2062.12-Addressing Needs-Part 2 Pitching

[Krathan]

In part 1 of Addressing Needs, I discussed my infield defense and how I am trying to help my pitchers find more success by turning more ground balls into outs. In this installment, I'm going to look at how I'm approaching the pitching side of the equation.

My pitching staff was brutal in 2061. I ended up 12th in overall ERA, 12th in starter ERA, and 8th in bullpen ERA. That bullpen number actually looks better than it is though. The group started the year as a top 5 group and then slowly got worse as the season went on.

My starting rotation was similar to the one that was quite successful in 2060, including returning starters Jim Fleming, Buwono Mainaky, John Rasmussen III, Jacquot Natta, and Mauro Mendoza. That seemed like a good thing. However, Mendoza dealt with injuries and was generally awful on the mound. Rasmussen had easily his worst season with the Flyers, finishing with an ERA 1.38 higher than the previous year. Natta got hurt and missed a little over 2 months of the season when he was in the middle of the best stretch of starts of his career. Mainaky was up and down. His FIP of 4.22 and FIP- of 95 were solid but his .311 BABIP and 5.02 ERA were less than ideal. Fleming was the only one who was consistently healthy and consistently good. Then I traded him to Las Vegas at the deadline.

The first thing I did at the end of 2061 was release Mendoza. He had lumped and performed poorly. I dumped him with one guaranteed year and 2 team option years left on his contract. I felt it was worth the money to not have him on the roster. I'm bringing back Mainaky, and hoping that the defense helps him get back to what he did the previous 2 or 3 seasons. Natta is back, and will hopefully stay healthy this year. Beyond that, I have some decisions to make. I have two prospects that I acquired in the Fleming deal that I'm pretty excited about. Ignacio Lewis is a lefty with 3 good pitches, good movement, great ground ball tendencies, and the ability to play the outfield. I'd love to give him a little more time in AAA to reach his potential on both sides of the game. Felipe Cummings looked good when I got him but has also bumped considerably since then. His stamina is only 4. It was 5 when I got him, so I'm hoping it's a high 4. He has 6 pitches, with potentials of 6, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9. He has 9 potential stuff, 7 potential move and HRA, and 6 control. I'd really like to let him work on building up to his potential in AAA as well. That means I need to find guys who can be in the starting rotation through at least a decent chunk of the season while those guys continue to develop.

Just like with the shortstop position, I've been collecting a ton of pitchers to see who ends up as the best fit for the staff. I am looking for potential starters and relievers. Here's a look at my current collection.

First, I'll look at guys who were already on the roster last year.

Qing-lai Ou-yang is a guy I like a lot. He's got 5 pretty solid pitches and has an ERA of 3.64 and a FIP of 4.33 the last three seasons in Charlotte. He started 7 games for me last season with a 4.30 ERA in 44 innings. He earned a quality start in 57.1% of those games. He could be a candidate to fill out the rotation or pitch out of the pen.

Antonio Santiago is another interesting guy who has been with me the last couple of seasons. He had a 3.84 ERA and a 3.73 FIP in 2061. He started 4 games, 2 were quality starts. He allowed 2 or fewer runs in 3 of the 4 starts. He's a lefty with 4 solid pitches and decent stamina who could pitch in the rotation or out of the pen.

Cliff Crudge, Takiji Takahashi, and Francisco Rosario all spent time in the bullpen last season and will be given a chance to earn a spot there again in 2062. Crudge had a FIP of 3.77 while Rosario had a much better ERA than FIP. Takahashi was decent in 20 appearances with a FIP of 4.53. Tsuyoshi Mori had a terrible debut in 4 appearances in September but went through the reliever conversion process and will be given a chance to show what he can do in the Spring. Ron Christian spent the entire 2061 season on the injured list. This season feels like his last chance to show he can contribute. Injuries have been a serious problem for him and his development. Rick Parsons started 3 games at the BBA level in September, generally pitching well before an injury sidelined him through the offseason. I probably want to see him at AAA to start the year, but we'll see how things shake out.

