Toronto Blue Jays @ Tampa Bay Rays March 31 - April 3

[moon]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Hutchison and Beuhrle are mediocre? Hutchison has had less then 20 starts at this level, how can you determine already what type of pitcher he is? Beuhrle has pitched for 15 years at this level with a career era under 4. Neither can be described as mediocre.

What Buerhle did 5-10 years ago has little bearing on what he is now. Buerhle is a .500 pitcher with a 4.00+ era at this point. He can pitch a ton of innings and is pretty consistent but he is nothing more than mediocre at this point.

Hutchinson could turn out to be better but based on his limited time in the majors/minors and coming off his injury hard to see as anything more than mediocre right now.

As a Cardinal fan if both were on the Cards neither would be in the starting rotation. Cardinals are a top team so Jays shouldn't be compared to them but if they couldn't even crack the top 5 hard to see them as anything other than mediocre.

[Skaloper]

Originally Posted by moon

What Buerhle did 5-10 years ago has little bearing on what he is now. Buerhle is a .500 pitcher with a 4.00+ era at this point. He can pitch a ton of innings and is pretty consistent but he is nothing more than mediocre at this point.

Hutchinson could turn out to be better but based on his limited time in the majors/minors and coming off his injury hard to see as anything more than mediocre right now.

As a Cardinal fan if both were on the Cards neither would be in the starting rotation. Cardinals are a top team so Jays shouldn't be compared to them but if they couldn't even crack the top 5 hard to see them as anything other than mediocre.

The Jays only need a mediocre Buerhle if there high potent offence can remain consistent. They just need to avoid having pitchers who give the game away by either floating beach balls over the plate give up easy runs by walking players (Dickey I am looking at you!). As for Hutchinson I am going to give him a few more starts until I make a verdict.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by moon

I know it is early but based on previous season struggles TB has to be somewhat worried about their offense. They have struggled two nights in a row to get hits off of two very mediocre pitchers.

They are a trendy WS pick but if this is the best their offense has they will not come close to making the play-offs.

It's also 3 games into the season?

Any team that has a Myers, Zobrist, Longoria at the top of the lineup is well positioned to win a pennant. TB's offense will be more than fine.

They're not only a trendy WS pick but a logical one. They just don't have any holes.

[Pagal4321]

I almost made the mistake of quoting a moon post but stopped myself from feeding the troll. Don't make that mistake people!!

[The Big Chill]

Originally Posted by moon

What Buerhle did 5-10 years ago has little bearing on what he is now. Buerhle is a .500 pitcher with a 4.00+ era at this point. He can pitch a ton of innings and is pretty consistent but he is nothing more than mediocre at this point.

Hutchinson could turn out to be better but based on his limited time in the majors/minors and coming off his injury hard to see as anything more than mediocre right now.

As a Cardinal fan if both were on the Cards neither would be in the starting rotation. Cardinals are a top team so Jays shouldn't be compared to them but if they couldn't even crack the top 5 hard to see them as anything other than mediocre.

In the last 7 years, Buehrle has pitched over 200 innings in each year, been over a 4.00 era twice (the highest was 4.28) and been over .500 record 5 times (the other two we're exactly .500 seasons). Mediocre he is not, even at his age. He would be in pretty much every starting rotation in the league.

Hutchison could be anything from a CY young award winner to a guy who isn't in the majors next season. That's how it works with young, unproven players.

[fundmark19]

Buehrle is so good against the rays! It pains me to seem him take the mound against us. Looking forward to the game today. Will the Jays get their first series win in Tampa in 20 attempts.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Not to disparage Buerhle but he needs to have absolute pinpoint control or he is essentially a batting practice pitcher. His fastball barely touches the 85 mph mark. He pitched a great game yesterday but he has so little margin for error that he gets absolutely lit up if he isn't pitching at 100% control.

Hopefully, Buehrle will keep going the way he did yesterday but I'm reserving judgement for now.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, if you consider that you would need 150 total starting pitchers to fill out all starting spots throughout MLB. By the end of the year there are probably closer to 250 who end up getting starts.

Last year 81 pitchers managed to throw the required 162 innings to qualify for the ERA title, and Buerhle ranked 27th in terms of Innings pitched. His win total tied for 40th, his WHIP was 62nd among qualified pitchers, and his ERA ended up about the same.

I would say that Buerhle is an above average starting pitcher. His overall numbers may come across as mediocre, but the fact that he can stay healthy and pitch the number of innings he does makes him a bit more valuable. Lets fact it, most pitchers can pitch 5 innings and deal with 2-3 guys getting a chance to see them more than twice in a game.

[CaramonLS]

Buerhle is an above average MLB pitcher and Hutch is an unknown commodity. I don't know if moon chose the right words when he originally posted, but I think mediocre probably wasn't the right word to describe those 2.

[Tyler]

What's the deal with pitchers wearing this ball caps like ######s lately?

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

Not to disparage Buerhle but he needs to have absolute pinpoint control or he is essentially a batting practice pitcher. His fastball barely touches the 85 mph mark. He pitched a great game yesterday but he has so little margin for error that he gets absolutely lit up if he isn't pitching at 100% control.

Hopefully, Buehrle will keep going the way he did yesterday but I'm reserving judgement for now.

Isn't that almost any pitcher? Lots of the greats didn't have a high velocity fastball but were able to use their accuracy to lead them to hall of fame careers. The guy didn't get a perfect game and a no hitter by accident he is a legit pitcher.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Two hitters, two hits. Dustin needs to settle down and get some outs.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Make that 3 hitters, 3 hits.

1-0 Yankees.

[The Big Chill]

Could be a short start for McGowan.

[CaramonLS]

I think McGowan will settle down the next inning.

[CaramonLS]

That splitter is pretty deadly.

[The Big Chill]

3-2 Jays! Bottom of the lineup delivers.

[Machiavelli]

Roy looks great. Damn, I miss him.

[The Big Chill]

I can't believe there is any controversy at all over a catcher blocking the plate like that. Textbook execution from Rasmus and Thole.

[Skaloper]

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

I can't believe there is any controversy at all over a catcher blocking the plate like that. Textbook execution from Rasmus and Thole.

Yep he didn't really block the plate until he had the ball.