Diamondbacks Bullpen

[McCray]

i'm sure many of you on here already know this stuff, but i looked up westbrook's numbers tonight to try to figure out what happened between 2004 and 2006.

a quick and dirty look at westbrook's 2006:

211 IP / 4.17 ERA / 1.43 WHIP
6.2 IP per start
109 K
55 BB
4.65 K/9
2.34 BB/9
10.5 H/9
.64 HR/9
1.98 K/BB
2.71 GB/FB

not so great, right? but look at his 2004 season:

215.2 IP / 3.38 ERA / 1.25 WHIP
7.1 IP per start
116 K
61 BB
4.85 K/9
2.55 BB/9
8.70 H/9
.79 HR/9
1.90 K/BB
3.01 GB/FB

each season he won around 15 games, but his era rose almost a run this year. but looking at the stats, they're not very different at all. the hits are the difference. westbrook allowed an extra 2 hits per game in 06 vs 04. but his control stayed the same, the HR rate stayed about the same, the gb/fb improved. so why did he allow more hits? maybe the league is adjusting to his sinker, or maybe his team just can't field it.

cleveland's DER this season was .677 -- pretty ugly. tied with KC for second worst in the AL, only ahead of tampa bay. in 2004, it was .728. that's quite a few more balls in play going for hits, right? he has a high BABIP, so he's been unlucky -- this might make there be less of a demand for him as say, bonderman, right?

so, i guess westbrook really isn't near as bad as his stats looked to me at first glance. he's not great, and i don't think he really qualifies as top of the rotation help, but he would be a good middle rotation guy to fit in behind webb and livan. take that groundball guy away from his .677 DER and put him in front of our team's .713 DER, and he's going to improve.

how much is entirely another question.

but i think i'm starting to see where westbrook might be slightly undervalued right now, and might put up some good numbers here. he's not going to be the savior of the 07 season, but he would be a very solid pickup IMO. he'll only be making 6.1M in 2007, and he's a FA after that year, so no long term commitment if it doesn't work out.

has anyone here seen much of him in person? how does his sinker look? anyone think webb might be able to teach him a few things?
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Hank, you're dead to me.

[levski]

recent interviews with shapiro make me think that it's highly unlikely that he'll trade westbrook trout; if he does, he'll want a lot of major league young cheap talent back. in fact, i think he'll end up signing westbrook trout long term.

anyhow, i'm not married to the idea of acquiring him. he'll be far too expensive, will be here for one year, and really isn't a guy that you break the bank for...
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Old school Hollywood baseball,
Joe Girardi is ten feet tall,
Old school Hollywood baseball,
Me and Frenchy walk a ton.

And Tony Pena cuts in line...

[VIII]

Chris Carter for bonderman

Not straight up
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VIII THE POET

The Curse of The Snake Bite Strikes!

[levski]

[matt]

I thought it was maybe a result of him getting bombed a couple of times but he actually had about 6 times where he gave up 5 or more.

[matt]

Carter alone won't cut it.