Carlos Rodon

[BrewersAA]

He was perhaps the best player the brewers have drafted in the last 5+ years and they did not get a deal done and he went on to NC State. They are now playing bad enough that they may be in a position to grab him next year in the first pick or two. Would love to have him, he would be a fast riser, and is like a left handed strasburg-lite. what are you guys' thoughts? and at this point do the brewers throw the season (sell every one they can and start the young guys) just to enhance their draft position?

 

wasnt sure where to put this, but its mostly related to the minor leagues i guess.

[TheCrew07]

I like Rodon, but I worry about his college workload, he's one of those guys that gets ridden into the ground every time it's a big game. I don't know that the Brewers could be bad enough to get a top 3 pick. There's just too much talent on the MLB roster for that, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Brewers went on a run and we ended up with a pick in the low teens. We could sell off many pieces but will DM and MA be willing to do so? I'm just skeptical that there will be a sell off and that the Brewers would draft high enough to grab him.

 

I would love an impact lefty, I've been moaning about the lack of impact LH pitching for a handful of years now.

[BrewersAA]

Agree and Agree. The workload does worry me a lot. One tactic that I am a fan of that I have talked about before, and would be interested to see if the brewers would ever use, is starting the high workload college arms off as relievers and letting them move through the levels relatively quickly. then start them off their second year as a starter in AA or high A if they make it that far. This cuts the first year work load while still letting them compete and advance. The brewers accidentally did this with mike fiers and it worked brilliantly, they also did it successfully with andre lamontange, they just got unlucky. It seems like they are only willing to do this with older guys and i am not sure why, I think its a great way to limit innings and let your college guys advance and find success.

 

As far as selling, well that is a bummer because i just dont think they will either. I am sure they trade 2 of mike gonzales, krod, and axford, but it probably stops there. All my friends think i am terrible because "all i want to do is trade everybody" but i strongly believe this team will be much better off long term trading yoga, lohse, and aramis. possibly even Aoki too, but he does still have control years and fits well in the leadoff spot. This is a great year to be sellers, with there being so many teams in contention, and a top heavy draft coming next year.

[brewmann04]

I hope they make every effort to move whatever players they can for the Future.

[homer]

Workload didn't affect David Price too much....until this year I guess.

[TheCrew07]

Price had injury problems out of the gate...

 

If I remember correctly he didn't pitch until late May in 2008, started the season in A+, the game which Gamel took him deep was one of Price's last starts in AA sometime in mid summer I want to say in July as it was right before football practice, and from there he rocketed all the way up to the Rays' BP for the WS run. Then I believe they took it easy with him at the start of the 2009 season as well, he started the year with low innings in AAA and then came up and pitch 120-130 innings for the Rays.

 

He exploded in 2010 and was a stud until his injury problems again this year.

[brewmann04]

It be the job of the Brewers to make a decision about this kid if the Brewers are in a spot to draft him.

[homer]

Price had injury problems out of the gate...

 

If I remember correctly he didn't pitch until late May in 2008, started the season in A+, the game which Gamel took him deep was one of Price's last starts in AA sometime in mid summer I want to say in July as it was right before football practice, and from there he rocketed all the way up to the Rays' BP for the WS run. Then I believe they took it easy with him at the start of the 2009 season as well, he started the year with low innings in AAA and then came up and pitch 120-130 innings for the Rays.

 

He exploded in 2010 and was a stud until his injury problems again this year.

 

 

He had three consecutive years over 200 innings. I don't think the extra innings in college affected him at all.

[nate82]

Price had injury problems out of the gate...

 

If I remember correctly he didn't pitch until late May in 2008, started the season in A+, the game which Gamel took him deep was one of Price's last starts in AA sometime in mid summer I want to say in July as it was right before football practice, and from there he rocketed all the way up to the Rays' BP for the WS run. Then I believe they took it easy with him at the start of the 2009 season as well, he started the year with low innings in AAA and then came up and pitch 120-130 innings for the Rays.

 

He exploded in 2010 and was a stud until his injury problems again this year.

 

Price pitched 123.2 IP in 2008 and 162.2 IP in 2009.

