Cole Irvin 2023

[baltfan]

Interesting Irvin said he thought working out of the pen had helped him especially with the first inning where he normally has trouble.   He hasn’t been the innings eater we traded for, but the guy’s attitude is great.  He has also been much better since coming back from the minors. 

[Aristotelian]

Irvin has been very solid since coming back. 4.92 ERA overall doesn't jump out at you but it's impressive after how bad he started. 4.06 ERA in is last 15 games. Only bad game was that 4 run mess vs NYY in a game we were already losing and a three of those runs were assisted by Bryan Baker. Loved the pace and command last night. No fear going against a tough pitcher and getting no run support.

[sportsfan8703]

Is Irvin essentially already what we want Means to be?

A lefty throwing 91 with a nasty change up and breaking ball. A much needed lefty for OPACY with the Wall in LF that RH have to deal with. 

We gave up Hernaiz for him. Ok… Who would be the  OH darling.. Ortiz or Hernaiz?  Both would be in AAA right now?

Overall, we just underrate this dude. We can’t hold it against him that he was our big offseason SP move. That’s in the past. The reality is that we have him for 3 years beyond this season. He’s out of options next year, but he’s a valuable #6/7 SP, a long man in the pen, and was running it up to 94/95 in short inning relief stints. We’ve all seen the price of pitching. Irvin was worth it. 

Edited August 13, 2023 by sportsfan8703

[banks703]

11 minutes ago, baltfan said:

Interesting Irvin said he thought working out of the pen had helped him especially with the first inning where he normally has trouble.   He hasn’t been the innings eater we traded for, but the guy’s attitude is great.  He has also been much better since coming back from the minors. 

He has been a lot better since his last stint in Norfolk.

I had high hopes for Irvin coming into this year. I still think that he is going to contribute down the stretch and I’m glad that he’s performed well enough to get another opportunity to start. What they do with him when Means, TWells and Hall are back in Baltimore will be interesting. I wonder if they envision a piggyback situation with them. Essentially they have eight starters there between Irvin, Gibson, Flaherty, Braddish, TWells, GrayRod, Meansy and Kremer. 

[Sports Guy]

Another guy that people ridiculously threw away. He is a command/control guy…always has been. He’s a solid back end starter when he has that. When he doesn’t, he’s not.

For most of his brief MLB career, he has had that. Not really some big surprise that he would find that and be a solid contributor again.

[sportsfan8703]

53 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Is Irvin essentially already what we want Means to be?

A lefty throwing 91 with a nasty change up and breaking ball. A much needed lefty for OPACY with the Wall in LF that RH have to deal with. 

We gave up Hernaiz for him. Ok… Who would be the  OH darling.. Ortiz or Hernaiz?  Both would be in AAA right now?

Overall, we just underrate this dude. We can’t hold it against him that he was our big offseason SP move. That’s in the past. The reality is that we have him for 3 years beyond this season. He’s out of options next year, but he’s a valuable #6/7 SP, a long man in the pen, and was running it up to 94/95 in short inning relief stints. We’ve all seen the price of pitching. Irvin was worth it. 

Just another example of sometimes guys can get sent down to AAA, step in a pothole, or just get moved to a lesser role, and bounce back. We’ve seen it with Bradish, Irvin, Grayson, and Gunnar to some extent. It should give us hope for guys like Ortiz, Hall, Wells, and Cowser. It’s not a death sentence. 

[LA2]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Just another example of sometimes guys can get sent down to AAA, step in a pothole, or just get moved to a lesser role, and bounce back. We’ve seen it with Bradish, Irvin, Grayson, and Gunnar to some extent. It should give us hope for guys like Ortiz, Hall, Wells, and Cowser. It’s not a death sentence. 

How so with Bradish and Gunnar? We just kept playing them until they improved aside from time off due to real injuries (pot holes). Yes, eager to see what Hall and Wells may provide along the lines you sketched.

[sportsfan8703]

Stat cast had him at 94/95 during last night’s appearance. We’ll see if he can work his way into higher leverage pen spots before the playoffs. 

[Tony-OH]

Irvin is throwing harder than he's ever thrown in the major leagues including in relief roles when he first came up.

Irvin is pretty good with 1-25 pitches holding batters to a .250/.319/.346/.665 slash line.

 

[Frobby]

I loved the interview they did with him about his days on the grounds crew at Anaheim as a high schooler.   Irvin is definitely a guy you’d love to have a beer with.  

[Three Run Homer]

Glad to hear that he's not starting at Fenway.  I'm not ready to give up on him as a starter for this season yet, though.  Clearly we need to give Means a chance, but the job of 4th starter for the playoffs is still open until someone proves that they deserve it.   I would have no problem giving Irvin a playoff start at home or in another park with generous LF dimensions, as long as the scheduled home plate umpire has a track record of giving pitchers a fair shake on the outside corner where Irvin lives.  

[luismatos4prez]

I've decided I like Cole Irvin. He's been solid out of the bullpen (3.98 FIP before tonight's strong outing) and competitive as a swingman starter (4.71 FIP). I hope they offer him a couple million in arbitration to reprise that role next year.

[RZNJ]

7 hours ago, luismatos4prez said:

I've decided I like Cole Irvin. He's been solid out of the bullpen (3.98 FIP before tonight's strong outing) and competitive as a swingman starter (4.71 FIP). I hope they offer him a couple million in arbitration to reprise that role next year.

A LHP who is starter insurance, relatively cheap, and is an Elias move that is on the minus side of the ledger, seems like a good bet to be back.

[Moose Milligan]

I wish he’d start a Rays game instead of Flaherty, that’s for sure. 

[Sports Guy]

8 hours ago, luismatos4prez said:

I've decided I like Cole Irvin. He's been solid out of the bullpen (3.98 FIP before tonight's strong outing) and competitive as a swingman starter (4.71 FIP). I hope they offer him a couple million in arbitration to reprise that role next year.

I think it almost a guarantee that he’s back next year. There is no reason for him not to be.

He shouldn’t be a starter next year, at least going into the season(unless there are injuries in ST) but he definitely should be on the team.