infohawk
03-20-2005, 07:20 PM
I will risk drawing the ire of the mods for beginning another thread about Brandon McCarthy's prospects for beginning the season in the Sox starting rotation.
Watching today's game has convinced me that I have seen enough. It would be bordering on irresponsibility not to slot McCarthy as the 5th starter to open the season. This kid is a rookie-of-the-year candidate. He is poised, mature, locates with incredible command and knows how to approach hitters. He is flat-out dominating.
I was looking forward to seeing Garland moved down to the 5th spot. Surely his twelve annual wins and decent, although not spectacular, ERA would be welcomed in what has become a traditional black hole for the Sox. Nothing against Garland, but McCarthy is the pitcher with the better upside.
Before I came to the conclusion that McCarthy should join the rotation immediately, I took comfort in knowing that he was just a phone call away in the minors in the event a starter went down. This kind of depth has been lacking in past seasons. It would border on insanity to make an insurance policy out of the guy who has thus far statistically outperformed all of the other starters. An organization seeking to win throws its best pitchers against the competition. You don't slot a guy as dominating as McCarthy into a minor league rotation when he is arguably better than more than one of your major league starters. What comes to mind is how the Twins waited and waited before finally allowing Santana to start. Look what happened when they finally realized that he was better utilized as a starter than a reliever. Different scenario, but same principle.
What do we do with Garland? I would put him in the bullpen in place of either Adkins or Cotts. Whomever of the two is sent down should be stretched out to become the insurance policy. Garland has the potential to bolster this team tremendously out of the bullpen. I'd rather see him there than either Adkins or Cotts.
Some may argue that Garland "deserves" to be in the rotation. Why? Because he has more experience? We know what he can do. He would be a solid but unspectacular fifth starter. McCarthy's upside is just to great to ignore. He could be a fifth starter who pitches like a number one or two.
I would be open to considering McCarthy replacing Contreras in the rotation. As with Garland, Contreras could then be moved to the bullpen. I'm still not convinced that Contreras won't be a dominant pitcher. He has control issues, but shows the flashes of brilliance and raw "stuff" that I don't see out of Garland. Contreras would make an awful lot of money for a reliever, but I still think the only argument that should ever matter is effectiveness.
Again, nothing against Garland. While I'm comfortable with him as the fifth starter, McCarthy's potential and ability excites me. He appears to have nothing more to prove in the minors. He is the reigning strikeout leader and has devastating control of at least three pitches. The Sox have what appears to be a tough decision to make. I don't think that the decision is really that difficult. With one move, the Sox could upgrade both the starting rotation and the bullpen. I sincerely hope they do.
Am I wrong?
Watching today's game has convinced me that I have seen enough. It would be bordering on irresponsibility not to slot McCarthy as the 5th starter to open the season. This kid is a rookie-of-the-year candidate. He is poised, mature, locates with incredible command and knows how to approach hitters. He is flat-out dominating.
I was looking forward to seeing Garland moved down to the 5th spot. Surely his twelve annual wins and decent, although not spectacular, ERA would be welcomed in what has become a traditional black hole for the Sox. Nothing against Garland, but McCarthy is the pitcher with the better upside.
Before I came to the conclusion that McCarthy should join the rotation immediately, I took comfort in knowing that he was just a phone call away in the minors in the event a starter went down. This kind of depth has been lacking in past seasons. It would border on insanity to make an insurance policy out of the guy who has thus far statistically outperformed all of the other starters. An organization seeking to win throws its best pitchers against the competition. You don't slot a guy as dominating as McCarthy into a minor league rotation when he is arguably better than more than one of your major league starters. What comes to mind is how the Twins waited and waited before finally allowing Santana to start. Look what happened when they finally realized that he was better utilized as a starter than a reliever. Different scenario, but same principle.
What do we do with Garland? I would put him in the bullpen in place of either Adkins or Cotts. Whomever of the two is sent down should be stretched out to become the insurance policy. Garland has the potential to bolster this team tremendously out of the bullpen. I'd rather see him there than either Adkins or Cotts.
Some may argue that Garland "deserves" to be in the rotation. Why? Because he has more experience? We know what he can do. He would be a solid but unspectacular fifth starter. McCarthy's upside is just to great to ignore. He could be a fifth starter who pitches like a number one or two.
I would be open to considering McCarthy replacing Contreras in the rotation. As with Garland, Contreras could then be moved to the bullpen. I'm still not convinced that Contreras won't be a dominant pitcher. He has control issues, but shows the flashes of brilliance and raw "stuff" that I don't see out of Garland. Contreras would make an awful lot of money for a reliever, but I still think the only argument that should ever matter is effectiveness.
Again, nothing against Garland. While I'm comfortable with him as the fifth starter, McCarthy's potential and ability excites me. He appears to have nothing more to prove in the minors. He is the reigning strikeout leader and has devastating control of at least three pitches. The Sox have what appears to be a tough decision to make. I don't think that the decision is really that difficult. With one move, the Sox could upgrade both the starting rotation and the bullpen. I sincerely hope they do.
Am I wrong?