Relax about the pitching

[eddie83]

23 minutes ago, interloper said:

I will not relax about the pitching. Lol. It's a huge issue. 

It’s a huge issue for all teams. That levels it out. SEA has what looks to be a deep rotation. Is Gil going to last in NY? What about Cole? 

 

Trade deadline is 5 weeks from tomorrow and there isn’t some stud SP being traded here to save the day. 

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Spot on here.  

We'll see what Elias does at the deadline but I am not getting my hopes up.

Anything can happen in the playoffs...the Rangers got hot at the right time last year, I think we all wanted to face them in the playoffs because we thought their bullpen was weak.  

Sure and guys can step up.  We got a good start from Joe Saunders in the playoffs.

But I don’t want to rely on guys that you don’t have a ton of confidence in stepping up out of nowhere.

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

It’s a huge issue for all teams. That levels it out. SEA has what looks to be a deep rotation. Is Gil going to last in NY? What about Cole? 

 

Trade deadline is 5 weeks from tomorrow and there isn’t some stud SP being traded here to save the day. 

And this is really the key. The Os may add a starter at the deadline but I would venture a guess that the starter they add (or any starter that’s even available) isn’t going to be a difference making guy that we will be excited to go to in October.  
 

 

[Since1984]

39 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Spot on here.  

We'll see what Elias does at the deadline but I am not getting my hopes up.

Anything can happen in the playoffs...the Rangers got hot at the right time last year, I think we all wanted to face them in the playoffs because we thought their bullpen was weak.  

The Rangers also traded for Sherzer, Montgomery and Chapman by the deadline.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Since1984 said:

The Rangers also traded for Sherzer, Montgomery and Chapman by the deadline.

Bingo.

[eddie83]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

And this is really the key. The Os may add a starter at the deadline but I would venture a guess that the starter they add (or any starter that’s even available) isn’t going to be a difference making guy that we will be excited to go to in October.  
 

 

It would be nice on “paper” to upgrade the #3 spot or at least get someone who can compete for that spot in the playoffs. 
 

That said you aren’t throwing your #5 SP in the playoffs and your #4 only as needed. Those off days change everything including how it impacts the pen. 
 

We all know what happened last year. BAL gets the bye and gets swept. Yes we had Kremer going in Game 3 but the real issue was being down 2-0.  The difference between winning the division and not this year is Burnes/GRod starting potentially 4 DS games to 3. Plus obviously having to win the WC series itself. The thing is the last 2 years we have only had one WC series go 3 games (SD-NYM) in 22. The Padres did have strong SP depth and also didn’t rip up their pen. We have yet to really see a team use up a bunch of arms winning a WC series playing in extra inning games etc. 

[eddie83]

8 minutes ago, Since1984 said:

The Rangers also traded for Sherzer, Montgomery and Chapman by the deadline.

Scherzer didn’t have a huge impact in the pkayoffs. His best outing was a scoreless 3 IP. Chapman was fine but not dominant. Clearly Montgomery was a huge add for them. 

[O's84]

6 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

It would be nice on “paper” to upgrade the #3 spot or at least get someone who can compete for that spot in the playoffs. 
 

That said you aren’t throwing your #5 SP in the playoffs and your #4 only as needed. Those off days change everything including how it impacts the pen. 
 

We all know what happened last year. BAL gets the bye and gets swept. Yes we had Kremer going in Game 3 but the real issue was being down 2-0.  The difference between winning the division and not this year is Burnes/GRod starting potentially 4 DS games to 3. Plus obviously having to win the WC series itself. The thing is the last 2 years we have only had one WC series go 3 games (SD-NYM) in 22. The Padres did have strong SP depth and also didn’t rip up their pen. We have yet to really see a team use up a bunch of arms winning a WC series playing in extra inning games etc. 

You're relying on Irvin/Suarez/Povich/Kremer as your #3 starter.  Then you still need a #4.  That's just not going to cut it.  And that's before mentioning the pen, even with off days.  We need better pitchers if we want to make a deep run realistically.  

[LGOrioles]

6 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

It would be nice on “paper” to upgrade the #3 spot or at least get someone who can compete for that spot in the playoffs. 
 

That said you aren’t throwing your #5 SP in the playoffs and your #4 only as needed. Those off days change everything including how it impacts the pen. 
 

We all know what happened last year. BAL gets the bye and gets swept. Yes we had Kremer going in Game 3 but the real issue was being down 2-0.  The difference between winning the division and not this year is Burnes/GRod starting potentially 4 DS games to 3. Plus obviously having to win the WC series itself. The thing is the last 2 years we have only had one WC series go 3 games (SD-NYM) in 22. The Padres did have strong SP depth and also didn’t rip up their pen. We have yet to really see a team use up a bunch of arms winning a WC series playing in extra inning games etc. 