[TheCrew07]

What does that have to do with starting his career with arm injury and TB taking it easy with him the following year? The Rays have always been very diligent regarding IP.

 

He threw 133.1 innings his last season at Vanderbilt.

 

This is a snipit of BA's take on him after 2008:

Elbow tenderness in spring training further delayed his first outing until May 22, but he showed no ill effects by going 12-1, 2.30 between three minor league levels. After helping Triple-A Durham reach the International League playoffs, Price joined the Rays in September.

 

Here's his 2008 gamelog:

 

[pre]Rk Date Lev Tm Opp Inngs Dec IP

1 2008-05-22 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays Clearwater Threshers 1-5 W 5.0

2 2008-05-28 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays St. Lucie Mets 1-6 W 6.0

3 2008-06-02 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays Jupiter Hammerheads 1-7 7.0

4 2008-06-07 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays Sarasota Reds 1-6 5.1

5 2008-06-16 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays Brevard County Manatees 1-5 W 5.0

6 2008-06-21 A+-FLOR Vero Beach Devil Rays St. Lucie Mets 1-7 W 6.1

Player Moved from A+-FLOR to AA-SOUL

7 2008-06-26 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Mobile Bay Bears 1-6 W 6.0

8 2008-07-01 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Mississippi Braves 1-6 W 6.0

9 2008-07-06 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits West Tenn Diamond Jaxx 1-7 W 7.0

10 2008-07-12 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Mobile Bay Bears 1-7 W 7.0

11 2008-07-17 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Birmingham Barons 1-5 5.0

12 2008-07-23 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Tennessee Smokies 1-6 6.0

13 2008-07-28 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Huntsville Stars 1-8 W 8.0

14 2008-08-02 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits West Tenn Diamond Jaxx 1-7 W 7.0

15 2008-08-07 AA-SOUL Montgomery Biscuits Birmingham Barons 1-5 W 5.0

Player Moved from AA-SOUL to AAA-IL

16 2008-08-13 AAA-IL Durham Bulls Norfolk Tides 1-4 L 4.0

17 2008-08-18 AAA-IL Durham Bulls Indianapolis Indians 1-5 5.0

18 2008-08-23 AAA-IL Durham Bulls Indianapolis Indians 1-4 4.0

19 2008-08-28 AAA-IL Durham Bulls Norfolk Tides 1-5 W 5.0

Player Moved from AAA-IL to MLB-AL

20 2008-09-14 MLB-AL Tampa Bay Rays New York Yankees 3-8 5.1

21 2008-09-18 MLB-AL Tampa Bay Rays Minnesota Twins 7-7 0.2

22 2008-09-22 MLB-AL Tampa Bay Rays Baltimore Orioles 1-6 5.1

23 2008-09-26 MLB-AL Tampa Bay Rays Detroit Tigers 6-7 1.0

24 2008-09-28 MLB-AL Tampa Bay Rays Detroit Tigers 4-5 1.2[/pre]

 

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 7/3/2013.

 

I'm certainly not going to say definitively that the college workload his junior season will have a negative impact on Price's career, I simply stated what I remember, and that college workloads concern me.

 

Historically many of those big college arms are going to need surgery early on professional ball. They get abused in HS, then they get abused in college again. The harder the MLB team pushes the player, the more likely there is to be problems. I think TB handled Price as a best as they could in comparison to the Cubs and Prior for example. Strasburg needed surgery right away and I'm not sure what Washington could have done differently. I just wonder if maybe the high flame out rate for even college pitching is related to their workload, how many stressful games does each arm have in it before it's done?

 

Gallardo had outings in HS where he went 100+ pitches including 1 where he went to almost 150. Had he gone to college would his arm have lasted this long?

Gallardo struck out 25 in a March victory against Fort Worth crosstown rival North Side High, but scouts were shaking their heads because he needed 11 innings and 148 pitches to do so

 

I would take Rodon again but that doesn't mean I'm not concerned about his workload.

 

edit. I called his last season at Vandy his "senior", corrected, bad habit from working with HS kids so long.