June 27, 200619 yr While inquiring into the Pirates' lowly 11-game losing streak, I found this interesting quote in their mailbag column on their site... (sorry, I dont know how to properly quote these things)... "Why do the pitchers "collapse," as Dave puts it? Here is the crux of the problem. The pitchers, particularly the starters, don't have much experience at the big-league level. Although there are some phenoms who buck the trend, most of the best starters have a big-league track record of at least five years. These guys don't have much experience to draw from when they get in a jam." ...now as a Marlins fan, I scratched my head at this answer...because that basically does not apply to Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco, Dontrelle Wills '03, and now Anibal Sanchez... it just shows you us Marlin fans are lucky...somewhat blessed to have the talented crop of rookies that we do have...not every "young team" has what we have...now let's make the rest of the world notice...let's make some MORE noise in this crazy sport! GO FISH! ...but man it must suck to be a Pirates fan these days...
June 27, 200619 yr IIRC, Dontrelle had a pretty crummy second half of 2003 pre: 9-1, 2.08 post: 5-5, 4.60
June 27, 200619 yr Anibal has not pitched one start and you are already calling him consistent. Come on man.
June 27, 200619 yr We Marlins fans are not lucky to have these stud pitchers, instead they are a tribute to the Marlins organization and scouts. It is no luck when the scouts are excellent at their job and always seem to find a superstar in the making.
June 27, 200619 yr Author honestly, I hesistated on putting Anibal in the list...but I think the point is still there...Pittsburgh's pitchers come up from the minors and struggle mightly, while ours come up and shut out the Yankees
June 27, 200619 yr If you remember back to 1998, the young Marlins pitchers struggled a great deal with consistency and command. I'm not sure what would explain the difference between those pitchers and this season. Obviously, this group is very talented, but the 1998 group had guys with very good stuff as well (Dempster, Burnett, Penny, etc.) I think one reason is that this current group doesn't rely only on throwing hard to get outs, rather they are more polished pitchers. In 1998, there were a bunch of hard throwers, but had no quality 2nd or 3rd pitches. Another thing i've noticed is that the Marlins starters are not afraid to pitch inside, which is something a lot of young pitchers do not do. I'm really not sure how to explain it. Some of it is quality coaching, the rest must be mental. It can't just be that they are more talented than the Pirates pitchers or other young pitchers because there are a lot of equally talented pitchers that never figure it out. It is an interesting topic though.
June 27, 200619 yr Two possibilities: - How motivated do you think Jim Leyland was in 1998? Girardi, on the other hand, has been very upbeat throughout the season, even when we were losing. - We reeled in more talent in this fire sale than we did in the last one. And regarding that second possibility, is there an article somewhere that makes the comparison? That'd be awesome.
June 27, 200619 yr We should wait to see how the youngsters are pitching the second half of the season after they have a bunch of innings on their arms before giving everyone a pat on the back.
June 27, 200619 yr We have already been known for having the best scouts in the game plus under Loria, pitching is a scouting and drafting priority.
June 27, 200619 yr honestly, I hesistated on putting Anibal in the list...but I think the point is still there...Pittsburgh's pitchers come up from the minors and struggle mightly, while ours come up and shut out the Yankees So Zach Duke struggled last year.
June 27, 200619 yr honestly, I hesistated on putting Anibal in the list...but I think the point is still there...Pittsburgh's pitchers come up from the minors and struggle mightly, while ours come up and shut out the Yankees So Zach Duke struggled last year. Wasnt Sean Burnett a Pirate? I thought he did pretty good before he got hurt.
June 27, 200619 yr Our pitcher did struggle in the first 2 month badly. That until Girardi pull their ears and show them they do have talent, is that they are not affraid to use it.
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