Rocky Biddle should be a starting pitcher...

[mac9001]

Last season he had a 3.48 ERA(.244 .OBA, 7 Starts) as a starter. He has a great fastball and a good curve. I think he could be a good pitcher if he gets the chance. What do you all think?

[soxfan420]

if he can get deeper in games i say yes he needs to be able to go 7+ innings. if he can only go 5-6 then he needs to stay in the pen

[RedPinStripes]

I think this is the last chance for Rockey. if he doesnt show a lot of improvement, i think they're done with him.

 

He has had a lot of time to reat from surguries. This should be his breakout year. I hope so. He can be a real nasty f***er on the mound. Just the way i like a pitcher!

[YASNY]

I don't think they'll give up on Biddle just yet. I honestly think he and Garland are ready. I believe by the AS break, Garland and Biddle will be solidly entrenched at #2 & #3... With Wright and Rauch bringing up the end of the rotation. I am really optimistic about our pitching staff.

[Chisoxfn]

Biddle is a quality pitcher. Last season he was coming off of surgery and he should be able to get deeper into games.

 

Still, he needs to throw more then just a curve or fastball. He needs to mix in a changeup and maybe develop a second fastball.

 

He does have good stuff and a ton of heart so I'll be rooting for him.

[MurcieOne]

Originally posted by Chisoxfn

Biddle is a quality pitcher.  Last season he was coming off of surgery and he should be able to get deeper into games.

 

Still, he needs to throw more then just a curve or fastball.  He needs to mix in a changeup and maybe develop a second fastball.

 

He does have good stuff and a ton of heart so I'll be rooting for him.

 

I dunno. I sat here and wrote 5 different responses.... and I disagreed with eachone I wrote.

 

I just dunno.

[Soxplosion]

Originally posted by mac9001

Last season he had a 3.48 ERA(.244 .OBA, 7 Starts) as a starter. He has a great fastball and a good curve. I think he could be a good pitcher if he gets the chance. What do you all think?

 

I dont think Rocky should be a starter and I dont even think hes a very good pitcher but I respect him for knocking down that f***er Ass Job Pure-s***-sky. Hes a team player and I like that. But lets not make him a starter. Without any more moves, Buehrle, Garland, Ritchie, Wright and Rauch are our starters. If anyone fails, Biddle can step in, not Glover.

[CubKilla]

Originally posted by soxfan420

if he can get deeper in games i say yes he needs to be able to go 7+ innings. if he can only go 5-6 then he needs to stay in the pen

 

I think alot of that has to do with JM ALWAYS going to the pen with his 2-5 starters. I lost track of all the times last year that JM went to the pen in or after the 6th when it wasn't necessary..... just to tinker. I'm one of the optimistic ones though when it comes to Biddle. If he could pitch the way he was in the summer of 2001, he could be a nasty mound presence and bring a little sodification to our shaky starters (not including Buehrle of course). I, for one, would rather have ANYBODY out there besides Ritchie.

[MurcieOne]

Originally posted by theoldroman

Originally posted by mac9001

Last season he had a 3.48 ERA(.244 .OBA, 7 Starts) as a starter. He has a great fastball and a good curve. I think he could be a good pitcher if he gets the chance. What do you all think?

 

I dont think Rocky should be a starter and I dont even think hes a very good pitcher but I respect him for knocking down that f***er Ass Job Pure-s***-sky. Hes a team player and I like that. But lets not make him a starter. Without any more moves, Buehrle, Garland, Ritchie, Wright and Rauch are our starters. If anyone fails, Biddle can step in, not Glover.

 

Todd Ritchie isn't on this team right now. So all thats definite right now is Buehrle, Garland, and Wright.

[rt59_bnsf]

right now, Biddle is in the rotation, and I'm looking forward to it. I think he has the coolest/wickedest stuff of our starters, and might even move ahead of Garland by the end of the year.

[Chisoxfn]

He will be their as long as we don't sign another pitcher or Ritchie.

 

Still, this is a risky rotation with Buerhle, Garland, Wright, Biddle and Rauch. This type of rotation could put a ton of pressure on the bullpen and offense.

 

Then again if Wright and Garland grow, Biddle proves he's pretty good after the injury and Rauch pitches like many think he can and this is one of the better rotations in the majors.