There were two pitchers I claimed off of waivers at the end of last year who will get a chance to earn a spot with the club in 2062. Ron Madden was claimed from Des Moines. He has 3 good pitches and one that could become solid. He is a ground ball pitcher with good stamina, and a little room to grow into his stuff and movement potential. At 28, he may be done growing though. He has an uninspiring career FIP of 5.71 in 9 games, 6 starts. The other pitcher I claimed was Mike Emrick from Las Vegas. He has 12 career relief appearances with a FIP- of 99. He is a ground ball pitcher with 3 decent pitches, solid movements, and decent control. Madden and Emrick were brought in last September with the goal of seeing if they could fit into the 2062 pitching staff.

I acquired one pitcher in a trade with Yellow Springs. I tried to trade for another pitcher as well but that one didn't work out. The player I did trade for is Raul Morales. He's an interesting player, partially because he can also hit and play outfield. He has a career wRC+ of 90, but does have some pop and a good arm, allowing him to occasionally end up in right field if needed. As a pitcher, Morales throws a good fastball and a good sinker, or two different types of good fastballs. The lack of an offspeed pitch is probably not something that helps him. He is a ground ball pitcher with some platoon issues against lefties. His career FIP is 4.95. He has had some very high BABIP numbers the last two years, with this past season sitting at .366. His underlying numbers this year were good, with a 3.00 FIP and a 67 FIP-.

I added Ghumer Angara through the Rule 5 draft. Angara is a RHP who has slightly better rating splits against lefties. He has 5 pitches with at least 6 potential. Angara is fairly neutral but leans a little toward being a flyball pitcher. He has a career minor league FIP- of 100. He had some pretty frightening ERA's the last couple of seasons, but his BABIP was also ridiculously high, at .369 and .391 the last two years. He's a low risk tryout option since he can be returned to Montreal if he doesn't work out.

I have also signed several pitchers in free agency. The only full major league contract was a front loaded deal with veteran closer Josh Dougherty. He has great stuff, decent movement and decent control. He throws hard and gets a good amount of ground balls to go with the strikeouts he's looking for. He's coming off of a down season, especially after being traded to Rocky Mountain, but I'm hopeful that he'll bounce back a bit in 2062.

I have signed several pitchers to minor league deals or minor league deals with major league options. Krantivira Kalluri is an interesting pitcher. I'd prefer him out of the bullpen because of his struggles with control, but he has 4 good to very good pitches and good movement. Rahimat bin Nuri hasn't put it all together in the minors but he has good movement, gets a lot of ground balls, and has a compelling 3 pitch mix. His stamina is almost nonexistent so the bullpen is his only option. Bartolo Borquez has the stamina to start, solid control, and 4 pitches to work with. He hasn't been great in his bi league opportunities, but I'm curious to see how he would do out of the bullpen instead of as a starter.

I'm still having discussions with some other free agent pitchers as well. I'm curious to see if any of those guys can come in and make an impact.

There is also a possibility that one of my minor league pitchers comes in and earns a role. Ricardo Garcea is a guy I like, but I wish his HRA was above 4. He has 6 stuff and control, a 9 fastball, 9 curveball, and 7 change. He throws hard and gets a lot of ground balls. Muragayan Malabanan is a lesser version of Garcea with a slightly different pitch mix. Javier Ramos hasn't reached his potentials, but there is a somewhat interesting pitcher hiding in his 28 year old body. Then there's Jose Gonzalez. He's my top relief prospect. He doesn't throw hard and none of his pitches are particularly impressive, but his 9 HRA potential and 8 control potential are really intriguing. I doubt he's ready to make an impact at the start of the season, but I think there's a chance he could get there later in the year.

Maybe this isn't the best way to go about this, but since I wasn't able to make an major impact trade, and since my top pitching prospects are not quite as filled out as I'd like, I decided my best bet was to find as many interesting players as I could and let them try to find their way onto my roster. I don't know if it will work, but I do have some optimism around it.