Davies was so great in his first few starts (five shutout innings with six strikeouts against the Red Sox, and five and a third shutout innings with six more against the Mets in his first two starts, and seven and two thirds shutout innings with five Ks against the Pirates in his fourth) that it kind of carried him through the rest of the season, though he was below average overall. Davies in fact had only one quality start other than the Pirate game — 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Cubs on the Fourth of July. Basically, he rotated between being really good and really bad, and was bad more than good; his final ERA was 4.93. He was sent down in late August and when he came back was mostly used out of the pen, but pitched poorly there (9.00 ERA and a 1-2 record). Leave the relief runs out and his season ERA was 4.28.
He’s still a baby, only turned 22 in September, and there’s a lot to like here. When he’s on, he’s very tough to hit. His big problem was control, which kept him from working deep into games even when he was pitching well; he walked 49 in 87 2/3 innings. Had a reverse platoon split, in almost equal work against lefties and righties. Lefties hit .264/.363/.397 against him, normal people .295/.371/.460. Other splits are normal — better at night, better at home.
I like him a lot down the road, but he could probably use a full year in AAA first. A lot depends upon the disposition of Sosa; if he’s in the pen, Davies gets first crack at the rotation. My guess is that he starts in Richmond and moves up in May when the first injury situation crops up… Real first name is “Hiram”; he uses his middle name instead, and can you blame him?
Kyle Davies – Baseball Statistics – Biography, Minor League Stats and Baseball Cards
I look forward to 10 years of Mets fans chanting “Hiram”. 🙂
His father’s name is Hiram, too, so I suspect that’s where the name came from. A good ole boy from Stockbridge (his dad, I mean) if I’ve ever seen one.
Watching Davies last year, I felt like he had trouble keeping his release point consistent and tended to aim his pitches. His curveball was very good but he had trouble throwing it for strikes and thus didn’t want to throw it a lot. His changeup was reputed to be excellent, but I didn’t see him use it much either; he was so often behind hitters that he threw a lot of fastballs.
Anyone else have any anecdotal evidence they want to share?
More Hiram, less HoRam!
On the few occasions that I saw him he had a tendancy when he was behind in the count to pitch high in the strike zone. This meant that he got a lot of pop flys to start with but then I think hitters started to figure him out …
That game he had against the Red Sox was really good!
I think he’ll be just fine. A bit more patience and experience. I mean after all how many pitchers has Bobby ever raved about in his years with the Braves…during their rookie season no less?
Mac,
I agree with so much of what you have said about our pitchers and our pitching prospects (Davies is still one of these, IMO). What truly puzzles me is the significant contingent that thought it would be a good idea to trade John Thomson this offseason.
To me the concept makes no sense. We are short on proven pitching. Looking at what you wrote about Davies and HoRam, you recognize that. We have lost Hampton for the year. Why would we want to ship out an inexpensive middle-of-the-rotation veteran with peripherals that hint at improvement?
Especially when you look at the crazy money paid for Thomson equivalents ….
The reason that some of us wanted to ship him out is because of the fact that we wanted another big time starter. I liked having Thomson, I’d just rather have him at #4 than #3 on the rotation list. Another lefty would be excellent so we could deal HoRam and keep Thomson. That’s what I think a few people are trying to say.
I didn’t want them to trade Thomson for just anything, but I figured that he’d be something the team could afford to give up to get a premium player. For instance, when we were talking about a trade for Tejada, you’d obviously give up Thomson to get him. Yeah, you’d rather give up Sosa or HoRam, but Thomson’s value is much higher.
I’ve read where GM John thinks Sosa is rotation bound this year and with the surplus of starters, would they make Davies wait another year? As mentioned before Bobby has a very high opinion of him and the organization seems to him in their future plans. I wanted to know others thoughts on the final 2 spots of the rotation. Should we consider Thomson and Sosa locks in their positions? Is a lefty starter a must have? I agree that Davies is definitely suited for the rotation after seeing his time in the pen last year.
Would you rather give up Sosa than Thomson?
Do you see Thomson as being a better pitcher than Sosa at this point?
Would you rather give up Sosa than Thomson?