 

Odds are it falls somewhere in between.

[MurcieOne]

Originally posted by rt59_bnsf

right now, Biddle is in the rotation, and I'm looking forward to it.  I think he has the coolest/wickedest stuff of our starters, and might even move ahead of Garland by the end of the year.

 

Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA here....... Jonny G is the man lemme tell you! aint nowone taking his number 2 spot.

[rt59_bnsf]

yeah...i hope so.

 

throw strikes jon.

 

throw STRIKES!!!!

[Chisoxfn]

Jon became a much better pitcher when he stopped overthrowing in the middle of last season.

 

His ball started having much better movement and he had better control. WHen he throws real hard his pitch straightens out and he gets drilled.

 

Hopefully Cooper continues to do good work on him and the young kid continues his development.

 

I really like our young arms and we have more of them coming, just not this year, minus Rauch and maybe Diaz.

[witesoxfan]

I gotta agree with Murc on this one....I don't know....he could be a good starter, one that can go 9 innings of unhittable ball where he is just throwing the ball real well all night long. On the other hand, with him in the rotation, that weakens our bullpen, and we only have Glover, Marte, Osuna, Koch, Ginter and Wunsch....that bullpen would be better with Biddle in it instead of Ginter, but then the rotation takes a hit.

 

s***...this is a toughie. Rocky had real good stuff....but with his arm the way it is, all f***ed up, I'd be careful with him....we don't want to ruin one of the bright young arms of the game. I'd take it slow with Rocky...if he does start, Manuel better still have him on a pitch count...maybe around 80 or so, and then eventually work his way up there, maybe to around 110 by the end of the year.

 

I do like that rotation though....Buehrle, Garland, Wright, Biddle, Rauch....not only do we have 5 of the best young arms in the game in our rotation, but if we let the offense do its thing that it did in 2000, that rotation could get a confidence boost and they'll know when they need to step it up a notch when the offense isn't clicking, or they can know they only have to pitch 6 innings because the bullpen will get it done for the final 3. This team could win the division...or it could flop miserably and we could be a .500 team again.

[Soxplosion]

Originally posted by witesoxfan

I gotta agree with Murc on this one....I don't know....he could be a good starter, one that can go 9 innings of unhittable ball where he is just throwing the ball real well all night long.  On the other hand, with him in the rotation, that weakens our bullpen, and we only have Glover, Marte, Osuna, Koch, Ginter and Wunsch....that bullpen would be better with Biddle in it instead of Ginter, but then the rotation takes a hit.

 

s***...this is a toughie.  Rocky had real good stuff....but with his arm the way it is, all f***ed up, I'd be careful with him....we don't want to ruin one of the bright young arms of the game.  I'd take it slow with Rocky...if he does start, Manuel better still have him on a pitch count...maybe around 80 or so, and then eventually work his way up there, maybe to around 110 by the end of the year.

 

I do like that rotation though....Buehrle, Garland, Wright, Biddle, Rauch....not only do we have 5 of the best young arms in the game in our rotation, but if we let the offense do its thing that it did in 2000, that rotation could get a confidence boost and they'll know when they need to step it up a notch when the offense isn't clicking, or they can know they only have to pitch 6 innings because the bullpen will get it done for the final 3.  This team could win the division...or it could flop miserably and we could be a .500 team again.

 

I wouldnt exactly call Wright or Biddle one of the best young arms in the game. They arent, and probably never will be, a Barry Zito, or even a Damian Moss, who are truly some of the best young arms in the game. Biddle shouldnt be in the rotation, Ritchie should. Last year was a fluke for Ritchie. He has been very good in the past, I think he deserves another chance. But well have an eye on him. If he falters, Biddle will step in immediately...

[CubKilla]

Originally posted by theoldroman Last year was a fluke for Ritchie. He has been very good in the past, I think he deserves another chance. 

 

When has Ritchie ever been very good? If you're referring to the second half of 2001, let's not forget that he started the first half of that year at 0-8. He was respectable for about the first two months of 2002..... then he couldn't buy a win. RITCHIE SUCKS! :puke

[Chisoxfn]

Ritchie is far from great, he's also far from what he was last year, which was terrible.

 

He definately isn't a number two or even a number 3 pitcher though.

