Jeremy Guthrie in better times
You are the Farm Director for the Cleveland Indians.
What do you do with Jeremy Guthrie?
Your first-round pick in 2002 out of Stanford, Guthrie was supposed to be in the Major League rotation by now. In college, he threw hard and threw strikes and showed a good curveball and changeup. But the last two years have been difficult for him. He came into 2005 with a career record of 19-21, 4.60 ERA, with a mediocre 201/104 K/BB and allowing 341 hits in 309 innings. Worst of all, he's been absolutely dreadful in three different shots at Triple-A. This year he is 2-4 with a 7.11 ERA and 16/16 K/BB in 25 innings.
Guthrie still throws in the low-to-mid-90s. But he seems to have lost the bite on his breaking stuff, and while he throws strikes, they are often not quality strikes, as his command has slipped a bit. He's very intelligent, but his confidence level is down, and he often gives the hitters too much credit. There doesn't seem to be an injury issue here.
He is already 26 years old, and time is running out. How can you fix him? Do you move him to relief? Teach him Zen? Learn a trick pitch? Trade him? What do you do?
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