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Considering the great discussion about sport psychology a thread over, I would think that somewhere in here it would be noted that a young guy with little MLB experience, making his first start for a new club is *understandably* nervous. And also that you only have one "first" start with any club.
Yes, Darvish ... (who has actually been a pro for some time) ... managed to rein in the butterflies and settle down. The guy taking Pineda's spot in the lineup didn't. But, how much of Noesi's struggles were due to genuinely flawed mechanics ... and how much was due to the internal battle of the moment? I certainly don't know. But I know he went 7 innings in his final ST start with no walks.
I watched Glavine go 7-17 with a 4.56 ERA as a 22-year old, 3 years before winning 20 in 1991. He was all over the place in terms of performance from game to game. He had some awful games ... and then he'd turn around and pitch great and show a hint of what he could do ... if he could develop some consistency.
After 9 starts, his ERA was 7.90.
After 17 starts, his ERA was 5.69
After 28 starts, his ERA was 4.98
In September, he had 5 quality starts in six outings.
My point with Noesi is that a debut year like Pineda's is the exception ... not the rule. Some *GREAT* pitchers struggle early to develop consistency. But, the club saw something in Noesi this spring that suggested to them that Noesi was ready to start. Now, I don't know if that was the right call or not. But, I do know that Greg Maddux had an ERA over 5 in his first 200 MLB innings ... and Glavine had a similar rocky start to this MLB career.
For me ... the single item that separates the truly great MLB players from others is how they responded to adversity. There are tons of top prospects who reach the Majors and never had to even ask the question, "Am I really good enough?" They've always been better than the competition. But, when you get knocked down (or around), how do you respond?
If you're Richie Sexson ... once things go bad, you just kind of fold up your tent and slink home. But, for guys like Maddux and Glavine ... when you face that adversity, you work harder. You get mentally tougher. You learn from your mistakes. And, in the long run, that prepares you to face those crunch time moments so much better.
Me? I will always love Maddux more than Clemens. And my namesake, Sandy Koufax ... he endured half a career of unrealized potential before putting it all together. Now Noesi isn't a Koufax ... or even a Maddux. But, the kid had a 1.7 walk rate in the minors. Exactly how bad could his underlying mechanics have actually been for the past 5 years?
Me? I don't think it's possible to walk less than 2 guys a game for 5 years without some underlying foundation of consistency. For me ... the key thing to look at with Noesi over his next 4 or 5 starts, (and I desperately hope the club is not foolish enough to return him to the minors or send him to the pen without another 4 or 5 starts at least), is how does he respond mentally.
This baseball thing is way hard. And maybe Noesi will need another year in the minors to work on something. But, you'll never develop kids who can triumph over adversity unless you give them the opportunities to do so along the way.