Trail Droppings 2042-8 Who Will Be Calgary's 5th SP?

[indiansfan]

Who Will Be Calgary’s 5th SP?

Calgary has the luxury of going into camp with the top 4 rotation spots locked up. Edwin Gilliam and Jefferson Pierce are both top BBA starting pitchers. Pierre Legrand was a nice addition and will come back as the #3 guy. Quintiliano Rodeo has a solid rookie season and came into camp ready to go. He will be the #4 starter. The team is holding an open competition for the #5 spot and of course with the way BBA injuries go you need a #6 and #7 just in case. So here are the candidates. One, maybe two make the team to break camp.

Carlos Granados - Once a top SP prospect, injuries have resulted in him fighting for a spot in the rotation. Granados has spent parts of the last 2 seasons in Calgary and regressed last year after being demoted to AAA. The team will give him every chance to stick this year and hope his sinker fills out. If he doesn’t make the rotation he will probably be kept as the long reliever.

Frank Boland - The lefty has a real shot to make the rotation this year, while at the same time being under no pressure to do so. With only 7 starts at AAA he could easily go there for some more seasoning, but if he wins a spot than he will be in Calgary. The guy keeps the ball in the park, has a great BB/K ratio and is a proven winner.

Tokimasa Ihara - Once the team’s top pitching prospect, he is another guy that has been sidetracked by injuries. The team doesn’t want to rush him and since he really hasn’t pitched at AAA he will most likely spend 2042 there. He is getting a chance to see what the big league camp is like and hopefully it will rub off on him.

Pedro Ortiz - A brief cup of coffee last September showed that Ortiz probably needs another year of seasoning. A late bloomer, the 25 year old made the jump from A ball to AAA last year and it showed. The team thought about converting him to a reliever this year, but is going to give him some more time to see if he can develop a serviceable changeup. He has options left as well.

Arturo Rivera - The wild card is this Rule 5 guy from New Orleans. He has the pitches, the question is whether his control is good enough for the BBA. Since he is in a use him or lose him situation if the team thinks he has potential they will make a spot for him. If he comes out of camp in the rotation it will probably be the biggest story from Calgary’s camp.

[recte44]

A lot of choices. I like Boland best but Ihara is still quite promising.