2002.07 : Buffalo Sauce - The Tin Man Commeth

[mrbornac]

Number 46 has arrived. Fresh off issues with bone chips in his elbow, Melvin Ripken joins the Bison bullpen at a time when the relief staff seems to be tossing beach balls towards the plate. With a Frick League worst ERA of 5.48, the Bison relief crew needs substantial relief. And it may be arriving in the form of yet another lefty.

While Ripken has closed in the past, the current strength of the relievers has been Richard Wasson, which means the team has a pair of southpaws who are capable of that role. With the season basically a loss at this point, the plan for the rest of the season is to let Ripken act in a role of setup or middle relief, and let Wasson finish the year at the end of the staff. It may be possible to swap one of the two this winter for a like skilled right hander, but who knows, maybe the presence of Wasson, Ripken, and Acosta means that having all right handed starters may not be something we need to fix this off season.

[recte44]

I forgot about him!!!! He has started with varying degrees of success in the past.

[mrbornac]

His stamina scares the bahjesus out of me...

[recte44]

Look at two years ago, though. That's a legit #3 starter for a contender.

[mrbornac]

Do you know what his stamina was back then? I suspect he has seen that slide from 10 to 7 the last 2 years or something like that...

[recte44]

Not sure, but I know it was below 10.

[mrbornac]

Good to know.....

[mrbornac]

Did a little research and see that in his 13 win campaign, he averaged 5.6 innings per game. Previous ownership in Buffalo commented in a team news that he was working out by pitching second, behind a relative complete game machine of Amen Mitrani....