Gallardo Expresses Interest in World Baseball Classic (Mexico)

[Mass Haas]

Not sure we should all welcome this report.

 

Do the Brewers honor the request if Yo formally makes it?

 

(Yo was born in Mexico but grew up in Fort Worth, but only moved to Texas at age four, I believe.)

[sbrylski]

Eh, why not? He'd be throwing in ST anyway.

[Mass Haas]

This is why (linked here, relevant text below)

 

One might say that Jake Peavy is the poster boy for why pitchers may not want to participate in the World Baseball Classic during spring training. He pitched for the American team in the inaugural event in March 2006, after competing for an ERA title in 2005 and finishing with a 2.88 mark. He was 1-3 with a 5.17 ERA in his first five starts of 2006. He struggled mightily through June and July before getting it together in August and September. He went 6-4 and posted a 2.64 ERA over the final two months to finish 11-14 (4.09).

For pitchers, spring training involves getting mechanics and pitches in working order, things that take time and repetition.

"We're routine-oriented people," says Gary Lucas, a former big league pitcher who is a minor league pitching coach. "If you mess with that, the physical and mental preparation for a season is compromised. It's an extremely competitive work environment."

Peavy wasn't the only WBC participant to scuffle in 2006, particularly at the onset of the season. Only six of the 25 pitchers who worked the international event posted ERAs below 4.00 over the first four weeks of the season. Among those who struggled in April were Johan Santana, Freddy Garcia, Esteban Loaiza, Miguel Batista, Gustavo Chacin, Oliver Perez, Bartolo Colon and Peavy. Most of them were back on track by the middle of May.

Colon, the reigning Cy Young Award winner last spring, made three starts for the Dominican Republic and worked a WBC-high 14 innings. He was 0-2 (7.07) in his first three starts for the Angels before landing on the disabled list in mid-April with shoulder inflammation. He made just 10 starts in all before a rotator cuff tear ended his season.

It's impossible to document a direct link between working the WBC and regular-season performance or injuries, but teams might want to think twice about having their aces participate in the next event in 2009.

[kramnoj]

According to this: http://sportsillustrated....iveup.fivedown/index.html Peavy is legally blind without contacts and for some reason had trouble with filling his prescription in 2006. I think that had much more to do with his struggles in 2006 than the WBC.

 

Quite a few of the other pitchers listed were near the end of their effectiveness. Santana is really the only good pitcher in the group listed.

 

I think there's some risk for a pitcher to go out of their routine, and to have emotions amped up beyong what is normal in a regular ST game. I don't think the risk is high, but any risk for what maybe the most important pitcher for the 2009 Brewers may be too much.

[endaround]

The biggest worry is whetehr the Mexican coaches overwork him not thats he's pitching.

[Ennder]

I hope none of our players play in it, especially the pitchers. There is a very big difference between warm up games in spring training and maximum effort pitches in game situations in the WBC.

[paul253]

Maybe we should push for Zambrano, Hardin, and Lilly to participate.

[ILuvDaBush]

Lilly? REALLY? As for El Chupacabra, he is the one pitcher on the staff I would have nary a worry about pitching in the WBC. Even if he tears his ACL again during the competition, he'd still try to pitch the full season for us. But seriously, how is bringing more publicity to our team a bad thing? There's always more room on the bandwagon for the Brews.

 

 

(edit: excessive punctuation --1992)

[brewers19]

El Chupacabra

I have no idea who you're talking about.

 

Anyways, I'm pretty sure the reason that people are concerned that our ace pitcher, coming off a torn ACL, will be pitching full effort in games that have no benefit to this organization. The risk far outweighs any benefit of increased publicity.

[mothershipconnection]

I think we're talking about Gallardo? I guess I missed him being nicknamed "The Goat Sucker".

 

If it's Zambrano, then never mind, as he does suck, and that would be a pretty good nickname for him.

[rluzinski]

Only six of the 25 pitchers who worked the international event posted ERAs below 4.00 over the first four weeks of the season. Among those who struggled in April were Johan Santana, Freddy Garcia, Esteban Loaiza, Miguel Batista, Gustavo Chacin, Oliver Perez, Bartolo Colon and Peavy. Most of them were back on track by the middle of May.

 

I appreciate why someone might not want their pitcher in the WBC but I find the above evidence pretty sloppy. Should we even expect more than 6 of 25 pitchers to post an ERA below 4.0? That's setting the bar pretty low and many of the starting pitchers involved weren't anything special.

[jeffy]

Peavy is legally blind without contacts

 

That is really a silly statement. Legally blind means 20/200 vision with corrective lenses. Lots of people have 20/200 vision or worse, without correction. Mine is far worse than that, like maybe 20/800 without glasses...not only can I not read the big "E", I can barely tell that there is anything there. I have no trouble obtaining glasses that give me 20/20 vision, when I wore contacts I had no trouble getting them either.

 

I have no idea why the guy supposedly could not get his contacts, seems very strange, but didn't he have some back-up glasses or something? It says he had a new prescription, but if he still had contacts or glasses from his old one, you would think he'd be able to see well enough to pick up catcher's signs...people's prescriptions don't change that much in a short time. Even his comment that "Right now the room is a lot brighter" is odd...I would think it would be clearer, not brighter.

[RU Rah Rah]

I'm wary. I guess I can understand that the sheer number of IP might be the equivalent of spring training, etc., but Yo's circumstances are somewhat unique. Plus, I would worry about the possible lack of adult supervision. If this guy is your young, somewhat fragile, de facto #1 starter, I'm not sure you want to let him out of your immediate control, baseball-wise.

[ILuvDaBush]

El Chupacabra was the nickname given to him his rookie year. It's a monster in Mexican folklore. I'm sure a few hitters (and probably a few pitchers) have nightmares about seeing him.

[TooLiveBrew]

El Chupacabra was the nickname given to him his rookie year.

 

By whom?

 

 

I don't think the WBC is something to get too worried about. If a guy wants to participate, there's really nothing else that can be said/done. Like Ennder, I prefer that none of our guys take part, but of course you know at least a few will.

[ILuvDaBush]

Matthew Berry, I believe. The Talented Mr. Roto.

[Invader3K]

What would bother me the most is that Gallardo was injured for most of the past season. If he had been injury free, I wouldn't mind as much. I realize his type of injury probably isn't the kind that can easily be re-aggravated, but I'm sure the Brewers would rather not take that risk.

[AdvantageSchneider]

Let the brewers hitters play in the WBC, but the pitchers stay home.

[Bring Back the Stein]

Let the kid play. Plenty of time to debate the WBC (I opposed it early but now loves it), but what's the harm at exposing him to a broader market? Also, I ask that this post be automatically deleted if there actually turns out to be harm.