That's just dumb. I think everyone on FSN and WLW is required by contract to get excited everytime Phil Dumatrait is mentioned. If he was black, maybe you could attribute it to some bizzare form of restitution, but he's not, so I have no reasonable explanation. The guy is not a good pitcher and unless something wierd happens, will never be a passable major league starter. A K:BB ratio of 1.35 at AAA does not translate to major league success.Here is what I do. Livingston and Dumatrait are brought up to the big club. Dumatrait is inserted in Belisle's slot and Livingston pitches long relief.
Why replace Belisle? Unless I made a mistake, which isn't all that unlikely I guess, Belisle's DIPS ERA is sitting at a tidy 4.55 right now. His ERA's a little higher, but his peripherals are darn solid for a back rotation starter. He's also still pretty young and has good stuff leading me to believe that his cieling is not yet reached.
Last edited by paintmered; 07-04-2007 at 02:06 AM. Reason: Explicit reference
Agreed. Belisle should be penned (not penciled) in for the #5 starter for the next three years.
If things pan out as planned, Harang, Arroyo, Bailey, and Cueto will occupy those other four spots for the said time frame.
Go BLUE!!!
Matt Belisle is a better pitcher then both Livingston and Dumatrait. In fact, I'd rather see Gardner or Ramirez up here before Livingston or Dumatrait. The reason everyone likes them is because they are left handed, but that doesn't change that they are not good.
Replacing Belisle with either of them would be a horrible move by the Reds.
I like Benihana's idea... I think this could work.
I think Belisle is perfect for long relief and spot starts. I just don't think he's quite good enough to be a #3 or #4 starter. Maybe a #5 starter, but I'd rather have someone with a higher ceiling there.
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The PR stunt that was the promotion of Homer Bailey should have never happened in the first place.
Over the course of the rest of 2007, there's a slew of guys in AAA and AA who should get some sort of audition at the big league level.
2007 is over, 2008 doesn't look good, so let's look ahead to 2009.
Homer Bailey has nothing left to prove at AAA. The only reason he would be sent down is to work on his pitches; he can do that here against major league hitters. Sending him down might damage his confidence. Lohse should be traded, and I would give Dumatrait or Livingston his spot. Belisle has done very well in the no. 5 spot in the rotation
He shouldn't be "working on his pitches" during a major league game. He should work on them in the minors and throw them in the majors with confidence when refined. He also needs to complete his development. This is a kid that has never thrown much more than 140 innings in a season. He hasn't been fully developped physically to handle a starter's load in MLB IMO. I'm more concerned about that at this point than the break on his curve quite frankly.
In AAA he can:
1. Have his work and pitch load managed w/o regard to a the game sutuation as much and get to the 170 to 175 inning level that the natural development course calls for in 2007.
2. Work on his command and secondary stuff.
3. Provide a major league spot to look at others who require a more immediate cut bait decision by the end of spring, 2008 (options and all) like Livingston, Dumatrait and EZ.
4. Stop accumulating service time while accomplishing the above. He's had his taste. He can come back up in 2008 (maybe September if he hasn't pushed his upper inning limit) with a better array of pitches (I hope) and a better physical preparation for his role.
I'd like to push the timeline forward and get his "lump taking period" out of the way in this lost season, but there is still plenty more to do in AAA IMO and it has nothing to do with proving himself statistically. It has more to do with refinement and physical preparation. 2008 is his year to take his lumps in the majors with hopefully 2009 his year to take off.
Last edited by mth123; 07-04-2007 at 05:32 AM.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
What is the opinion on EZ. Is he out of the picture for the future???
I'd love to see Keppinger up here instead of Castro, but I see no evidence that Keppinger can play short, and having your starting 2B be your only backup SS (and an iffy one at that) seems a little dicey to me.
"In baseball, you don't know nothin'"...Yogi Berra
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