Tom Wilhelmsen as Starter
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Seattle Sports Insider never understood how Tom Wilhelmsen could be relieving in the first place. Now that Baker has called for the switch back, the concept of his return to the rotation is bound to regain traction.
Actually, our go-to man Geoffy clearly explains why Wilhelmsen was moved back to the pen in 2011: (1) the Mariners were desperate for bullpen help and (2) Wilhelmsen's results in the rotation were questionable at the time.
Larry Stone reports that Wilhelmsen is going back to Tacoma and that it isn't known whether it is to get stretched out as an SP.
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Theory and Practice, Dept.
In terms of the ol' "Starter's Rhythm" camera angle, you would think it was a NO-BRAINER to put him in the rotation.
- Extreme starter's BODY
- Extreme starter's MOTION
- Throws a huge 12-6 curve
- Seems to be wild his first 10 pitches
- Extreme starter's RHYTHM (is not a max-effort type)
I can't even remember the last time I saw a major league closer as tall and lanky as Wilhelmsen, throwing downhill, with a short stride, pitching the 9th inning. There must have been people, but none come to mind. Not only that, but Wilhelmsen's release point has been getting HIGHER and HIGHER and ... HIIIIGGGGHerrrr:
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When pitchers frazzz in-and-out with control, the LAST thing you'd do would be to ask them to pitch one inning in relief, much less close. Can you imagine the rookie Clayton Kershaw, or rookie Gio Gonzalez, being asked to close?! Rotation pitching allows them to (1) have some bad games if they want and (2) groove in their release points over the course of several innings. Notice, above, that Wilhelmsen's release point is majorly inconsistent.
Imagine, if you will, the 1990 Randy Johnson coming in to pitch the 9th inning.... ::shudder::
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Joe Shrink Sez
Counseling is part of Dr. D's day gig. If he were Wilhelmsen's counselor, he would be investigating the question of, "Do you feel you belong in the major leagues? Is it possible you don't?" and would probably, in all seriousness, hypnotize him to get to the bottom of his anxieties. What is the worst part of blowing a save? What do you think people will say about you? What does it say about you as a person if you throw a bad pitch?, and so on ...
The point is, Tom Wilhelmsen is a guy who has every right to emotionally (right-brain) feel like he is --- > a "Poser." Of the 25 players in the clubhouse, he could be the most fragile.
And as a completely separate issue, he's got unreliable physical skills ... this is the guy you ask to handle more pressure than any other player on your team?
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Previously In the Rotation
It's true that some guys don't have the arm strength to pitch in the rotation. Goose Gossage was pretty lousy as a starter, but once he could pour everything into 15 pitches it was a different discussion.
We remember being very frustrated that Rafael Soriano wasn't in the rotation, but it turned out later that his durability just wasn't up to it. In the rotation he was a hittable 92-94 without much else; in the pen he was 97-101 and 'effectively wild.' And the Mariners were right to keep him in the pen. Maybe that is the way with Wilhelmsen. If so, the Mariners are probably the ones who would know.
Wilhelmsen, back in 2011, had a crummy 40:26 strikeout:walk ratio in 60 innings at AA.
Of course, he was out of baseball from 2004 to 2010, apparently not pitching anywhere until 2009. He had only just rejoined baseball in 2010, with only 70-odd innings back in pro ball under his belt. As we all know, he has grown since the summer of 2011. It would be quite odd to take the 2011 experiment as the end of the discussion; Tom Wilhelmsen as a pitcher isn't a finished product NOW, much less in 2011.
Can a young pitcher bounce back from a false start in the rotation, to succeed there later? As we'll see in the next article, the unusual thing would be if such a "swing man" did NOT fail in his first attempt at starting.
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If the Stuff Translates to the Rotation
There were 5 starters in major league baseball, both leagues, who sustained 94+ MPH last year. There were only 13 who sustained 93 MPH.
In fact, it is my considered opinion that Wilhelmsen is overthrowing the ball as a reliever -- he seems to think he needs 98-99 MPH every pitch, and he yanks pitches wide of the zone. Wouldn't you say Gordon? It could be that if he relaxed into his motion, accepted 95 MPH, that his release point would smooth out.
Top-10 velocity and a big overhand yakker, also known as the young Josh Beckett. (Bill James was asked about the Hanley Ramirez trade last week; he said "People still debate both sides of that one in our office.")
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How much velo do you think Wilhelmsen would sacrifice? I think Chris Sale, though a LHP, is a good comp in terms of leverage, effort and sustainability. He went from 94-96 in the pen to 92-93 as a starter, so he lost about 3 MPH:
Sale is currently #7 in the American League in average velocity. Wilhelmsen throws quite a bit harder as a reliever than Sale used to, so it's a pretty good question whether Wilhelmsen wouldn't have top-5 velocity as an SP.
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Y'know, we always say, a picture's worth 1,000 words. And here we are, not posting pictures of C.J. Wilson for yer. So...
NEXT
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