When is this nightmare going to stop?

[southsideirish71]

Colon has only given up 1 hit through 4 innings tonight although he hasn't struck anyone out. Maybe he can do the job. He had his moments earlier this year.

 

He is still throwing lots and lots of fastballs. So if its still 89 to 90 and he doesnt trust his secondary pitches, the same result will occur.

 

 

[DBAHO]

Colon has only given up 1 hit through 4 innings tonight although he hasn't struck anyone out. Maybe he can do the job. He had his moments earlier this year.

I think that's what KW is hoping for right now.

 

It'll be interesting to see if Richard gets 1 more shot in the rotation.

[Chet Lemon]

We don't know if Poreda is overrated or not as a starter until he does. If he's not going to start, at least use him more in the pen. It's almost like he's a garbage time arm right now.

 

If he f***s up, put him on a plane out of here!

[SoxFan1]

I cannot even begin to fathom why anyone would be down on Poreda right now and NOT give him an opportunity to start.

[NorthSideSox72]

He is still throwing lots and lots of fastballs. So if its still 89 to 90 and he doesnt trust his secondary pitches, the same result will occur.

 

This.

 

I cannot even begin to fathom why anyone would be down on Poreda right now and NOT give him an opportunity to start.

 

And this.

 

I'm not opposed to Torres either, as a plan B. But Poreda should be Plan A at this point. And with Richard and Thornton in the pen, that gives Ozzie his two lefties, so you don't lose that. Colon should be plan C.

[SoxFan1]

I'm not opposed to Torres either, as a plan B. But Poreda should be Plan A at this point. And with Richard and Thornton in the pen, that gives Ozzie his two lefties, so you don't lose that. Colon should be plan C.

I agree with this 100%. Poreda is a first round draft pick and made his way up our minor league ranks relatively fast. He's known to have a very good fastball and a plus slider when he can throw it over the plate. We saw that the other day. It was nasty. And for people saying that he hasn't shown any spectacular stuff since he's been up, well all I can say is that part of it is because he's throw only 7.2 innings and also because he's been coming out of the bullpen.

 

I don't think people realize how hard it is, after you've been purely a starting pitcher for the past 4-5 years to get up and come out of the bullpen. Your routine is thrown off, you don't know when your going to pitch and how much, and it takes a converted starter much longer to get ready in the pen than the reverse. Give him a shot. He has a great ERA in AA with good peripherals and we called him up. He's our top pitching prospect, you can't give up on him as a starter right away.

[bighurt574]

As long as the Sox can find Colon and/or Poreda, either of them should be starting over Richards right now.

[gatnom]

I cannot even begin to fathom why anyone would be down on Poreda right now and NOT give him an opportunity to start.

 

I'm willing to give him an opportunity to be the 5th starter, but I foresee him having similar issues as Richard. I don't think he has enough pitches right now to succeed in that position. He has what, one good pitch and two decent or below average ones? How exactly does everybody expect him to go deep into games?

 

I say give Richard one more shot after the break, and, if he continues to suck, we can give Poreda or whoever a shot.

 

[Balta1701]

I cannot even begin to fathom why anyone would be down on Poreda right now and NOT give him an opportunity to start.

I'd guess he's really not stretched out for 4+ innings/80 pitches right now.

[Special K]

I blame Kenny. What did Kenny think was going to happen with our rotation this year. He had to have known Colon or Contreras probably would not work out going into the season. They were both long shots and we had no other back-up plans. Richard is doing his best but it's not cutting it. They brought up Poreda with really no guidance as to what he would be and now he is simply a mop up guy whose arm hasn't been stretched out enough to be a starter b/c of this role they stuck him in. Our 5th spot is a disaster, and Kenny knew it would be like that and did nothing. He needs to make a move if he wants to win. They had an opportunity to get a guy like Edwin Jackson and blew it by going with two notoriously injury prone guys, one of whom decided to simply disappear. We need another starter, doesn't need to be a Halladay type, although that would be nice, but someone who can pitch if we want to win this division, maybe a Bedard-type, because I don't see Poerda or Richard getting the job done b/c they both have to grow through the "growing pains" of being a starting pitcher, see David Price.

