Another SSI Best Bet
Hard to say with Pineda. I think you are pretty optimistic on Pineda.
Dontrell Willis had a goofy delivery that gave the league fits.
It's not hard to say at all, no. ;- )
Love the back-and-forth, Coug m'man, Ghost ... and hate to come off as dogmatic... but this one is like James selling Bagwell and the Hurt, back before the evaluation principles were public domain.
Could explain why the command is plus-plus, why the slider isn't especially dangerous and why the template - the pitcher family and the level of execution within that family - is virtually a guarantee.
The easy way to perceive Pineda's command -- for a rookie, now -- is to simply count his BB's vs pitches centered (HR's). How many rooks walk 2+ without centering the pitch?
The harder way is to count the way he throws his various fastballs -- on the black, up the ladder, up-and-in. He throws a TON of them for a rook, far more than Felix ever did ... probably as many as Felix does now.
The questions about his velo are obvious silliness. We mean it in a good way. Not gonna debate the question of whether Felix has hair on his fastball, and not gonna debate it with Pineda for exactly the same reasons.
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But you know what, three starts into the season, all these conversations will be 100% forgotten. It's easiest just to let you guys see a couple of starts in the reg season than to spend a coupla thousand words demonstrating why he'll be a TOR right away.
Know that comes off as imperious, but this one is shooting fish in a barrel. :- ) Pineda isn't quite as good as Lincecum, but the Best Bet is the same: he's an SSI easy call.
And we're a month in advance of the rest of the world 'getting it' too. So why not just let Pineda throw a wipeout game or two and let that take care of it?
The Morning After his first 7 3 1 1 1 7 game, are people gonna jump online and do anything but rave?
Take the good with the bad: you got a Big Three that will just cause pesky rodent AL west rivals to scurry for the cover of darkness.
:daps:
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The Dontrelle Willis post was not a comp: it was no more and no less than a response to [readers' response to] Spec's rookie pitchers post. The readers' reaction was that rookie pitchers probably aren't going to help you turn anything around.
A LOT of rookie pitchers have turned teams around.
That's all. Other than that, Willis and Pineda are apples and oranges, sure.
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Bemusing to SSI that a lot of people question Pineda, as they did Lincecum. Job security for Dr. D. :- )
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That last Pineda start that has everybody overreacting. Riddle me this. What was his BABIP in that game?
If Pineda gives up 1 BB and 0 HR in his starts, as he did vs. the Brewers -- and he very often will -- what do you predict will happen? A .470 BABIP against him?
Throwing out your saber light bulbs now, dudes? You've seen him for 4 IP, and he had 7-of-15 balls* fall between fielders, and you're skeptics?
It was one start, guys, an unlucky one. Michael Pineda is the real blinkin' deal.
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Be Afraid,
Dr. D