[Cerbaho-WG]

I don't know about Biddle. The instant he pitches great, he blows out his arm. He has great stuff, and should be given an opportunity to becoems the #5 starter.

 

Also, Jon should have a good, solid season this year. Now that Nardi is cast away, he can finally pitch to his strengths.

[witesoxfan]

Originally posted by theoldroman

I wouldnt exactly call Wright or Biddle one of the best young arms in the game. They arent, and probably never will be, a Barry Zito, or even a Damian Moss, who are truly some of the best young arms in the game. Biddle shouldnt be in the rotation, Ritchie should. Last year was a fluke for Ritchie. He has been very good in the past, I think he deserves another chance. But well have an eye on him. If he falters, Biddle will step in immediately...

 

Wright is probably the worst pitcher in that rotation when each is pitching their best, and that's only because he's so frickin inconsistent at this point in his career. And I'd still take him over Ritchie any day. Ritchie will cost us $2 million or so and I'd rather get a guy, like Jeff Suppan who will give us 200 innings, rather than Ritchie who could or could not give us 200 innings.

 

A rotation of Buehrle, Garland, Wright, Rauch, Biddle is better than Buehrle, Wright, Ritchie, Rauch/Biddle but is about as good as Buehrle, Garland, Wright, Suppan, Rauch/Biddle, IMO.

 

I don't care what the hell anyone here says....Ritchie sucks, plain and simple. I don't want him. Give us f***in Jamie Navarro....atleast he'd give us some comic relief when he b****es about not getting run support after losing 9-1 or some s*** like that.

[Cerbaho-WG]

Ritchie isn't THAT bad.

 

I'd actually want him back here for 2003.

[Poppy Hidalgo]

Wright can throw five pitches for strikes,anyone that thinks he sucks should go back to pitching 101 and start all over.

[Cerbaho-WG]

Listening to Daver, are we?

 

Wright has three pitches, and that's being generous. He rarely throws his change, and his slider is as flat as a table.

[witesoxfan]

Originally posted by Cerbaho-WG

Ritchie isn't THAT bad.

 

I'd actually want him back here for 2003.

 

I don't care how bad or good Ritchie is....an ERA over 6.00 is pitiful, it sucks, it is god-awful...there are so many adjectives that describe how bad of an ERA that is that it isn't funny.

 

Ritchie was real good for the first two months he was here...big f***in deal....and then for the next two-and-a-half months, he stunk, because of something he couldn't control, run support. In other words, he became a headcase...so how do we know that's not how he's going to pitch as a starter from now on? What if he is only going to be a good reliever? I don't want another overpriced reliever along with Osuna.

 

The Ritchie-plan failed....let's move on. He should be the butt of a lot of jokes....maybe he is, I don't know. Wright will put up better numbers than Ritchie, regardless of how many real pitches he has, considering how much he will make compared to how much Ritchie will make. Wright saves us about $1.5 mill or so over Ritchie, and that $1.5 mill could be used to get a guy like Jeff Suppan who would be used as an innings eater and than one of Jon Rauch and Rocky Biddle would be in the starting rotation, another in the pen as a swing man.

 

IMO, Ritchie should be done with the Sox and the Sox should be done with Ritchie. I am sure Ritchie is a good person, but as a player, I don't think he is that good. We will, at best, get 10-15 wins with a 4.50 ERA or so from Ritchie....with Wright, we will get 10-15 wins with an ERA around 4.50....and as I explained above, I'd rather have the guy who makes less that will put up similar numbers...and if that extra money could go to signing Suppan, who will give us 200 innings and 10-15 wins as well, than it is all the better. We would actually have 4 legit starters along with 1 of Rauch or Biddle, and one of those 4 would be Buehrle, who is a stud.

 

In the end, signing Suppan for $1.5 million saves us $500,000....and what if the Sox and Buehrle come to a contract agreement but the Sox, for a change, want to sweeten the deal, and they add that $500,000....you think Buehrle would take a hint that maybe we do in fact want him and his pitching? IMO, I think he would take that hint.

[Jim Fainter]

Rocky Biddle and Kelly Wunsch have one trait in common (unfortunately). Neither one can get anyone out when the game is on the line. They are both quite competent when they come in for mop up duty, but if the game is on the line, they both get rocked. Therefore, their ERA's are misleading. I don't think that either one belongs in the big leagues.