I don’t think Bradish was great last year but hard to fault him too much. He only went 4.2 IP, but had 9 K’s to 1 BB. He gave up 7 hits (.583 BABIP), but had a 40% whiff rate and nearly a negative FIP. Obviously the results weren’t amazing (3.86 ERA), but the problem was definitely Rodriguez and game 3.

They likely can’t win without good Grod regardless of who is their number 3, but I definitely do not think Kremer or Irvin can be that number 3. They don’t need an ace but they need someone that is better than Kremer/Irvin. Fedde keeps coming to mind due to his season so far (3.05 ERA, 3.37 xERA, 2.1 WAR) and the fact he is under contract next year too. He’s not the sexy name, but he’s been legitimately good, would be their clear number 3, would help next year, does not have major platoon splits, and would not cost one of their top guys. 

[glenn__davis]

51 minutes ago, interloper said:

We were before all the injuries. We are merely a playoff contender at this point. 

This is a very good team that will almost certainly make the playoffs. If you make the playoffs you're a WS contender... or at least as much as the remaining teams. 

[Moose Milligan]

23 minutes ago, Since1984 said:

The Rangers also traded for Sherzer, Montgomery and Chapman by the deadline.

Scherzer didn't pitch against us, got lit up against Houston and only pitched three innings in the World Series.   

Monty had mixed results in the playoffs.  He was great against Tampa, not great against us, great against Houston and not great against the Diamondbacks.

Chapman has a 5.40 ERA in the World Series but was solid before that.

These players are big names but let's not pretend that they were all dominant in the playoffs and World Series.  

[foxfield]

1 minute ago, glenn__davis said:

This is a very good team that will almost certainly make the playoffs. If you make the playoffs you're a WS contender... or at least as much as the remaining teams. 

Don’t interrupt the rhetoric. We can’t be a contender without……how can we be a contender if we don’t have….

 

All in all it’s just…another brick in the wall. 

[LookitsPuck]

Teams to target for SP help based on standings: White Sox, Angels, Athletics, Marlins, Rockies, Giants

• Erick Fedde (White Sox) - 3.05 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 1.145 WHIP. Signed through 2025. 
• Tyler Anderson (Angels) - 2.48 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 1.177 WHIP. Signed through 2025. I'm not as sold on Anderson, though. His 1.54 SO/W is pretty lackluster.
• JP Sears (Athletics) - 5.04 ERA, 4.95 FIP, 1.333 WHIP. Signed through 2028. Profiles more of a back of the rotation arm. 
• Trevor Rodgers (Marlins) - 4.90 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.553 WHIP. Signed through 2026.
• Cal Quantrill (Rockies) - 3.50 ERA, 4.32 FIP, 1.300 WHIP. Signed through 2025. 
• Logan Webb (Giants) - 3.16 ERA, 2.75 FIP, 1.225 WHIP. Signed through 2028.

Now, I think you can nix Logan Webb from this realistically. He's elite, young, controllable for far too long. The Giants would want an absolute haul.

To me, you're going to not want to overpay due to controllability. So that nixes JP Sears, which really doesn't matter because he's not all that special.

Who would you rather have out of Fedde, Anderson, Rodgers, or Quantrill?

Fedde doesn't have a track record to suggest that his performance is sustainable, but his numbers are the best. To me, it'd be in this order:

1. Fedde
2. Quantrill
3. Anderson
4. Rodgers

I don't think anybody else is going to be doing a fire-sale. Maybe circumstances changes for teams like the Blue Jays, Rangers, Tigers, or Rays. But not at this time.

Fedde seems like he'd be the most affordable. If the other teams I mentioned end up selling (Jays, Rangers, Tigers, Rays), there are a ton of folks to try and trade for. 

[maybenxtyr]

Kremer probably shouldn't have started game 3. There were some extenuating circumstances, but they weren't going to let Gibson start. I think Kremer is a better pitcher and I would still trust him in a playoff game. They still need to add a starter and a couple of relievers though.

[LGOrioles]

1 minute ago, Moose Milligan said:

Scherzer didn't pitch against us, got lit up against Houston and only pitched three innings in the World Series.   

Monty had mixed results in the playoffs.  He was great against Tampa, not great against us, great against Houston and not great against the Diamondbacks.

Chapman has a 5.40 ERA in the World Series but was solid before that.

These players are big names but let's not pretend that they were all dominant in the playoffs and World Series.  

I think they certainly helped the depth of their team though. I’m sure Scherzer/Montgomery were better options than having Dane Dunning or Martin Perez start games instead. Similarly, Chapman probably gave them better innings than if his innings were dispersed between Chris Stratton and Will Smith.