The need for another setup reliever appears to increase with each passing game. Aaron Heilman has pitched three and two innings in his two most recent appearances. Extending that level of workload would render him useless -- or at least ineffective -- before Sept. 1.
Joe Smith appears to have hit a wall of late. His three most recent appearances have produced six hits, three walks, five runs and five outs. Pedro Feliciano and Scott Schoeneweis are limited in what they can do effectively -- face left-handed batters; Sanchez has been removed from the eighth-inning role that had been his, partially by default; and Carlos Muniz is miscast in long relief.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Marty Noble sums up the bullpen problems
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2 comments:
I think it's as true today as it was a few months ago when I said if Omar wants to improve this team by trades, he ought to focus on the bullpen. That is one of the big differences between '06 team and '08 team.
There's only one pitcher on this team I have total confidence in, and that's of course Santana. I think it looks like Pelf and Perez may have turned corners, although they will still have some ugly bumps along the way such as Pelf's most recent game. Bullpen is a total crapshoot from start to finish, this is where Omar should focus.
I have a great feeling about Pelf for the long-term. "Bumps in the road" like his last start are expected--even established pitchers have those.
What I'm worried about with Pelf is that he's never thrown more than 150 IP in a year before. He'll be beyond that by the end of August, and in unchartered territory by the time the stretch drive is underway. I absolutely do not believe Pelf can be relied on in September when he will undoubtedly be hitting a wall.
Perez, Johan and Maine are the guys we're going to be relying on. If Maine is down, you're relying on Pelf or Pedro, which is a crap shoot.
I saw that we might take a run at Washburn from the M's, as he's likely to clear waivers. That would help solidify the rotation.
As for the pen, I have no idea who's out there. The trades involving relievers that were made yesterday (Arthur Rhodes?) weren't exactly awe-inspiring.
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