The other day I asked myself what good pitchers have come from Puerto Rico? I couldn't think of any. So I checked good old Wikipedia and they had a list of all MLB players from there. It wasn't sorted by position, so I scanned the whole list. Not a single named jumped out at me as "Oh yeah, I remember him, he was a good pitcher." (Hiram Bithorn was a pitcher, and the first Puerto Rican to make the majors, so that's why the stadium is named after him.) So it's entirely possible that Jonathan Sanchez is the best Puerto Rican pitcher ever. Maybe not.
I hate to be a downer in the crowd but I do not see Sanchez on this team much longer. We have starting pitcher depth beginning next year and I think Sanchez is prime trade material. His value, largely based on a good K%, is as high as I ever think it will be. I say trade him the moment a new guy (Martinez, MadBum, Alderson,etc.) is deemed ready. Hell trade him before that if we get any kind of bat. Sorry Bro. He just doesn't have enough control to be on this team.
Actually, I thought Sanchez pitched pretty well last night. The Mets have a much, much scarier line-up than we do in our dreams. We could have been ahead in this game (maybe not after the top of the ninth). Our problem is that we failed to take advantage of opportunity after opportunity. Maine tried to give us about 8 runs in the first couple innings, we didn't want them.
That's one of the problems with a weak-hitting team, no? Baseball is attritional--you have to keep giving yourself chances by getting guys on, not making outs, etc. Do that often enough and you'll get the hit that scores the runs you need to win. The pitching matchup was pretty even, and our comeback to tie the game was great. Alas, we didn't get the outs from Wilson we expected, and their hitters took advantage.
JCP you may be right about Sanchez, but that means he finishes the year with us. We don't have anyone ready to step in right now.
I guess that begs the VORP question--is Sanchez at "replacement level?" If so, then any warm body from AAA ought to work. Any one of these guys Billy Sadler, Kevin Pucetas, Ryan Sadowski, Matt Kinney, or Steve Hammond should be able to step in tomorrow and deliver an equivalent performance. I'm not sure that's the case. Yeah, Sanchez is a question mark, but we knew that going in to the year. I'm willing to roll with it because he's shown us more than any of our other recent youngsters like Correia and Hennessey. If he has trade vlue now, he'll still have it by the ASB. Someone will look at those K's and think "diamond in the rough."
7 comments:
The other day I asked myself what good pitchers have come from Puerto Rico? I couldn't think of any. So I checked good old Wikipedia and they had a list of all MLB players from there. It wasn't sorted by position, so I scanned the whole list. Not a single named jumped out at me as "Oh yeah, I remember him, he was a good pitcher."
(Hiram Bithorn was a pitcher, and the first Puerto Rican to make the majors, so that's why the stadium is named after him.)
So it's entirely possible that Jonathan Sanchez is the best Puerto Rican pitcher ever. Maybe not.
Baseball-Reference has biographical information. For "players born in Puerto Rico" here's the list.
Juan Pizarro, Javier Vazquez, Willie Hernandez, and Ed Figueroa might have a claim to the PR throne ahead of our boy.
Some day, though, after his multiple strikeout titles, JS will have a shot.
I hate to be a downer in the crowd but I do not see Sanchez on this team much longer. We have starting pitcher depth beginning next year and I think Sanchez is prime trade material. His value, largely based on a good K%, is as high as I ever think it will be. I say trade him the moment a new guy (Martinez, MadBum, Alderson,etc.) is deemed ready. Hell trade him before that if we get any kind of bat.
Sorry Bro. He just doesn't have enough control to be on this team.
Actually, I thought Sanchez pitched pretty well last night. The Mets have a much, much scarier line-up than we do in our dreams. We could have been ahead in this game (maybe not after the top of the ninth). Our problem is that we failed to take advantage of opportunity after opportunity. Maine tried to give us about 8 runs in the first couple innings, we didn't want them.
That's one of the problems with a weak-hitting team, no? Baseball is attritional--you have to keep giving yourself chances by getting guys on, not making outs, etc. Do that often enough and you'll get the hit that scores the runs you need to win. The pitching matchup was pretty even, and our comeback to tie the game was great. Alas, we didn't get the outs from Wilson we expected, and their hitters took advantage.
JCP you may be right about Sanchez, but that means he finishes the year with us. We don't have anyone ready to step in right now.
Actually I'm not so sure he helps our chances much. And if we are not contenders, your contention, what does it matter?
I guess that begs the VORP question--is Sanchez at "replacement level?" If so, then any warm body from AAA ought to work. Any one of these guys Billy Sadler, Kevin Pucetas, Ryan Sadowski, Matt Kinney, or Steve Hammond should be able to step in tomorrow and deliver an equivalent performance. I'm not sure that's the case. Yeah, Sanchez is a question mark, but we knew that going in to the year. I'm willing to roll with it because he's shown us more than any of our other recent youngsters like Correia and Hennessey. If he has trade vlue now, he'll still have it by the ASB. Someone will look at those K's and think "diamond in the rough."
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