Walk On The Wild Side
Bases loaded, bottom of the ninth - one of the most climactic situations in baseball. Your team has a flamethrower on the mound, hoping to secure a tie and send the game into extras. The managers nervously sit in the dugout, sweating like pigs and biting their nails. Pitch one is outside. Pitch two is outside, again. The batter is ahead 3-0 after pitch number three. The hurler regroups, and throws a fastball right down the middle for strike one. Another fastball near the center, this time fouled off. 3-2 count... the pitcher begins his windup... throws... ball four. Walk-off walk.
* Clarity on some stats - P/IP or pitches per inning; K/BB or strikeouts per walk; BB/9 or walks per nine innings.
The team ERA was nationally recognized, (probably the only Pittsburgh acknowledgment from ESPN all year), but 657 walks is an insane total in 162 games. The rotation doesn't exactly have starters that rely on the strikeout, aside from maybe Snell, but craftiness only comes to a pitcher that can keep his control.
There were many culprits in the catastrophe that was the 2008 Buccaneer pitching staff. I have decided to focus on five players - Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Tyler Yates, Evan Meek, Craig Hansen - who each had... well... lets just say rough seasons. We'll start with Snell:
Snell went from a breakout season in 2007 (3.76 ERA, 177 SO) to an unbelievably bad campaign last year. Some believe his lack of control and decreased velocity was due to an elbow injury in late June that eventually led to a trip to the DL. Was that a cover up for a tired arm, or was Snell just enduring a junior-season slump? Snell has always had an awkward throw to the plate, but it seemed as if he would just "sling shot" his pitches. Control will undoubtedly be searched for in 2009, as the right-hander only allowed three or more BBs in 21 of his 31 starts. Also, for those who care to know, Snell didn't intentionally walk a batter all season. Manager John Russell did his best to try and let the right-hander loose, but it was to no avail.
You've seen it happen too many times. The outrageous inconsistencies of some major league pitchers drive fans and coaches alike mad. When I worked with my high school baseball team, there was nothing that angered our coach more than giving up the (unintentional) free pass. Yes, even more than those heartbreaking homeruns and embarrassing errors. Walks can kill a momentum for pitcher or create momentum for a patient hitter. Obviously, it takes some skill to walk in five for a run... but walks eventually lead to easy-to-hit pitches, which then in turn lead to turmoil. Multiple BBs are stats you'd most likely never want to see on a pitching line, especially if that line ends in an L.
Many hitters, among other things, have gained recognition for taking that easy stroll down to first. OF Barry Bonds (2,558 career) and DH Frank Thomas (1,667 career) are two notable players who have reached base countless times via the base on balls. Many of those instances might have been thanks to intentional walks, but I guarantee that Bonds and Thomas came around to score more times than not. Pitchers Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson were very wild early in their careers before finally figuring out the strike zone, which allowed them to dominate their leagues. Maybe control does come with age, but with Pirates management's new "fetish" of power, a 96-MPH hit-or-miss fastball has seemingly taken over in importance from a controlled mid-80s slider.
Bad idea? You 'betcha. Lou Pinella once said that "...you throw the ball, they hit the ball, done deal." Sorry Lou, but that is not how it works. The Pittsburgh Pirates were torn apart last season with ineffectiveness on the mound. It was surely walks-galore for then pitching coach Jeff Andrews, who apparently had his hands full in uncontrolled pitchers. These National League Rankings show just how bad the Buccos pitching staff was:
LAST in ERA (5.08)
FIRST in BB allowed (657)
15th in SO (963)
12th in P/IP (16.75)
LAST in K/BB (1.47)
15th in BB/9 (4.06)
RHP Ian Snell
7-12, 5.42 ERA in 31 GS ... 164.1 IP, 89 BB/135 SO ...
18.29 P/IP, 1.52 K/BB, 4.87 BB/9, 7.39 K/9
6-9, 6.66 ERA in 21 GS ... 105.1 IP, 70 BB/67 SO ...
RHP Evan Meek
18.06 P/IP, 0.96 K/BB, 5.98 BB/9, 5.72 K/9
What didn't go wrong with Mr. Gorzy in '08? 6.66 ERA, 70 BB, and a trip to Triple-A, all of which brought on many doubts for the Pirates young star. The southpaw couldn't baffle batters, leading to multiple thrashings even in the six games he did win. Notable affairs for Gorzelanny include his two April starts home and away against Chicago (5.0 IP 14 ER 8 BB total), and his final major league start against Milwaukee before returning in August (4.2 IP 7 ER 4 BB). Tom's season ended on a sourer note than from where it began, finishing September with a ligament strain on his throwing hand.
Will the lefty be able to catch the rebound?
RHP Tyler Yates
6-3, 4.66 ERA in 72 G ... 73.1 IP, 41 BB/63 SO ...
16.83 P/IP, 1.54 K/BB, 5.03 BB/9, 7.73 K/9 ...
The flame-throwing Hawaiian was a surprise to the front office after being acquired from the Braves in March. He probably put together the best season out of any of these five. He patched together the 6-7 innings when called upon (which was way more than it should've been), and did a solid job bringing the heat to his repertoire. However, Yates struggled away from PNC Park (6.60 ERA) and walked way too many batters to have a fully successful season. Yates proved that a reliever could also be a power pitcher if they want to, but with walks (41 total for Tyler) and wildness (5 wild pitches) comes disaster.
0-1, 6.92 ERA in 9 G ... 13.0 IP, 12 BB/7 SO ...
16.31 P/IP, 0.58 K/BB, 8.31 BB/9, 4.85 K/9 ...
Meek didn't spend much time in the Burgh, but the time he did spend left many fans with "base on ball" nightmares. Meek's infamous performance came in the Bucs home opener against the Cubbies, where the right-hander picked up a loss after walking five in an inning of work... Doing something like that takes some skill on Meek's part. He has shown better signs in winter ball (2.93 ERA, 8 BB/14 SO in 18 G), but with the mistakes from last season still haunting him, Meek and the Bucs management want to see some more progress.
RHP Craig Hansen
1-4, 7.47 ERA in 16 G w/ PIT ... 15.2 IP, 20 BB/7 SO ...
19.47 P/IP, 0.35 K/BB, 11.49 BB/9, 4.02 K/9 ...
Last and certainly not least is righty Craig Hansen. Hansen was acquired as part of the Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez trade, heading to Pittsburgh from Boston along with OF Brandon Moss. Saying Hansen struggled is putting it mildly. In the second half, Craig was god-awful. He never found the strike zone, didn't show much pop, and had more pitches per inning than any other reliever in the Bucs 'pen (yes... even in the short time he played there).
Even without the DH, Hansen's move to the NL did not help his ERA, raising it to over 7.00. He was scored upon in 7 of his 16 appearances and gave up 2 runs or more runs in three of them. He tossed three wild pitches, which all cost the buccos runs, and hit the backstop so many times that I can still hear the slap of the ball against it. Hansen could one day be a solid set-up man for closer Matt Capps, and I really hope that happens, but for right now he has no business being anywhere near a major league club.
- CONTINUE TO PART 2 OF "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE" -
Great blog. It has such a professional feel to it. More so than the actual "Pros" on here. Keep up the great work. I have heard some rumors about the Braves being interested in Ian Snell. I doubt it will happen but the Braves are desperate at this point for anything.
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