Athletics rotation question

by bodyiq on Mar 19, 2009 5:42 PM EDT Comment 32 comments

I was wondering what the opening day rotation is going to look like.

Here's my guess so far:

1) Justin Duchscherer (elbow injury, cortisone shot)

2) Dana Eveland

3) Sean Gallagher

4) Dallas Braden

A) Gio Gonzalez

B) B.Anderson

C) Trevor Cahil

D) J. Simmons

My question is whether or not Anderson and/or Cahill can crack this rotation right from game one. These guys both have the potential to stick solidly in the rotation once there.

What is your opinion???

0 recs | Comment 32 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Anderson has the better chance

I think he’s slightly more ready to produce right now than Cahill, but I think Gio might get the spot anyway. Anderson will be up soon though, I’m expecting someone in that rotation to either tank (Braden or Eveland) or get injured (Duchscherer) and once Anderson gets the call, there’s no looking back. Simmons may be praised as a fast riser but I think he still needs more time before he can be considered major league ready. I was a bit surprised Mazzaro didn’t make the cut, that could have been interesting.

The 2008 Rogelio Moret League Fantasy Baseball Champions!

by The Congo Hammer on Mar 19, 2009 6:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Simmons

Reports are he really didn’t look good during spring training. He still hasn’t improved his breaking pitches enough to be passable to a major league hitter.

He’ll probably spend most of the year in AAA working on offspeed pitches to complement his ++ control. He’s still 22 so he’s got a couple years to figure it out. But, considering Cahill, Anderson, Mazzaro, Gallagher, Eveland, and Braden (if the cutter rumors are true) all project to be better then him, his future may be in the pen or as trade bait.

Sometimes life will strike you out on a curve ball and the only choice you have is to flip off the umpire and walk to first base anyway.

by Threepwood XX on Mar 19, 2009 6:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cutter rumors

Haven’t heard about this. Can you elaborate please?
If I recall correctly, Nolasco added a cutter last year and was significantly better after that.

2009; John Lester becomes an ace?

by bodyiq on Mar 19, 2009 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Springer

He stated in a recent interview that Russ Springer taught him the pitch and he’s having success with it so far.

by bluechipper on Mar 19, 2009 9:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

fwiw

Mychael Urban, the A’s beat writer for MLB.com, thinks Anderson will be in the rotation to start the season, and thinks Duke will start the year on the DL.

by ozzman99 on Mar 19, 2009 7:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Urban usually being wrong makes me quite sure Anderson isn't starting with the team

unless a few more guys get hurt.

by thejd44 on Mar 20, 2009 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Goes to Gio.

hes got nothing left to do in the minors. And Beane wont start Cahill/Anderson/Mazzaro in the big, so he can get an extra year of control outta them.

"Their Triple-A rotation, led by Trevor Cahill and Brett Anderson, could be better than some big-league rotations; Michael Ynoa is the best Latin American prospect of the decade; 2008 draftees Jemile Weeks and Rashun Dixon bring much-needed tools to an advanced group of hitters." - BaseballProspectus.com

by Syphon on Mar 19, 2009 7:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gio

Gio Gonzalez has plenty to do in the minors. He has to learn control and he has to learn composure—two things that would be beneficial for him to learn in the minors. We all know about his problem with his control, but on top of that, by all reports (and looking at box scores it’s pretty easy to see), he has a huge problem with the big inning. When something goes wrong for him in an inning, it seems difficult for him to right the ship. There is no better place to learn this in the minors. This was something that he struggled with quite a bit last year.

by nobodyinparticular on Mar 20, 2009 12:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duke will be on the DL to start the year.

Im thinking that Gio will be the number 4 till duke gets back and then shift to the #5 spot. Also you might not want to discount Outman who has had a pretty good spring and cup of coffee last September. If I was the A’s those would be my two choices because they have nothing left to prove in AAA and I don’t want to burn the SMAC’s service time.

Some of the most violent things I’ve ever seen were at Raiders games. And I’ve been to jail. - leopold bloom

by designatedforassignment on Mar 19, 2009 9:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd go with either Gio or Simmons.

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Mar 19, 2009 11:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gio gets the 5th spot

If Duke is on the DL I can’t see how they would send Anderson back down. I watched him last week and he was phenomenal. He has been all spring. I could see them starting with Simmons to slow down the arb clock on Anderson, but he has been the best of the bunch if this is a true competition.

Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
Crash Davis

by Terry Ryan Jr on Mar 20, 2009 4:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Why no love for Cahill all of a sudden?

Why would Cahill not be #5 will Justin’s on the DL? If I am not mistaken, he left off closer to the Show than Anderson. I doubt the bloom falls that quickly off the Cahill rose. I also do not believe he has had a bad spring.

I’m betting arbitration issues may also arise with them starting the year with Anderson on the roster. Probably less so with Cahill, but am not sure.

by billybgame on Mar 20, 2009 9:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Cahill vs. Anderson

Actually Anderson pitched in playoff games in AAA, while Cahill had to be shut down after the Olympics due to a strained oblique—never making it to AAA.

Cahill has had a better spring—more Ks, fewer ERs—but people see Anderson as more ready due to Cahill’s history of control issues. His issues are not on par with someone like Henry Rodriguez or even Gio Gonzalez, but Anderson’s control has been absolutely superb. Cahill has a little bit of work to do in that category.

