Hirsch in Colorado

by gunkdog on Dec 27, 2006 7:04 PM EST

Can Jason Hirsch succeed in Colorado?

I know it isn't quite fair to compare AAA PCL numbers to Major League numbers. However, Hirsch's K/9 went way down and BB/9 went way up. Not to mention, he allowed 11 homeruns in only 44 innings.

Will he turn it around and put out number similarly to Jason Jennings?

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Intresting

His GB/FF ratio is just under 1.0, at 142/123. But his HR rate is pretty low at .33 with the league average being the .91. It isn't fair to compare him to Jennings yet, because besides being involved in the same trade they don't have much in common. Jennings has a huge lower half and uses it well to make up for being a shortish pitcher at 6'2". Not small by any means but not 6'8" like Hirsh. Hirsh's K rates dropped as his BB increased, but he also allowed about a Hit less per 9 past season. .245 BABIP might be the reason though. I see Jennings as a soild 3, and Hirsh as about the Same. Good Luck to Both, Go 'Stros!

by JD Sussman on Dec 27, 2006 7:49 PM EST reply actions

6'8"

IMO, Hirsch's height will help him immensely in Colorado. The height enables him to get a downward plane on the ball without having to make it sink. Sinkers don't sink as much in the rarified air due to decreased resistance.

by DrBGiantsfan on Dec 27, 2006 9:15 PM EST up reply actions

Definitely

But his GB/FF Ratio doesn't really say that he gets a fair number of GB. Mike Hampton?

by JD Sussman on Dec 27, 2006 10:40 PM EST up reply actions

Interesting

Can we test this? I can't think of any other 6'8" Rockies pitchers. Francis is 6'5", and had good home/road splits last year, but is that the humidor or his height? And Denny Bautista is 6'5" too and he didn't do as well, albeit in limited time in Colorado. Are there other NL West guys at this height or close to it who've got good road splits at Coors Field? The only guy I can think of is Hendrickson, and he hasn't been around long enough to give us any real data there.

by Yakker on Dec 28, 2006 4:46 PM EST up reply actions

Sorry

If it was a typo I would let it slip, but its Hirsh. I saw somebody else spell it wrong on here too, not sure where the C is coming from. No big.
As for the question, its reasonable to expect anyone to struggle some from AAA to ML on their first go round. His ERA started out about 12ish as he had one BAD 2.2 IP, 10 ER performance. Then he settled some and was able to get some quality starts toward the end of the year.
He won't be Jason Jennings this year, but thats a reasonable ceiling I would think. A probable #2 in my opinion
4 of his 6 last starts he went atleast 6 IP, giving up 2 ER or less. That said, he did have some bad starts and needs to find more consistency

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." -Steve Prefontaine

by jrose643 on Dec 27, 2006 7:54 PM EST reply actions

Saw Hirsh a few times at RR

What struck me was how many towering popups he induced.

At Houston, he struggled with his breaking ball and changeup. There were times he seemed to throw fastball after fastball after fastball, but during those times, I was surprised at how a guy could survive with just average command of a 92 mph fastball.

I think he is still a work in progress, and he was going to somewhat struggle early next year regardless where he pitched, but I'd be surprised if he doesn't progress and end up as a solid contributor within a two year period.

by jbm on Dec 28, 2006 9:44 AM EST reply actions

Popups

The fastball isn't going to hop as much in Coors. Those towering popups will turn into towering HR's. He'll need to learn a two seamer and take advantage of his height to get a downward plane on the ball.

by DrBGiantsfan on Dec 28, 2006 11:14 AM EST up reply actions