green, Hanhold, and Eshleman in reserve in AAA. Sulser and Lakins are the two pitchers at risk for DFA if more pitchers are acquired.

 

[Tony-OH]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

That puts 4 "long" men in the pen with Valdez being another guy who they might use that way.  I could see some of the starters/long men being flip flopped from bullpen/starter but you could be right on the initial rotation.    I think they are prepared for a lot of 5 inning type of starts that will eat into a bullpen quite a bit.   Wells seems like a lock to make it but it's looking more and more like they like Sceroler too.

Yeah, this year's bullpen is going to look way different than a typical year where you have 4-5 one inning type guys. 

[Sports Guy]

Did they announce Zimmerman as the 3rd starter?

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Did they announce Zimmerman as the 3rd starter?

No announcement yet.  He is starting the final spring game tomorrow so some people are making that assumption.

[eddie83]

4 minutes ago, SteveA said:

No announcement yet.  He is starting the final spring game tomorrow so some people are making that assumption.

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

Harvey likely starting the home opener.

 

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

 

Thank you.  Had not seen that.

[Frobby]

Congrats to Zimmermann, he earned it.   Now let’s hope he can keep it.   

[HowAboutThat]

I’m curious about Fry. He’s apparently been bad all spring, and with LeBlanc covering multiple innings as a second LH, why isn’t he vulnerable? 

[wildcard]

P

13 minutes ago, Philip said:

I’m curious about Fry. He’s apparently been bad all spring, and with LeBlanc covering multiple innings as a second LH, why isn’t he vulnerable? 

Probably because Fry had a 2.45 ERA last season while LeBlanc had an 8.06 ERA.   And Elias is putting more weight on last years MLB stats than he is this ST numbers/

[Tony-OH]

23 minutes ago, Philip said:

I’m curious about Fry. He’s apparently been bad all spring, and with LeBlanc covering multiple innings as a second LH, why isn’t he vulnerable? 

Phillip, if you are looking for information on a player, consider using Baseball Savant. Even if you are not familiar with all of the statcast analytical stats, a quick way to look at how a player performed the year before is the upper right of each player's page. this is where is there's enough data, it will give you the percentile that the player performed across MLB. 

Here is Paul Fry. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/paul-fry-643316?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

You will see his percentiles were very high for the most part.

[Frobby]

3 hours ago, Philip said:

I’m curious about Fry. He’s apparently been bad all spring, and with LeBlanc covering multiple innings as a second LH, why isn’t he vulnerable? 

As I mentioned yesterday, Fry had three very bad outings at the start of the spring and his three most recent ones have been good.   So hopefully he’s rounding into form.  

[interloper]

Makes sense to me. This is why the Akins move is no biggie. He's going to be with the team the majority of the year, almost guaranteed. The team is going to need so many innings and I think we will definitely see some injuries due to the extended layoff. Or at least the Os will be very careful with prospect innings. 

For example, at some point they are going to have to cut off guys like Zimmermann and Kremer from a sheer innings standpoint. Hence why bulk innings is more important than a good defensive 2B who won't hit much. 

It's a weird year, and you heard it from Elias himself: every pitcher on the 40 man is going to see innings at the big league level.

[Flash- bd]

Haven't been following spring training too closely, can someone explain to me why Dean Kremer is not ahead of Zimmerman and Harvey? After his good performances and good stuff shown at the end of last season, I'd have assumed he would be pretty much the biggest lock for the rotation after Means...what has happened for that not to be the case? I know Zimmerman has done well, but in the end Kremer probably has superior stuff (right?) and had a good debut in his 4 starts last season, whereas Zimmerman is debuting...

 

How has Zimmerman's stuff looked, for what it's worth? Has he been holding that improvement in velocity that he's shown over the last couple of years in the minors? 

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Flash- bd said:

Haven't been following spring training too closely, can someone explain to me why Dean Kremer is not ahead of Zimmerman and Harvey? After his good performances and good stuff shown at the end of last season, I'd have assumed he would be pretty much the biggest lock for the rotation after Means...what has happened for that not to be the case? I know Zimmerman has done well, but in the end Kremer probably has superior stuff (right?) and had a good debut in his 4 starts last season, whereas Zimmerman is debuting...

 

How has Zimmerman's stuff looked, for what it's worth? Has he been holding that improvement in velocity that he's shown over the last couple of years in the minors? 

One reason might be that Kremer and Lopez both pitched well against the Yankees, so with Zimm 3rd they'd line up to face them in the second series.