Jerome Williams

by John Sickels on May 26, 2005 10:54 PM EDT in News

Several comments in the diaries lately about Jerome Williams of the Giants, and about how bad he is pitching at Triple-A.

No kidding.

1-4, 9.39 ERA, 30.2 innings, 47 hits, 15/17 K/BB.

Ugh. His ratios have never been as good as his reputation, but those are downright dismal numbers. Most worrisome is the awful K/BB ratio.

Oftentimes, when a pitcher's ratios deteriorate this sharply, there is some sort of underlying health issue. If I were a betting man, I'd lay good odds right now that Williams is either hiding an injury, or is about to suffer an injury.

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question

You were always very high on him, despite his lack of strong ratios (he earned an A- in your 2003 book, and you called him "poetry in motion"!!). Was it mainly his age-relative-to-league that got you excited, or did he have other characteristics that made you positive on his future potential?

by okbluejays on May 27, 2005 12:09 AM EDT reply actions

williams

Both. AGe-relative-to-league was the key thing. But I just loved the way he looked on the mound.

Not very sabermetric, was it??

by John Sickels on May 27, 2005 12:28 AM EDT reply actions

well...

He did perform well at a young age in the majors, so I don't think it was a miss. As you note, there may be an injury around the corner, and that is always a caveat to any prediction.

And I always appreciated how you blend scouting sources and personal observations in with the numbers. Sabermetrics is just a means to an end, and the end is being able to predict with greater accuracy the development of minor league ballplayers. Also, sabermetrics has some limitations which will be hard to overcome, such as quantifying and dealing with "makeup" (think Josh Hamilton, Jeff Allison, Cole Hamels,..), just to give an example. The "best" approach will always be a blend, and the key will be how one weighs the competing factors.

At any rate, I've had Jerome on my team for a long time. I think it's almost time to cut bait... Jerome, if you're reading this, I'm giving you one more start. That's it! :-)

by okbluejays on May 27, 2005 1:05 AM EDT reply actions

He's gotta come back

He's our little Tiger Woods, being half-Hawaiian and all.

I know there were some personal things bothering him at the beginning of the season, like his Dad's health. I don't know if they're still in the picture.

by achiappanza on May 27, 2005 3:21 AM EDT reply actions

I still have hope for Jerome

who I own in a couple of scoresheet leagues.

I'm close to giving up on Ainsworth, who I drafted ahead of Jerome (that was a dumb move then, it's still a dumb move).

I still hold out hope for Foppert, but I'm beginning to get impatient.

The Giants hate me!

(Actually, I'm not doing so well on Edwin Jackson, either, so it's not like the Dodgers treat me much better)

Medea's Child

by medeas child on May 27, 2005 3:53 AM EDT reply actions

working on a new pitch

Any chance he is working on a new pitch down there or being forced to throw his less strong pitches?

by novaoakland on May 27, 2005 11:47 AM EDT reply actions

New Pitch?

If Jerome has a problem, it's that he has too many pitches and starts to outthink himself out there. I hope he's not working on a new one. When he's going bad, it almost always because he hangs too many breaking balls. He may be working on getting more bite out of them.

Jerome's repertoire requires fine tuning and concentration. He didn't get a chance to fine tune his stuff in ST. The concentration thing is a more difficult problem. I've got to believe there's more to it than his father's health. From what I've heard his dad is back home in Hawaii and doing fine. I know Jerome has relatively recently gotten married, had a childd, and established a home in Fresno. I'm guessing family responsibilities other than his father's illness are coming into play here.

by DrBGiantsfan on May 27, 2005 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions