Dean Kremer 2021

[panick]

He should probably get his hair cut.

[wildcard]

Kremer last pitched in a game on March 24th.   13 day ago.   He probably had a sim game or bullpen sessions in between but the lack of game time could have effected his control.

[Hazmat]

Would you re-do the trade right now for just Verdugo instead of the "haul" that we got?

[Tony-OH]

11 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Kremer last pitched in a game on March 24th.   13 day ago.   He probably had a sim game or bullpen sessions in between but the lack of game time could have effected his control.

He certainly was not sharp so perhaps this has something to do with his lack of command. I'm too concerned overall, especially after he took that liner off his leg and that certainly could have started to bother him by the 4th. 

His command was not very good this spring either, but I'll wait a few more outings before I'm going to make a judgement on whether he needs to go back and work on his command. 

The good news is the strikeout stuff was there and the cutter has become a real weapon for him though it seems to have cost him the effectiveness of his curveball.

[wildcard]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

He certainly was not sharp so perhaps this has something to do with his lack of command. I'm too concerned overall, especially after he took that liner off his leg and that certainly could have started to bother him by the 4th. 

His command was not very good this spring either, but I'll wait a few more outings before I'm going to make a judgement on whether he needs to go back and work on his command. 

The good news is the strikeout stuff was there and the cutter has become a real weapon for him though it seems to have cost him the effectiveness of his curveball.

Can you explain how that happens?  How does one pitch affect  another?

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

Can you explain how that happens?  How does one pitch affect  another?

There is a line of thinking that a working on a slider/cutter can affect the curveball and vice versa. Some guys have no issues throwing them both, but some guys can struggle with one or the other when they try to throw both.

Kremer's curveball was his strike out pitch in the minors, but he doesn't get a ton of swing and miss at the major league level on the pitch. Now that very well could have been why they gave him a cutter because they felt the curveball wouldn't work as well in the majors. Last year Kremer used the curveball as a putaway pitch just 17.2% of the time which was behind his fastball and cutter. 

Kremer's curveball is a slow curve (74-78 mph) vs the low 80s hammers that tend to get swings and misses and it's been effective enough in helping to set up his other pitchers, but I'd like to see him command it a but better in the zone. Saying that, he typical does a good job of keeping the pitch out of the heart of the zone and low which allows it to stay out of the curveball danger zones.

Either way, the curveball has been decently effective for him, but the cutter has become his main offspeed weapon. But he needs to command it all better than he did last night and this spring.

[WarehouseChatter]

Does Kremer’s stuff (when he has his control) play better in the pen?  Curious as to thoughts.

[Sports Guy]

18 minutes ago, WarehouseChatter said:

Does Kremer’s stuff (when he has his control) play better in the pen?  Curious as to thoughts.

Every single starters stuff plays better in the pen.

[LTO's]

1 hour ago, Hazmat said:

Would you re-do the trade right now for just Verdugo instead of the "haul" that we got?

Yes. Or for just May. The Dodgers didn't budge on those guys which is why they have a great GM and we.......did not.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Hazmat said:

Would you re-do the trade right now for just Verdugo instead of the "haul" that we got?

Probably 

You are really asking would you trade Diaz and Kremer for Verdugo.  I think I would.  Have to look into more but off the top of my head, I think Verdugo is more likely to be a very good player.

[Orioles0615]

8 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Yes. Or for just May. The Dodgers didn't budge on those guys which is why they have a great GM and we.......did not.

I would rather have one of them in a heart beat. But yea they were never an option, hell i wonder if Duquette even asked about them, 

[Bahama O's Fan]

He looked to have good "stuff" but just seemed to lack the control. 

[interloper]

I'm really not concerned about Kremer after one start against the best lineup in the division. He got himself in trouble and then had to use the kitchen sink to get out of an extremely high stress inning. It was actually amazing to watch - not sure anyone else in the rotation could pull that off other than Means. But he kind of used all his bullets and it was easy to see he was gassed by 75 pitches. 

He's not exactly a big dude and I do have concerns about his stamina a bit, especially when not only his command but his velocity dropped towards the end. But I think that will improve. We've seen him dominate at times, but look, he's also never been projected as some ace. He looks like a ML mid-rotation guy to me who had a tough night. But he laid it all out there and really pitched his butt off, IMO. Plutko did well, but gave up the rest of Kremer's runs. LeBlanc has no real business being on the team and I suspect he'll be one of the first to get the cut. 

[Hazmat]

14 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Probably 

You are really asking would you trade Diaz and Kremer for Verdugo.  I think I would.  Have to look into more but off the top of my head, I think Verdugo is more likely to be a very good player.

Verdugo seems to have some shortcomings as a defender but with his bat alone he may still prove more valuable than Kremer and Diaz.  Let's hope not.

[eddie83]

35 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Yes. Or for just May. The Dodgers didn't budge on those guys which is why they have a great GM and we.......did not.

Are you telling me Dan didn’t ask about their better prospects? He shopped Manny around and took the best deal. Running out of time with a deadline looming. 
 

Diaz is exhibit A of the limitations he had. Diaz cost the Dodgers a ton of money and then they use him to make a deal. Dan never had any talent like that.