Jose's Latest Start

[TDog]

Originally Posted by ode to veeck

breaking stuff in the show is nothing like they've seen in the minors
if Jose could hit his spots consistently, he could be pitching again for us at the Cell

I agree. In-person scouting is in order, probably after a few more starts. Really, the strikeouts-to-walks ratio doesn't tell the whole story. Players who don't face major league breaking stuff might be more easily retired on pitches that major leaguers would take for balls. Many major league pitchers get most of their strikeout on pitches out of the strike zone, but pitchers generally have to have pretty good stuff to accomplish that.

Contreras' stuff wasn't that good when he was with the Sox this season. My impression is that he had problems with his command, not his velocity. In the minors there is a greater margin of error at the fringes of success. Some pitchers have been quite successful at AAA and AA living within that margin of error. A few don't make as much use of it.

There is no such thing as a statistical conversion from one level to the next. A pitcher with an ERA under 2 in the PCL might get hit very hard in the AL, but a pitcher with an ERA of 3.50 in the PCL could end up having a lower average in the AL because he has better defense behind him. Scouting by statistics is a guessing game.

[palehozenychicty]

I still think he's walking too many guys. As others mentioned, his command has been terrible all season. Jose's only useful if the forkball gets over for strikes. Otherwise, he's a liability.

[DrCrawdad]

Go jose!

contreras in control at triple-a
major league veteran tosses one-hitter in second start with charlotte

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by I_Liked_Manuel

That 9 innings of shutout ball is enough to get us to extra innings...

That's going to be the POTW later today when I get home from work.

Bravo.

[Huisj]

That's good to see. I think the most impressive thing about the whole situation with him seems to be his attitude about wanting to go down to get lots of work in to get the control and feel for pitching back.

[veeter]

Originally Posted by Huisj

That's good to see. I think the most impressive thing about the whole situation with him seems to be his attitude about wanting to go down to get lots of work in to get the control and feel for pitching back.

I agree. The man has his ego in check. If he could somehow turn things around, it would be a very cool story.

[Britt Burns]

Originally Posted by Huisj

That's good to see. I think the most impressive thing about the whole situation with him seems to be his attitude about wanting to go down to get lots of work in to get the control and feel for pitching back.

Yes, I totally agree. A lot of vet players-maybe even most of them-would never agree to going back to the minors to work on their game like he has. Good for him.

[DirtySox]

Apparently Jose's forkball and slider were pretty solid according to BA. Mark Gonzales suggests that if Jose keeps improving he might take Floyd's spot.

Jose Contreras could put Floyd's spot in Jeopardy

[oeo]

Originally Posted by DirtySox

Apparently Jose's forkball and slider were pretty solid according to BA.

If what he says is true (first pitch forkball strikes), then Jose could be back very shortly.

[Konerko05]

Originally Posted by DirtySox

Apparently Jose's forkball and slider were pretty solid according to BA. Mark Gonzales suggests that if Jose keeps improving he might take Floyd's spot.

Jose Contreras could put Floyd's spot in Jeopardy

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news...=.jsp&c_id=cws

In this article, BA says Contreras' split was the best he's ever seen from him.

That is extremely encouraging.