Who should start in AJ Burnett's spot Thursday against the Orioles?
Josh Banks | 50 (19.31%) |
Scott Downs | 21 (8.11%) |
Roy Halladay | 27 (10.42%) |
Casey Janssen | 47 (18.15%) |
Shaun Marcum | 18 (6.95%) |
David Purcey | 3 (1.16%) |
Francisco Rosario | 49 (18.92%) |
Ty Taubenheim | 24 (9.27%) |
Pete Walker | 20 (7.72%) |
The bullpen has been extended quite a bit, so I don't like the idea of Walker (and the guys that pick him up) being stretched out even more. Marcum (if I'm not mistaken) has been a reliever this year, so he probably isn't stretched out, either. Rosario reportedly had good stuff last time out, but he's been hit-and-miss. Purcey clearly needs more time in the minors to sort out his control issues. Downs has been inconsistent at best.
Taubenheim is the wildcard. He's been very good this year, but apparently has somewhat fringey stuff.
It looks like Janseen is the guy. He was pulled after three scoreless innings today. He threw only 38 pitches.
I was thinking they would go with Banks because he is already on the 40 man roster.
Me? I lean towards using Walker and not doing the roster shuffle. Let the kids impress more in AAA when all you need them for is one or maybe two starts.
If I had to choose I'd go with Janssen. Not a great ERA to start the year but he doens't walk people, gets his share of K's, and is able to hold down extra base hits against.
Banks on the other hand gives up a similar number of hits and has good control but seems to throw too many fat pitches. A surprisingly high number of his hits allowed are for extra bases and he's giving up twice as many homeruns as Janssen. This definately matters at the major league level where the hitters are generally better and less forgiving of mistakes.
Rosario is pitching well but his sometimes erratic control and questions about how deep into a game he can pitch make me concerned about giving him a major league starting job at the moment. Long relief, sure. Otherwise let him work his way up to being up to go 6 or 7 innings rather than 5.