greg smith- early usage

by antonio n on Apr 4, 2010 12:08 PM MDT

U-balz, Hammeltime, dlR and Cook had 2009 WARs of 5.7, 3.8, 3.7 & 1.9 respectively- so suggesting that Smith is currently our 5th best starter isnt meant to be disrespectful, the other guys are just pretty good. That said, I find it troublesome that Tracy is planning on starting him the second game of the season. Given that we have off-days the 8th & 12th of April, they could've held Smith back all the way until the 17th while keeping the other starters on four days rest. As is, Smith (owner of just a career 34% ground ball rate) will make 5 starts in April, including 3 at Coors. If they skipped his turn to keep the other guys on regular rest, he would make 3 starts in April, and only 1 at home.

Tracy seems to think there is an advantage to alternating the handedness of his starters, but I really doubt that it outweighs simply limiting the exposure of your worst pitcher when possible. What's more, Smith will be facing Randy Wolf in that second game- a matchup in which the lefty-dominated rox hitters might struggle to score runs. (In 4 starts versus Colorado last year, Wolf held them to a .205 BAA.)

For what its worth, Smith looked decent in Arizona this spring- but it really feels like the team is needlessly playing with fire here in a division that hasn't had a very large margin for error recently. Francis also might be able to come back after missing only the minimum time to push Smith back to the pen- but that also would mean we could have avoided using him altogether.

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).

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Starting Smith Game 2 wasn't the plan all along, so the criticism there is a little misguided

just as it would have been for Clint Hurdle naming Kip Wells the “Opening Day starter” in 2008. Francis was tabbed as Game 2’s starter and the rotation was set up down the stretch in ST to fit that. At the point of Francis’ injury, it would be difficult to move Hammel up. He could switch with Cook, but that’s essentially no different. It would be silly for Smith to have the home opener start. Frankly, I don’t think it’s a big deal to have Smith start Game 2.

Additionally, we probably should not plan on Francis returning at the minimum amount of time. It could very easily be more, and it would be better to have Smith stretched out.

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein

by Andrew T. Fisher on Apr 4, 2010 12:56 PM MDT reply actions

not advocating

shuffling the rotation to give smith the home opener, I’m talking about skipping him altogether when possible- and the 2 off days make it very possible. Hammel last pitched the 29th, so the difficulty of moving him up to this game 2 start seems negligible. Cook would keep his game 3 start & dlr could then pitch the home opener, followed by ubaldo & hammel again on 4 days rest. then another off day, cook and dlr, then ubaldo & hammel again on 4 days rest so that we wouldnt see smith until the 17th.

As far as stretching Smith out, that seems like something that could be done outside of game action. I am equally pessimistic about Francis’ return- but that doesnt mean the rox need to double-down on the risk that starting smith entails by giving him innings our better pitchers could be assuming.

by antonio n on Apr 4, 2010 2:05 PM MDT up reply actions

Smith arguably looked as good, if not better than, Cook and Hammel in the Spring

Spring training results don’t always translate to April and May, but then neither do last year’s numbers. I’m sure Cook will get things figured out but in the meantime I’m not sure that a current Smith inning is worse than a current Cook or Hammel inning. We’ll find out in a few minutes…

There’s also merit in bringing Smith in now and showing confidence in him early in the year. He could be very valuable in the rotation later in the season if Francis isn’t able to return or someone else gets injured and it’s better to find out if he can perform early in the season than in August or September with the pressure of a pennant race.

by RoarFrom112 on Apr 6, 2010 6:00 PM MDT reply actions