Kevin Millwood
June 9th, 2012 by terrybenishSo far in this year of open and unabashed, over-hyped rebuilding all the focus has been about the young players on the offensive side. Nothing about young pitchers, since none of note are in the major leagues. Lots of promise and praise in Jackson, with the Generals, maybe Ramirez down in Tacoma, but nothing at all about the future pitching in Seattle so far.
Kevin Millwood turns thirty nine on Christmas Eve this year, if the Mayans or String Theory doesn’t do us in before that. It is a cheap trick to summon visions of Faust and devilish bargains, but that would be an artifice and an insult to the effort and work of Millwood thus far.
So far using OPS Against as the yardstick Millwood is the best pitcher for the Mariners as of the morning of June 9th with a number of .655 which is very respectable and 8th in the American League. Jason Vargas is second with a .661 and Felix a distant third at .711, which is sucky from his historical standards.
He has not pitched this well since 2002 with Atlanta. People keep waiting for him to wither like an old balloon. I’m sure he’s thinking to himself that he should have come here ten years ago as this park and his command of his pitches are a marriage made in baseball heaven. Not to say that its a home and away thing, because he’s pitched just grand on the road.
Unlike Jamey Moyer who is still hanging on in Norfolk for the Orioles, Millwood is not a freak, somebody that trades on being radically different than the rest of the fish in the school. Fastball, slider, curve, change up are his stock and trade. At 90.5 mph, his fastball is firmer than it has been since 2007.
Baseball is really fun to play when you get good at it. Plus he gets paid to do it. Many guys would emulate Moyer and play till they’re fifty years old, but their body lets them down and breaks down.
There is an unspoken echo to this year’s performance that sounds like, “Trade him, trade him now!”
Right now the five starters in order of quality are Millwood, Vargas, Felix, Noesi and a distant fifth Beavan. If you want to bring somebody up, send Felix to the dl or return Noesi and Beavan to Tacoma, before you get rid of Millwood.
You know the KISS principle right?
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
June 10th, 2012 at 12:50 am
This is awful. Why would we send Felix to the DL? I don’t think anybody is touching the rotation unless someone gets injured, ex: if Felix ends up being out longer, which is doubtful or Millwood is more hurt than initially thought. But this I promise this isn’t the thoughts of an average Mariner fan, so stop writing about what YOU think we all think on something as public as this. Make your own blog where people won’t be subjected to this garbage.
June 10th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for writing and welcome to planet Mariners. Let’s decompose your question and provide some contrast. Say May of 2012 versus September of 2010 his Cy Young year. OPS against, in 9.10 was .419 and last month 5.12 wsa .801. Onbase percentage in 9.10 .231 vs .360 for 5.12. Slug against was .238 in 9.10 versus .441 last month. Batting average againts was .154 in 9.10 versu .299 in May. Lets look at something else, more pure pitching stuff, his WHIP was .81 in 9.10 and 1.48 in May. His ERA was 1.64 in 9.10 and 4.45 in May.
So MF what do you think is going on? Felix forgot how to pitch? Do you think he just decided to show us who is the boss and lose five to six mph on his fast ball? Felix noted after viewing his mechanics on video that they were a mess. Well bad mechanics cause injuries or result in injuries. He’s hurt now, has not pitched in over a week. Much as I noted this three months ago, the Times has been all over this too.
What do you think? Is he old? Only 26.
Further questions in your note. This IS my blog. I did get my blog. The average Mariner fan reads this to get another look, because well gee they get something else.
June 11th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Gasp, gasp! Seattle Times, Lookout Landing, USSMariner call for DL for Felix and demotion for Beevan and Noesi. Read it here first.