Carson Stoller returns, but it is too late?(38.60)

[niles08]

The Hawks announced that they have activated Carson Stoller from the disabled list and in a corresponding move have optioned recently acquired starting pitcher Claudio Delgado to AAA Lincoln.

Through 7 games this season, Stoller had pitched to a 3-2 record with a 3.89 ERA and seemed to be on his way to the breakthrough the club has been hoping for since they drafted him 1st overall back in the 2032 first year player draft as the Indy Grasshoppers.

Stoller has had a long history of arm injuries, and despite a pitch count being put in place earlier this season, Stoller still wound up on the disabled list with elbow inflammation.

Despite his injury history, Stoller had pitched in 26,27 and 29 games over the past 3 years so most do not keep him on the shelf a terribly long time during the season.

Stoller is arbitration eligible this off-season but it’s unlikely the club will cut ties with him as he isn’t expected to command more than $1,500,000 which is a low risk high reward on an injury prone player such as Stoller.

Claudio Delgado, who was acquired on July 1st has been optioned to Triple A Lincoln. Delgado had a 7.81 ERA through his first 5 starts with the club and is also set to be arbitration eligible this off-season. Look for Delgado to be offered a deal to come back and pitch in the minor leagues as an insurance policy for Omaha’s lack of Starting Pitching depth next season.

[RonCo]

Supplier still looks like he's got his beat days ahead of him. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of dollars he picks up over the next few years.

[Ted]

Supplier still looks like he's got his beat days ahead of him. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of dollars he picks up over the next few years.

Assuming you mean Stoller, I'd disagree. It's unfortunate, but he's had 15 injuries since the beginning of 2036. While I agree his results are trending in the right direction, he's at the point where I'd be concerned for a major injury and returning diminished or not at all. Maybe this is where you're going with his future earnings being interesting. I'm not sure there's any amount of money over 5 mil that I would give him going forward if I needed a rotation piece, and even that would only be one guaranteed year, and only if I couldn't find a more reliable option.

It stinks, but in a cap league, having huge chunks of payroll on the IL is a death sentence.

[RonCo]

Yes...sorry on the typing. I suck anyway, but my phone swyping is humorous at the best of times.

I do agree with you on the injury thing. And, yes, that's what I was getting to in the conversation about dollars. If I were Justin right now, given that Omaha is really done right now, I'd strongly consider plugging him into the bullpen on "use less often" just to see if I could baby him through the season without injury...and maybe do the same in Spring Training next year.

[niles08]

Yes...sorry on the typing. I suck anyway, but my phone swyping is humorous at the best of times.

I do agree with you on the injury thing. And, yes, that's what I was getting to in the conversation about dollars. If I were Justin right now, given that Omaha is really done right now, I'd strongly consider plugging him into the bullpen on "use less often" just to see if I could baby him through the season without injury...and maybe do the same in Spring Training next year.

Yea I thought about sticking him in the bullpen, but then thought if he gets hurt he gets hurt. Might as well have him make an impact of some kind. I am throwing him out there still with a 90 pitch count limit. He still has a few years of arbitration left and honestly his annual salary command hasn't been terribly high so I will probably end up signing him to a long term deal when his service time allows. I think last time I checked he only wanted $2,000,000 a year or so over 5 years so it wasn't anything that I was bawking at given his high upside possibility if he were to get an arm donor or something. I just obviously can't sign him more than 3 without 5 years of service time and given his injury history it would be foolish to do so right now.

I think the thing that surprises me is that he has had so many injuries yet still started his fair share of games the past 3 seasons before this year.

[RonCo]

Yes, it's an interesting injury trail to think about--specifically to wonder how injuries add up, and whether early intervention helps or not. We're always big on "playing time," but in the case of Stoller it makes me wonder if recovery management would have made a difference. NOTE: I'm not saying it would have, or that you've done anything wrong. I just don't know...but, let's take a ride...


Stoller had radial compression surgery after pitching in college for one year. Then he was drafted by Omaha:


2032 - 128 IP as an 18 year old isn't horrible in general, but there's the fact that he was coming off injury. He had two small dings this year, but nothing major.


2033 - 175 IP as a 19 year old is generally a bit much, anyway, but add in that he could have gotten more if not for a strained forearm that set him down in August.

***
Let's stop here for a moment, because at this point, 19 year-old Carson Stoller is about ready to fall into the trainer's room gravity well. I'm wondering here is Omaha had kept him to < 100 IP in 2032, and (say) < 125 or 150 in 2033, if anything would have been different. The unknowable answer to this question is ultimately why I spent time writing this up. How harsh was PAP here? How does it deal with work load after injury, or the time between injury? I dunno.
***


2034 - 130 IP as a 20 year old is low, but ... he split time between AAA (83 IP) and BBA (34) and in between he missed three months with bone chips in his elbow. So that 130 IP was done over about three months worth of games. He was very effective when he could pitch.

***
Ultimately, this seems like a very large workload for a young pitcher. He averaged 6.2 IP per start in the minors, then 7.2 in his 7-game major league debut. That said, Omaha eventually went to the playoffs as a 3rd place team, so it's hard to say Stoller should have been shut down in the middle of that chase.
***


2035 - 212 IP as a 21 year old sounds like it could be a lot, and in this case, it probably is. He lost two weeks to a sprained ankle, two more to a sore elbow. So that 212 IP was spread over only 29 starts--averaging 7.1 IP/start (those same 212 IP over 34 starts rings in at 6.1 IP/start).


2036 - He struggles to 164 IP as a 22 year old, dealing with six injuries, four to the arm (one that puts him on the shelf for 6 weeks). This becomes a pattern next year, and perhaps the following one. He's 13-4, 3.41 when he can pitch though, which are borderline Nebraska numbers in some years.


2037 - Six injuries at age 23, the last a radial decompression surgery. He manages only 135 innings throughout it all.


2038 - 24 years old. Forearm stiffness in April, elbow inflammation in May that shuts him down until July. Still effective when he can make it to the mound.

[niles08]

Yea I'm at a loss with him lol hes good when he pitches but the problem is he can only pitch with right handed. Maybe he should learn to pitch leftie as well.

[recte44]

He should have been a Hustler.