[LVSoxFan]

God I was sitting right on the rail along the third base line as he walked one, then walked one, then loaded 'em up and then the granny, which you knew was coming.

 

One positive I took from all this is that Ozzie wasted no time in yanking him. He seems to not have the patience for them to "work it out" or work on their confidence by leaving them in.

 

It sure seemed like it was gonna be a long day with not one out in the second and looking up to see 9-2. And then... at least we came roaring back. The April Sox would have just played corpseball, yet there they were, right back in it.

 

Not sure what to do with Richard/Poreda--Richard obviously has the stuff but seems to be a head case. Poreda did indeed look good... in fact, the good vibe from Ozzie yanking Richard early was sort of trampled by him taking out Poreda when he was shutting out the Tribe, only to have the next guy give up the game winning runs.

[greg775]

Our 5th spot is a disaster, and Kenny knew it would be like that and did nothing.

 

Special K, not many teams have 5 good starters. It looked early on that Richard was going to be the surprise of the season. He was looking good. Now he's been horrible.

There still are some guys we can trot out there. I vote Poreda or I guess Colon, but we better have our hitting shoes on when it's Colon. He's going to give up 4-6 runs in six innings every outing.

[Chicago White Sox]

Special K, not many teams have 5 good starters. It looked early on that Richard was going to be the surprise of the season.

 

And he still might be. I think Scenario mentioned sending him back to AAA to get his stuff worked out. Makes a ton of sense to me. I still think he has a chance to be an above-average starter in the AL. He just needs to figure some s*** out and come back up with a fresh mind. It's way too early to give up on him long-term at least.

[WCSox]

Special K, not many teams have 5 good starters.

 

Given what Buehrle, Danks, and Floyd did last season, our rotation was above average at worst going into April.

 

If Kenny had kept Vazquez, many of the same people whining about Richard would be piling on Vazquez for giving up too many HRs and Kenny for over-paying Vazquez.

 

[lostfan]

Special K, not many teams have 5 good starters.

This is really true actually. The average ERA for a 5th starter is probably something like 5.25. Basically all a 5th starter has to do is not be horrible.

[Jordan4life_2007]

This is really true actually. The average ERA for a 5th starter is probably something like 5.25. Basically all a 5th starter has to do is not be horrible.

 

4 legitimate starters is really all you need to contend (and most teams aren't fortunate to have four let alone 5).

[scenario]

I like Poreda and think he'll eventually be in the rotation, but frankly... I'd leave him in relief right now because I think it strengthens our pen to have another hard throwing lefty... especially one with good control... who can come in and throw bullets for an inning or two.

 

So... what do we do with the 5th starter position? We do have a few players in the minors worth giving a start or two to see what we have... and Bart. In the upcoming double-header, I'd give Bart the start if he's ready. If he is, he'd get the job until he proves he can't handle it... with Carlos Torres and Jack Egbert as short term backup plans. (For those not watching the minors, Egbert has been dealing since he was put back in a starter's role. A 1.53 ERA over his last 10 games... 37 K's and only 6 BB's.)

 

Meanwhile, I'd send Richard to Charlotte and see if he could work out his control issues in a lower pressure environment. Worked wonders for Contreras. Why not give that a shot? If it works he gives us another valid 5th starter candidate. If not, better that he get beat up in AAA not Chicago.

 

So... if I was given the GM's job for a day, that's probably what I would do... Poreda in the pen... Bart to start... with 2 Charlotte guys as the short-term backup plan. Richard to Charlotte until he pulls his head out of his tucus. And I'd be very tempted to bring Egbert up for a game to two to take advantage of the hot streak he's on and potentially showcase him for other teams.

Edited July 10, 2009 by scenario