Rookie Pitchers - as Mike Hogan would say, "WOW!"
This evening it was announced that Scott Richmond was named Rookie of the Month in the AL. The MLB Press release says Ricky Romero received votes as well. Add to that, Robert Ray coming one out shy of a quality start in his first ML game and today's debut by Brett Cecil (6.0 IP, 1 ER, 6 SO, 0 BB) and that is some amazing rookie pitching. In 10 starts by rookies - 5 by Richmond, 3 by Romero and one each by Ray and Cecil - they have combined for:- a 6-0 record
- 63 innings pitched
- 8 Quality Starts
- 47 strike-outs vs 20 walks
- 2.43 ERA
- 1.175 WHIP
- 1.365 BF/O
- and opposition hitters are batting 0.216/0.256/0.364
Do I expect them to stay this good? No, it really isn't realistic to think this will last. However, I will enjoy it while it lasts.Pitching is the most precious asset in baseball and JP deserves a lot of credit for having this much rookie talent.
Do I have the same cursing powers as Mike Wilner? :-) In the past two games, the rookie starters have put up rather bad stats, but the stats don't always tell the whole story. Robert Ray deserved better. He got no run support and two of the plays leading to runs - by Hill and Rolen - should have been made. He still managed to last 6 1/3, so that only Murphy was used out of the 'pen. Richmond's streak of allowing less than 3 ER per start has ended, do to a weird second inning. Otherwise, he pitched extremely well posting the first CG for the Jays this season. This start might not be an improvement, but I think it is a great sign of things to come. I expect Richmond to solidify into a solid #2 or #3 starter, with the downside being a back of the rotation 4.5 ERA inning-eater.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting is that so many of Richmond's numbers are similar to Halladay's. Their ERA's are identical at 3.29, their WHIP's are 1.154 (H) vs 1.20 (R) and their OPS against are both about 0.675.