Do you see Thomson as being a better pitcher than Sosa at this point?
Yes, and yes. Do you not?
I see Thomson as a potentially good pitcher who’s never actually had a good season. I see Sosa as a potentially good pitcher who has had one good season. In addition, Sosa’s half the price of Thomson.
I agree that Sosa has a long way to go before he’s anything close to a consistent #3 or #4 starter, but in my mind so does Thomson. So, for me, the answer’s less obvious.
Thomson’s had lots of good seasons, but most of them have been in extreme hitter’s parks. His 2001 half-season with the Rockies is at least equal to what Sosa did last year. His career ERA+ is 104, meaning he’s been more good than bad.
Andruw’s WBC team needs some help, looks like Danny Haren doesn’t want to play for the Netherlands.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/27/SPG55GTKVG1.DTL
I mean after all how many pitchers has Bobby ever raved about in his years with the Braves…during their rookie season no less?
Um, all of them? That’s pretty much Bobby’s M.O.
The Andy Marte carousel continues. He was just traded to Cleveland for Coco Crisp. Poor guy. It does make you wonder, though, if he’s bouncing around so much, is there something we didn’t know? If he were the second coming of Albert Pujols, would he have been traded twice in 3 months?
Go ahead and rip that logic to shreds. It’s probably extremely full of holes.
Also Arthur Rhodes for Jason Michaels, which maybe helps the Phillies a little but maybe doesn’t. Depends on Aaron Rowand’s bat bouncing back.
Dumb trade for the Sox. Dumb in so many ways. Riske is a downgrade from Mota. Crisp isn’t particularly spectacular, and Marte’s something special. I can’t imagine why the Sox would make this deal.
Good trade for the Phillies, considering they traded a spare part for a useful one. Bad for the Indians. Michaels has no power, and they had to give up a solid reliever who might have a year or two left for a guy who will probably on their bench by the all-star break.
Riske is most certainly better than Guillermo “Shrapnel Shoulder” Mota, and Boston has a giant vortex is center. I don’t like the trade particularly, but it is certainly understandable.
The following is from the AP article on the Crisp trade:
“As Cleveland fought for a playoff spot in ’05, Indians manager Eric Wedge lost confidence in Riske.”
Riske’s ERA in September is 7.5. This is quite consistent with his inability to be a closer few years back. I have my doubt regarding his Riske’s ability to handle the Boston pressure.
Dan Shaughnessy just accused me of hacking his e-mail. I’m laughing so hard I can barely type.
And does anyone find the name “Riske” hilariously appropriate in this scenario?
I was at the game in Pittsburgh where Davies pitched really well. If I remember, Julio got a big late-inning hit to win it. I had my hopes up at that point, but the rest of the season was a downer. However, I’ve not given up on Davies either. He had too many flashes not to be optimistic. Fingers crossed on him.
And, regarding the previous thread: Clermont Lounge? No apologies there. Anybody remember Blondie?
When it looked like the Braves might trade for Riske, I took a look at his stats and it looks like the Indians hardly ever used him in pressure situations last season. He had 58 appearances but one save and no holds or blown saves. In other words, only once last season did he come into a game in which the Indians were leading by one or two runs. He did go 3-4, meaning he came in when they were tied a lot.
He’ll probably do fine.
Not only do I remember, but happen to have a copy of her comic book, which contains selections of her poetry. It’s actually not so bad. Now I feel old again. Oh wait – I am.
Don’t worry, so is she.
I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with just about everything that JoeyT said.
Mota used to be better when he had a shoulder but Riske is much less risky. Pun intended.
Crisp is more than adequate to fill the CF void. He was an incredibly popular player in Cleveland because he really energized the offense with his ability to get on base, speed, and power. And he is still fairly young.
I’m not to wild about this trade from the Phillies standpoint either. They traded a young outfielder for an old relief pitcher. Rhodes did have a good year last year but he only pitched 43 innings. I remember when he went to Oakland to be the savior of their bullpen and just stunk it up.
Do you remember the years before then when Rhodes was a stud set-up guy? Arthur has been around in the league for a long time and he’s been a top relief pitcher for most of it. I think it’s a good deal for the Phils.