Nny Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 (tRA is normally in "runs per 9" form. I converted it to "earned runs per 9" in the image above) As can be seen he has improved across the board. What we were expected out of West was what he had shown in the minors: A lot of strike outs, a lot of GB's, and a lot of walks. His first time up, the only thing he showed was a lot of walks and was horrible at evrything else. This time around, the GBs are back. While he's strike ups are up a lot, it's still only at a league average rate. But with the control he's shown, you take that trade off every day. You have to expected the HRs to raise with that small of a HR/FB (if he keeps 33% FB rate and let's say a 9% HR/FB, we're talking about a ~0.88 HR/9), probably more walks, but also hopefully more Ks to negate that. If we can get a ~4 ERA from him next year, which he has shown he can do in this stretch, that's really big. I wasn't too hopeful on him next season with what his first call up showed. And while we do have to understand the implications of a small sample size, he is showing that he can be the real deal this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotcorner Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Very important though as he's the next guy in line to become a fixture in the rotation behind JJ/Nolasco/Volstad next season. 5th spot's still up for grabs but I assume Miller will start out. I didn't particularly think West would be called up this year, hoped he'd have a full season of AA under his belt. But being sent down seems to have helped. Another case where the Marlins m.o. of sending young pitchers back down to work out the kinks looks like it's paying off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultimopain Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Yeah I agree, he's been much better this time around. The only thing that concerns me is his inability to go 5 innings on a consistent basis, he seems to run into trouble in the 4th / 5th each time out. Is it fatigue / what point of the season we're in? Is it a lack of focus? Whatever it is if he's to become a mainstay in the rotation he needs to go deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nny Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 Yeah I agree, he's been much better this time around. The only thing that concerns me is his inability to go 5 innings on a consistent basis, he seems to run into trouble in the 4th / 5th each time out. Is it fatigue / what point of the season we're in? Is it a lack of focus? Whatever it is if he's to become a mainstay in the rotation he needs to go deeper. It definintely has been a big problem (he's averaging less than 5 IP per start during his second call up, which is just horrible). But it seems the problem is BABIP. He has a massive .378 BABIP. Weather it's because he's unlucky/bad defense or because he's throwing more hittable balls we can't really say, but considering his small LD% and good numbers elsewhere it's likely luck/defense related. Something to remember though is he's still young and not even two years removed from surgery. Building arm strength might be an issue at the moment. Speaking of which, we should probably look into shutting him down. Here's he's IP's per year '05: 49.1 (drafted) '06: 120.1 '07: did not pitch '08: 100.2 '09: 152 very very bad. He's only averaged 81 pitches per start since coming back, so it certainly might be a fatigue issue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystikol87 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 The problem with such an excellent thread-starter post is that I'm not sure what to discuss............... Nice turnaround for the kid, though. If we could get a 4 ERA out of him next year as our 4th starter that would be good stuff, since I expect sub-4 out of JJ/Ricky. That would put us well on our way to a 4 ERA average out of the rotation, which would 6th in the NL this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sirspud Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I'm not sure that he starts next year in the rotation. Even though he's shown improvement with some of his components, he still isn't giving us the command he needs to give us full, effective starts. I don't have a crystal ball so I don't know what we'll be doing in the offseason. What I do know is that we have a lot of candidates for starter spots (and you could even include Badenhop as well), but very few good ones. Either way, the guys who are out of options (Miller, Vanden Hurk) are going to get the first crack if they are with the team next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nny Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 I believe Miller will still have an option left, as he's eligible for 4 options. And I'd love for him to start in NOLA although I know he won't Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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