Righetti

[klaiggeb]

Even though Krukow did not hear me say it back in February/March when I first said it, I was so pleased to hear Kruk compliment Righetti for what he did with Samardzidja.


A couple of us commented that we believed Righetti would have a huge influence on Jeff, and Lordy-Lordy-Lordy, he has!


I became a Righetti believer when I saw what he did with Schmidt.

That was dramatic.

And now, he's done it again with Jeffy S... though I don't think any VIEWERS outside of the Giant fans, and likely not even many of them, know about it.

Kruk is also right when he talks about how Jeff gets stronger and better as the game goes along.

Same could be said of Cueto.

Right now, and what should continue for the entire year... we have the best 1-2-3 punch-rotation in the NL.

Wait a minute; I'm complimenting them, violating my own statement.

Okay.

I'd better fix it.

All 3 of them suck!

If that's the best they can do, I'm so disgusted I'm going to stick my fist down my throat and puke!



boly

[Rog]

Right now, and what should continue for the entire year... we have the best 1-2-3 punch-rotation in the NL.


Rog -- The Nationals have a nice trio in Scherzer, Strasurg and either Roark (3.10), Gonzalez (1.93) or Ross (2.29).

The Cubs' Arrieta, Lster and either Lackey (3.54), Hammel (1.77) or Hendrick (3.03) seem pretty good.

Any three of the foursome of Syndergaard, Harvey, deGrom and Matz ain't bad.




Read more: sfgiantsmessageboard.proboards.com/thread/3310/righetti#ixzz48jNZsdIb

[Rog]

I expect the Dodgers' trio of Kershaw (1.74), Maeda (2.30) and Julio Urias (1.25 in the hitters' league PCL) to be pretty good when the 19-year-old is called up soon. There is talk of using Urias in the bullpen because of the small number of innings he has thrown (never more than 88, although with 36 this year he's on a much higher pace).

Even as the Dodgers were spending hundreds of millions to build up their roster, they were saying their goal was to build from within. Entering the season, Corey Seager and Urias were two of the top prospects anywhere. I have expected the Giants to beat out the Dodgers for the NL West title, but the quick development of Urias threatens to give the Dodgers a stellar one-two rotation punch going forward for several years. In Urias' case, he could be at the very top of his game for a decade or more.

For the Giants' sake, let's hope he is a flash in the pan. The last time I remember a comparable pitcher this young in the Giants' organization was Juan Marichal though. Actually though, Juan was 22 years old by the time he was called up. Urias could be called up anytime during the next three seasons and still be younger than Juan was when the Juanderful Juan made his debut.

[Islandboagie]

Rog- The last time I remember a comparable pitcher this young in the Giants' organization was Juan Marichal though.

Boagie- Bumgarner had just turned 20 when he was called up.

[klaiggeb]

You make a good point, Rog.

Which made me think of John Montefusco.

Until he fell out of favor with management, I understand because of his mouth, he was pretty good.

In Bum's or Marichal's class?

Not even close.

Not even close!



I know people would like to bring up Gaylord Perry... but Gaylord LABORED from the beginning, coming up in 1962.

He struggled again in 1963, and was sent down.

They thought he had a break out year in 1964... only to discover in 1965 it wasn't.

However, during that 1965 season, according to reports I read, Gaylord became close to Bob Shaw, who taught him the 'wet one.'

From there, it seems, everything good began to happen.

boly

[Rog]

I forgot all about Madison. When he was called up, he was coming of a 3.16 ERA in AAA. Urias' ERA this season is 1.25, and he hasn't yielded a run in his last 22 innings. I'm not happy that he's a Dodger.

[Islandboagie]

Actually Bumgarner was first called up in 2009 when he was 19 and dominating in double-A. 9-1 with a 1.93 ERA.

Matt Cain was 20 when he was called up. He had an inflated ERA in Triple-A that season, but he was still winning games and had an impressive strikeout/inning ratio.

Obviously Urias has good numbers as well, but I think you're exaggerating a tad by saying we have to go back to Juan Marichel to find a comparable young pitcher from the Giants.

I think they're making a mistake by calling him up now, he needs to work on his stamina first.

[Rog]

Regarding Madison, he had just turned 20 when he was called up, although that was indeed considered his 19-year-old season (since his August 1 birthday came after July 1). That 2009 season was an intriguing one for Madison.

It began in San Jose on April 10. He wasn't yet considered to have good secondary pitches, but his slider and change up in the bullpen looked good to me. He didn't use them much during the game though, dominating with his fastball on about 90% of the pitches. Like today, it wasn't that he threw that hard, but that his ball seemed so hard to pick up.

He was soon promoted to AA, and that was when his season got intriguing. Toward the end of his season, he was said to have a dead arm, with a drop of five mph or more on his fastball. His strikeouts fell off from 10.4 per nine the previous season (his first in the minors) and 8.5 at San Jose to just 5.8 for Connecticut. His arm must have regained some life, since the Giants did indeed call him up in September. Once up though, he averaged just 89 mph in one start and three relief stints. He was two mph faster in his rookie season of 2010, and he's sat at around 91 or 92 since.

Because of the velocity loss, his prospect rating actually dropped in the year between pre-2009 and pre-2010. In Baseball Prospectus' ratings, he fell from #3 to #21. Obviously, #21 is still an impressive rank, but ranking #3 at just 19 years of age is almost mind-blowing. Urias ranked #6 this past winter and might well rank #1 if the ratings were done now. (The Dodgers' Corey Seager was ranked #1 this past winter.)

Never having exceeded 88 innings in a season, workload will be Urias' issue this season, and I'm surprised the Dodgers have used up 36 of whatever his total will be this year. In order to protect his arm, there is talk that he may be called up as a reliever. Either way, I think he'll be called up before the end of the month. It's only AA, of course, and only over a month and a half, but if it were over a full season in the majors, it would be the third-best since 1900, behind only Pedro Martinez and Walter Johnson.

Because of his slim workload and tremendous success, Urias is a unique prospect. How much he'll be used this season is a big question, but it appears he'll be breaking our hearts for a decade or so.

Getting back to back to the Bumgarner comparison, Madison began 2009 with a 0.99 WHIP in High A ball before being promoted to AA and to the Giants in September. Urias' .81 WHIP is in AAA. That season Madison's WHIP was also 1.03 in AA and 1.10 with the Giants. As you mentioned, Boagie, Urias' only weakness at this point may be stamina.

[Rog]

Cain was within a month of turning 21 when he was called up, and wasn't considered as good a prospect as Felix Hernandez, who had already been called up that season just four months after his 19th birthday. Felix is the guy Urias is being compared to, but his lack of innings makes any comparison difficult. Felix had entered that 2005 season as the #2 overall prospect.

[Rog]

I should give you credit here, Boagie. Your Bumgarner comparison was better than my Marichal similarity, since Madison was close to two years younger. Cain was a bit older, and Perry and Montefusco were comparative grey beards when called up. Tim Lincecum was a decent mark, but Tim too was clearly older when called up.

Check out what Tim did in AAA in 2007 before being called up. Tim's ERA was 0.29, and he struck out 46 batters in 31 innings. I was blessed to watch four of Tim's five starts for Fresno, and to get a first-hand report from his dad on the other start, which came in Tacoma, perhaps 20 or so miles from where Tim grew up.

That Tim struggled just a bit while putting up a 4.00 rookie ERA does show that the jump from AAA to the majors can be substantial.