Starscreams | This is the Answer? (56.05)

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Starscreams: A Valencia Stars Baseball Blog

This is the Answer?

01/16/2056
Brianna Robles, Starscreams contributor

The Stars introduced pitcher Hotha Buyoya to local media today. General Manager Alejandro Suárez referred to him as, "one of the game's marquee talents," insisting that Buyoya would be a valuable addition to the Stars (beleaguered) rotation. Looking at Buyoya's record, however, it's hard to say in what sense he is, in fact, a 'marquee talent'.

There are several reasons to be wary of this signing. Hotha Buyoya has never had a season WAR of 2.0 or better in his ten-year career; a career, by the way, that includes a stop in GBC Sydney in 2053, where Buyoya turned in a just barely above replacement level performance ... as a reliever. Buyoya has never pitched 100 innings or more in a season, and hasn't been used as a starter until last season. He has not yet proven that he can handle anything close to a full-time starter's load. He's trying to become a full-time starter for the first time in his BBA career at the age of 30.

The club's hopes for Buyoya in the rotation rest on last season's performance in Long Beach and Charm city. In 2055 he started in 19 games. It would likely have been more, but for a hamstring injury and seven-game suspension that kept him out of action for more than a month. In his time in Long Beach he was mediocre, with an ERA of 4.45, a FIP- of 100, and a bloated WHIP of 1.52. A late July trade to Charm City, and the tutelage of pitching coach Juan Paredes, was like magic for him. In eleven starts for the Jimmies he had an ERA of 3.42, a FIP- of 82, and a WHIP of 1.29. He admittedly looked solid in that stretch of games.

Can Alejandro Ramos get out of Buyoya in Valencia what Paredes got out of him in Baltimore, but for three times as long? The Stars front office seems to think so, but it looks like they're trying to beat some long odds.