Gaviglio at Nolasco
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RICKY NOLASCO
Has been pitching cruddy. Think "Angels' version of He Who Must Not Be Named." He'll come at you -- only 2+ walks per game -- but you can come right back at him. 23 homers coughed up in 90 innings. We're guessing he usually suffers only one bad inning per start... make it count, boys.
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SAM GAVIGLIO
It came out recently that Gaviglio had been a "Bad Actor" in the minor leagues. He also pitched in a dreary template, a 90 fastball / 83 slider two pitch template. The combination of the two explains the fact that he was not invited to major league camp.
But within dreary templates, you have outlier pitchers within that template. Doug Fister resided within a dreary template. Jamie Moyer did. Nick Vincent does. You still have to watch for guys who excel by dull means, and Gaviglio's been doing that.
Gaviglio is still in the bottom 5 of all pitchers for swing-and-miss rate ... BUT ... he is in the top 10 for strikes taken in the zone. (We used to call swinging strikes "fanning" and taken strikes "whiffing.") This split is highly unusual and it speaks to the fact that Gaviglio --- > throws hittable but unappetizing pitches.
Most of the time Gaviglio has GOOD command and scuffles to a 6 IP, 3-4 ER type start. Some of the time Gaviglio has GREAT command has breezes to a 7 IP, 1 ER type start. His long-term fortune is probably to serve as a #6, #7 starter, but until July 31* or Max Povse arrive, he's giving our 10-deep offense a great chance, a lot of the time.
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ANDREW MOORE
Was kind of surprised to hear Dan Wilson gush as much as he did on TV. I had assumed that Jamie Moyer loves Moore because they both pitch in the Brains-Over-Brawn mold. But Wilson also thinks Moore could be "special," Dan-speak for a 100+ game winner, and he specified the unusual "preparation" that Moore uses.
In this respect, Moore reminds you a little bit of Trevor Bauer, the little saberdweeb pitcher :- ) who has 5 pitches and is always trying to make up a sixth pitch that will give him a .269 BABIP. Bauer is a little more "stuff" and a little less "command" than is Moore, though. I doubt Jamie Moyer would have sacrificed any of his command to get a little more stuff?
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WILD CARD
Still a tight pack between Tampa at +2 and the M's at -1. (Zeus will show up for the Yankee play-in game, don' sweat it!) Still a pretty soft 12 games' worth of asphalt lying ahead, starting with A-HWMNBN tonight and proceeding through stops at KC, Oakland and the White Sox.
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See you at the ballpark,
Jeff
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Image: Piclab