Maybe a better way to look at it would be slugging against instead of raw totals. Leake had the worst Slg% against in all of NL among qualified pitchers. .479
If you break it down home/road though you get a huge difference.
.547 Home
.410 Road
Clearly he has to learn some way to limit the damage at home and then his value would be much higher. That .410 slugging would put him on same level as pitchers like Bailey and Cliff Lee. I have a feeling if he doesn't improve at home he will be traded next off season as he would have much more value to another team than one that plays in GABP. As is he was very good for a 5th starter but I do see room to be more than that. Hopefully he figures it out at home or just does a better job of keeping ball down.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
So by WAR, that basically makes him a middle #4, if you assume 16 teams with 5 starters..
By ERA, he's at the top end of the #5's.
By FIP, he's the last #4 in the league.
I would agree on that based on his performance last year. I still think there's room for improvement.
[Phil ] Castellini celebrated the team's farm system and noted the team had promising prospects who would one day be great Reds -- and then joke then they'd be ex-Reds, saying "of course we're going to lose them". #SellTheTeamBob
Nov. 13, 2007: One of the greatest days in Reds history: John Allen gets the boot!
RadfordVA (03-28-2013)
There's an article from the last few seasons where Leake is quoted as saying that he forces himself to "slow down" his fastball to generate more movement, the implication being that his pitches straighten out as he works into the 90s.
I think Leake has to be a soft-tosser in order to survive -- which pretty much caps his growth at #5/swingman level.
Cincinnati Reds: Farm System Champions 2022
paintmered (03-28-2013),TRF (03-28-2013)
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
TRF (03-28-2013)
He's not added velocity, jojo. He's putting it back in his arsenal. He's always had the ability to throw low to mid 90s-- he's just now learning how to use it and movement together.
And that's certainly possible.
Last edited by jojo; 03-29-2013 at 12:04 AM.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Well, that as added a lot.
"This isn’t stats vs scouts - this is stats and scouts working together, building an organization that blends the best of both worlds. This is the blueprint for how a baseball organization should be run. And, whether the baseball men of the 20th century like it or not, this is where baseball is going."---Dave Cameron, U.S.S. Mariner
Board Moderators may, at their discretion and judgment, delete and/or edit any messages that violate any of the following guidelines: 1. Explicit references to alleged illegal or unlawful acts. 2. Graphic sexual descriptions. 3. Racial or ethnic slurs. 4. Use of edgy language (including masked profanity). 5. Direct personal attacks, flames, fights, trolling, baiting, name-calling, general nuisance, excessive player criticism or anything along those lines. 6. Posting spam. 7. Each person may have only one user account. It is fine to be critical here - that's what this board is for. But let's not beat a subject or a player to death, please. |