I suppose this was supposed to be a clever headline. It isn’t.
Anyway, the MLB.com Notes for today focus on Ricky Stone, who seems to be getting a lot of use lately due to his ability to. . . warm up quickly.
“You call down to the bullpen to get him ready,” manager Dave Miley said, “and [bullpen coach Tom] Hume calls back, it seems, 45 seconds to a minute later and says he’s ready.”
Somebody tell Aurlia to quit griping about playing time. If he just keeps his glove on his hand and his helmet on his head, Miley will take notice and get him out there. Romano’s uncanny baserunning “efficiency” (based on the “run to contact” theory) has also been appreciated by Miley.
I saw that earlier. Brilliant isn’t it. This is why were competing for the divis…er, never mind.
The Reds are going to have to start developing thier own pitchers through the minor league system. This bottom feeding stuff is not working out.
Drafting HS pitchers isn’t a mistake. They are just drafting the wrong ones. In 2002 we drafted Chris Gruler. HS pitchers still availible included Scott Kazmir, and Zack Grenkie. Matt Cain was also drafted that year, and while he isn’t in the bigs yet, he’s the best pitching prospect not named Felix. HS pitchers really carry almost the same inherint risk as College pitchers do, we have just been drafting poorly.
I love the Homer Bailey pick. I think he has a chance to be as good as anyone in the draft. Plus we have 3-4 year to get him ready. College pitchers who are drafted high tend to be rushed even if they’re not ready because the perception is they’re more polished. Case in point Dewon Brazlton. Never had good offspeed stuff. Was rushed to the majors and now his confidence is shot, and he may not even become a decent pitcher.
You’re right, that was poorly worded. They way I ment it was that if it took 3-4 years that guy is still 21-22, where a college pitcher is 25-26 if it takes them that time to develop. If Homer Bailey is healthy in 3 years, I think he will be better than or at least as good as every pitcher in the first round. And he’ll only be 21.
I agree. I just don’t think it’s a mistake to draft HS pitchers. This year there are 4 college pitchers I would draft before any HS pitcher. But it’s not always a mistake. College pitchers naturally have more experience and they’ve made it through the first three years without serious injury(if there a top pick), but we can’t leave HS pitchers out of the equation completely just because Gurler and Howington got hurt.
While I think O’Brien is on par with Lamar as the worst GM in baseball, his decision to draft Homer Bailey was a good one in my opinion. If I were the Padres last year and decided to go cheap and not draft Weaver, Neimann, or Drew I would have drafted Bailey because of his projectability. I think as Reds fans we are jaded about HS pitchers and many of them make it to the Bigs quickly. I.E. Hayden Penn, Kazmir, Greinke, ect.
The safe bet is always the proven college pitcher, but sometimes a gamble pays off with a great pitcher.