GreatScott82 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 The last 8 or 9 outings from the young lefty haven't been too good: Totals 1-7 7.11 ERA 49.1 IP 63 hits 39 ER 18 BB 41SO Should we be concerned about this? Or is it just a young pitcher learning how to pitch for a full season? With either Contreras or Garland or both almost sure as gone this offseason, we will need 2 young guys to come in right away and contribute. Danks showed a lot of promise during the first half of the year, but now is struggling pretty badly. Floyd struggled early on but now has figured it out. And now you have guys like Broadway who is showing promise and it will be interesting to see if a guy like Gio Gonzales suprises the coaching staff during spring training... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsideirish71 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I think mentally and physically he is tired. To me this craptacular season is not helping things overall. In the first part of the season, he was the 5th starter and was fighting tooth and nail for every start just to stay up here. The offense decided to take a collective dump everytime he pitched, but he pitched well. He started to pitch like crap the minute that the team went on a freefall. He is a rookie, who should of been in AAA this year. I think he will be better next year. He needs to work on fine tuning his control, and working on that Buerhle cutter that Mark is helping him with. I would like to see a better plan of attack when he takes the mound next year. He should use his changeup more, and use it to keep people off of his fastball. All I see lately is the catchers are calling so many fastballs. His fastball is above 90, and no matter how straight it is, if you use a secondary pitch to change the bat speed of the batter you can get away with it. You use your change to offset the fastball, and you use your curveball to setup the high fastball out pitch. This is what I would like to see for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I think this is too be expected from a 21 year old who's not a power pitcher. He's worked harder this season than anyone in his entire life if i had to venture a guess. He just needs a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(Steve9347 @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 10:10 AM) I think this is too be expected from a 21 year old who's not a power pitcher. He's worked harder this season than anyone in his entire life if i had to venture a guess. He just needs a break. He's 22 and has been since April. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve9347 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 10:30 AM) He's 22 and has been since April. you and your facts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I'm full of 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I definitely think there is some cause for concern. At the same time, he has a good arm and this beatdown will be a great learning experience for him (assuming he's mentally tough and can handle this and if he isn't mentally tough than he won't make it in this league). I still think he has a lot to work on and the progression of his secondary stuff really was minimal throughout the course of the season and that kind of scares me. I'm hoping its just a confidence thing and that he's been working with Coop on that sort of stuff and will show up more ready to compete for a full season next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomSlowik Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 I'm personally not worried about him. As we all said at the beginning of the year, he probably shouldn't have been in the majors this year but he was the best of our 5th starter options. It's not like he's having problems with his velocity, he just hasn't really learned how to pitch yet. He still goes up there trying to strike everyone out, which jacks up his pitch count and leads him to more walks than he really should have. Eventually once he learns how to pitch to contact and realizes that he can't throw his fastball by everyone all the time, he should turn into a solid pitcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteSoxfan1986 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 The problem is that minor league pitchers are just babied too much nowadays. Danks only threw 140 innings last year, and we expected him to throw 180. These guys are on too strict of pitch counts. I can see not having a guy throw 200 innings in the minors, but a lot of times teams won't even let the guy throw 90 pitches, it's a joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 On top of the innings, Danks worked a whole lot of long innings this year as well. I think he was 3-2 on more hitters than anyone else on this team. Those innings wear on a pitcher as the season goes on. Once he learns to control his pitch count is when he has his breakthrough season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29andPoplar Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 On top of the innings, Danks worked a whole lot of long innings this year as well. I think he was 3-2 on more hitters than anyone else on this team. Those innings wear on a pitcher as the season goes on. Once he learns to control his pitch count is when he has his breakthrough season. Yes you are correct. The league adjusted to him and he did not adjust back. Not unusual for a pitcher of his age and experience but I would have liked to see him progress further than he did. Interestingly, his ability and willingness to attack the strike zone is what got him the job in spring, somewhere along the line that got away from him. Supposedly the staff met about him today, trying to determine if they shut him down or give him a few more innings between now and the end of the season. Do not be shocked if John begins next year in Charlotte, the key word being begins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomSlowik Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 02:48 PM) Do not be shocked if John begins next year in Charlotte, the key word being begins. If they deal Garland and/or Contreras like everyone thinks they will, that simply isn't going to happen. Even if they don't, there'd have to be pretty clear evidence in Spring Training next year that Danks isn't the best option, and I'm not sure how likely that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yossarian Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(WhiteSoxfan1986 @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 12:39 PM) The problem is that minor league pitchers are just babied too much nowadays. Danks only threw 140 innings last year, and we expected him to throw 180. These guys are on too strict of pitch counts. I can see not having a guy throw 200 innings in the minors, but a lot of times teams won't even let the guy throw 90 pitches, it's a joke. Excellent post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29andPoplar Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 If they deal Garland and/or Contreras like everyone thinks they will, that simply isn't going to happen. Even if they don't, there'd have to be pretty clear evidence in Spring Training next year that Danks isn't the best option, and I'm not sure how likely that is. You may very well be right but on the other hand, lots of things can change and based on White Sox offseasons they usually do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fathom Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(29andPoplar @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 08:28 PM) You may very well be right but on the other hand, lots of things can change and based on White Sox offseasons they usually do. Do you think there's any chance that JR, KW, and Ozzie see how ridiculous the salaries will be this offseason, and decide to go into rebuilding mode with a rotation of Buehrle, Vazquez, Danks, Gio, and Floyd, and trading Garland, Contreras, not tendering Crede, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSqwert Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 03:33 PM) Do you think there's any chance that JR, KW, and Ozzie see how ridiculous the salaries will be this offseason... If that's the case then JR might as well sell his stake in this team. Salaries will continue to escalate every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
29andPoplar Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Do you think there's any chance that JR, KW, and Ozzie see how ridiculous the salaries will be this offseason, and decide to go into rebuilding mode with a rotation of Buehrle, Vazquez, Danks, Gio, and Floyd, and trading Garland, Contreras, not tendering Crede, etc? No. They are not rebuilding, not now anyways despite those clamoring for it on this site. There will be lots of players available, be it trade, non tenders, under the radar types, etc. The team will look different and I am certain just like always with White Sox fans, some will like it, some will be willing to give it a chance, and others will hate it and will let everyone and their brother know from the rooftops they hate it. One of the bigger problems will be getting the team to gel. Spring training will be more important than ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 01:33 PM) Do you think there's any chance that JR, KW, and Ozzie see how ridiculous the salaries will be this offseason, and decide to go into rebuilding mode with a rotation of Buehrle, Vazquez, Danks, Gio, and Floyd, and trading Garland, Contreras, not tendering Crede, etc? I think that 1 of those first 2 items will happen. Crede could also be non-tendered if his back simply isn't ready come the arbitration deadline, but that's the only way I think that's happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.png.5399aa0ece6cd8c6bcb5fe1411a65e7c.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.