However, Cahill has a legitimate plus K-pitch right now while Anderson does not (hence better strikeout totals). Both have very good groundball rates and both have great pitching intelligence and presence already. So it really depends on what you want more—control or strikeouts. What helps out young pitchers more?

by nobodyinparticular on Mar 20, 2009 12:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd guess that

Duke starts the year on the DL.

1. Eveland (most starts and pitched all of last year)
2. Gallagher (hopefully he’s done with his being dinged up this spring)
3. Braden
4. Gio
5. Outman

When Duke comes back one of Braden Gio and Outman goes to the bullpen. Also if there are more than one guy struggling (very real possibility) then whoever is pitching the best in Sacramento between Anderson Cahill and Simmons will get called up. The competition should put a fire under these guys butt to perform or they will be demoted in their role.

RIVER CATS: AAA CHAMPS!

by niallmack on Mar 20, 2009 1:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think Rob Neyer summed it up best

A point, though: We probably spend just a little too much psychic energy obsessing over fifth starters. In the 1940s, a baseball writer might refer to a team’s “Big Four,” even though no team was going to get through a season using just four starters. Granted, there is unpredictability and instability almost everywhere. But for many teams, that No. 5 slot in the rotation is particularly unstable, and the real key isn’t picking the right guy in March; it’s having viable options over the course of the season.

It’s not as though the guy you pick to be your 5th starter gets 30+ starts. The cool thing is the A’s have a lot of choices.

I'm starting to like our bullpen......Wuertz and all.

by scatterbrian on Mar 20, 2009 2:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

#5

Being the #5 guy gives you an opportunity to move up the ladder, though. Top prospects break into the big leagues there. So there is something to be said about who’s there. If someone never has the potential to be anything more than a #5 starter, precedence should be given to the guy who has nothing left to prove in the minors and who’s floor is a #5. So for me, #5 is a stepping stone.

In what St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa called a "big day" for his club, starter Chris Carpenter took the mound for his first session of live batting practice and promptly buzzed the fuzz on catcher Jason LaRue’s chin with an errant fastball.

"Sorry," Carpenter called from the mound.

"Don’t say you’re sorry," LaRue barked back.

"He said it," pitching coach Dave Duncan said from the side of the cage, "but he didn’t mean it."
~ DG

by mateodh on Mar 20, 2009 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duke throws off mound

Looks like he’ll miss two turns if everything goes well after today but might not start the year on the DL.

RIVER CATS: AAA CHAMPS!

by niallmack on Mar 20, 2009 5:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The link

http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090320&content_id=4038814&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak

Is here.

RIVER CATS: AAA CHAMPS!

by niallmack on Mar 20, 2009 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Does anybody know

why Brett Anderson started and only threw two innings today?

by richieabernathy on Mar 20, 2009 5:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Strained forearm

Hope it isn’t something big.

RIVER CATS: AAA CHAMPS!

by niallmack on Mar 20, 2009 6:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He should be fine.

http://baybridgebaseball.com/2009/03/anderson-pulled-with-cramp/

by Syphon on Mar 20, 2009 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Caution

Yeah, that probably knocks him out of the running for the opening day rotation.
So are we any closer to finding out who gets the 5 spot in that rotation?
This team has one hell of a future as far as the starting pitchers go…..

2009; John Lester becomes an ace?

by bodyiq on Mar 21, 2009 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gio is out

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/20/SPCT16K9I3.DTL

by thejd44 on Mar 21, 2009 6:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Since that didn't work, a quote from that link

The left-hander has a shoulder problem and hasn’t appeared in a game since he threw two hitless innings against the Diamondbacks on March 12. He’s not throwing off a mound and is limited to long toss.
"I felt a tweak in the shoulder on a pitch," Gonzalez said. "I’m throwing (from) longer (distances) now. By the end (of spring training), I hope to get a couple of games in."
Pitching coach Curt Young said, "As soon as he gets back on the mound, he’ll have a chance to pitch." But Young said Gonzalez is "a ways away."

by thejd44 on Mar 21, 2009 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yikes

That doesnt sound good at all.

by alskor on Mar 21, 2009 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

For the Gio update. So now Duke, Anderson, and Gio all have issues.

2009; John Lester becomes an ace?

by bodyiq on Mar 21, 2009 10:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Anderson will be fine. He's gonna make his next start. He was only pulled for precautionary reasons.

Never, Never, NEVER give up

by hero66 on Mar 21, 2009 11:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What about Josh Outman

Any chance that Josh Outman starts the year as the 5th? Or is he a relif prospect

"And we'll see you tomoorrow night!" Jack Buck

by Love Twins on Mar 22, 2009 8:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Anderson and Cahill could make rotation now

Gio is out to start the season in the rotation and so is Duke

Eveland Gallagher Braden

so that leaves us with
Cahill(pitches 5 innings today letting up 1 run)
Anderson(not injured)
Mazzaro(had 2 bad outings in a row)
Outman(looks more suited for the bullpen)
Edgar Gonzalez(not very good and probably better in a long relief role)

by DSamonek on Mar 22, 2009 11:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Amazing

It’s funny how things can fall into place sometimes. Now, there is actually a chance that both of them could make the rotation at the beginning of the season!
Both of these guys have had a solid spring and a case could be made for either of them. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

2009; John Lester becomes an ace?

by bodyiq on Mar 23, 2009 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duke may not miss a turn

Bay Area papers reporting that he may go in the fifth spot, the home opener on 4/10, if all goes well in his minor league start on Thursday. Even if he’s just able to go four innings, Beane says they’ll take what they can.

by Flynn Blake on Mar 25, 2009 3:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs