Is Twin Cities about to revolutionize the RP conversion? Or just waste PP?
WARNING: This team news is not fictious. It talks about nuts and bolts of the game. Viewer discretion is advised.
In a season in which Twin Cities is focused on finding diamonds in the rough, a rattlesnake emerged from the sea of misfit toys known as minor league free agency. Gunner 'Rattlesnake' Patterson has electric stuff. He also has very good control. His movement however, is not very good. For a team that prioritizes movement, it would have been easy for us to quickly pass him by. Yet, we were fascinated by his strengths. There is a lot to like in this lefty who hits 99 on the gun.
So how do we fix him? First we need to rule out the status quo. He hasn't shown any bit of success at any level. So what he is doing now isn't going to fly. That has mostly been a SP. But since 2058 he has been used as a RP, that hasn't worked either. So what about a RP conversion? A boost in stuff would certainly accentuate the positive. Maybe he can get to be 11/4/7. That is certainly interesting. But it will still lead to many trips to the IL with a stiff neck watching all them homers.
Out of curiosity, I stumbled across a guide I use from time to time. If this info is correct, his 8/10 Screwball is killing him. It's the biggest nerfer of movement and also control. Change Up also. Not as much, but it too has a negative effect on movement and control. Meanwhile boosting his slider should give him a slight bump in movement/control. Streamlining his pitches as a RP may have a very drastic result in his main ratings. But not like we are used to seeing.
I feel like the goal of most RP conversions is to help a pitcher gain stuff. Rattlesnake Patterson is an attempt to do the reverse. All his pitch deletion/improvements focus on decreasing stuff while adding more movement/control. Meanwhile his stuff shouldn't actually get worse because of velocity and FB gains. I'm going to take a blind stab at his results and say 10/5/8. But I really have no clue. I don't even know if this conversion is worthwhile. It should be fun to watch though.
