Monday, January 7, 2013

Rockies Have Interest In Brandon Webb!

The Denver Post reported the Rockies have interest in signing former Cy Young Brandon Webb.  Before going into my thoughts on this situation I just want to say there are some "bitter, bitter" Rockies fans who troll around and post some harsh things about the Rockies front office.  These bitter fans are the ones who post all over Rockies pages that the Rockies will never go out and get big name pitchers.  As I stated before, the Rockies have bought big time pitchers in the past decade, Mike Hampton and Daryl Kile.  Both those pitchers pitched in some of the worst years in the Rockies history.  These are the same fans who would want to trade everyone on the team for David Price and when he goes 10-15, they would blast the owners for trading everyone for a pitcher.  The armchair Rockies fans who call for boycotts on every news article needs to remember that the Rockies have at least made the playoffs 2 of the past 6 years.  Think of all the other teams who didn't even make one appearance in the past 6 years?  I come to the conclusion that the armchair Rockies fans who take their time to blast every news source about the Rockies are the same few people who thrive to spread hate for anything and everything.  Now, off the soap box.

I have read reports that call Brandon Webb another over the hill pitcher for the Rockies.  Last year the Rockies had a 49 year old pitcher, Jamie Moyer pitch for 2 months and get two wins.  Need I remind everyone that Webb is only 33 years old!  How is that over the hill?  If Webb is healthy, every single Rockies fan should get excited about the prospect of having him on the roster.  He has a career record of 87-62 3.27 ERA.  He pitched all those years in the D-Backs in the NL West Division in which made several visits a year at Coors Field.  He can no longer blow batters away, but if his sinker ball keeps the ball on the ground, it will greatly keep the ball out of the outfield bleachers.  In a career total of 5515 plate attempts, Webb has only served up 92 Home Runs.  Pitchers like Jeff Francis and Aaron Cook were able to have many good years due to the fact that they knew how to pitch at Coors.  Sure they may have an ERA near 5, but they could pitch 7 innings.  Last year the Rockies had pitchers who gave up 5 runs in 2 innings of work.  I would call the Rockies having a team ERA near 5 a good season because I know their offense can put up some big numbers.



Here are some big stats to think about:

  • 56 of his career 92 Home Runs came with no men on base.  How many times did we see last year two or three on base and a home run hit?  Webb has a knack from keeping the score from jumping so fast with the long ball.  
  • 14 Career games pitched at Coors Field.  5-5 Record 4.00 ERA 83 Innings Pitched 7 Home Runs.  This is not hugely great, but last year many of the Rockies pitchers went 1-8 8.00 ERA at Coors Field.  This is a huge improvement. Other than in Arizona, Coors Field is the second most places he has pitched, so he has knowledge here.
  • Brandon Webb has a name for himself, he is feared, and a CY Young winner.
  • If healthy, he can easily pitch 200+ innings, which is a huge boost from last years disaster.

My realistic goals for the Rockies pitching staff this year is to have two pitchers who can get near 200 innings, one who gets 150, and two with 100.  With that saying I would, if Webb was added I would expect this sort of pitching rotation.
  1. Jorge DeLaRosa   8-10  4.25 ERA 150 innings since he is coming off injury
  2. Brandon Webb   10-10 4.00 ERA 200 innings but also had not pitched since 2009
  3. Drew Pomeranz  10-8 4.15 ERA 150 innings.  I think he will have a break out year.
  4. Jeff Francis   10-10  4.50 ERA 200 innings.  Francis is a work horse!
  5. Jhoulys Chacin 8-6 4.25 ERA 100 innings
  6. Christian Friedrich 5-5 4.50 ERA 75 innings   He could excel at long relief or spot start
Last years starters had a record of 28-66, TERRIBLE.  So I would take a 51-49 starter record any day over last years mess!  

Rockies fans need to remember, last year the team threw out arms from Tulsa and Colorado Springs almost every night, and the one thing that the pitchers learned over the year went by was to suck it up, drive on.  Yes the Rockies had a near 100 loss season, but towards the end of the year when the pitchers should be hanging their heads with a team ERA at 6, they were getting better!  Do I think the 2013 Rockies will make the playoffs?  Relisticly, no.  On the flip side, who would have guessed the A's last year to beat the Rangers and Angels for the west?  That is what makes baseball and sports in general so great, there will always be that feel good team that pushes themselves all year that goes under the radar.  Lets not forget all the bad years before the Rockies made the magical run into the 2007 World Series.  

I look forward to watching the Rockes hopefully turn a few heads in 2013, and hope they can land Webb!

4 comments:

  1. Even if Webb manages to come back, there is no way he gives 200 innings. He pitched in 12 innings in AA in 2011 and 4 innings in the bigs in 2009 and none of them very well.

    This would be a cheap signing on par with Moyer. He's not too old...his arm is shot. That can happen to young guys too, ask Mark Prior. It would make a nice feel good story for April before he gets cut in May. I always respected Webb, but he is done. Think of it this way, if he pitches like his old self...other more pitcher-friendly teams will make offers too. The only way the Rockies get him is if he isn't that good.

    I do think Chacin could be a 150 inning guy this year though if healthy and don't forget about Nicasio who could get several starts as well.

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  2. The same thing was said about Chris Carpenter, look at how many injuries that man has had. After his near career ending injury in 2006 he only pitched 20 innings the next 2 years. Then in 2009 he came back and pitched near 200 innings and had a 17-4 record. Chris Carpenter was the SAME age now when he came back from several arm shoulder surgeries, tommy john, and it took him three years to come back. At 33 he was pitching better than any time in his career. The reason he said was all mental. He had to learn to pitch smarter not harder. Webb is intelligent just like Carpenter. In 2009 all the posters on every sports page was angry the Cardinals still had Carpenter and they wanted him gone. In 2009 he pitched them to the playoffs, 2011 an ace in the World Series win, and took them again to the playoffs after injuries in 2012. It goes to show that people are quick to call people washed up, and I'm guilty of saying to others too. As a true Rockies fan I would rather give a 33 year old former cy young award winner a shot than any AA pitcher the Rockies can throw out there. Moyer was 49, many years past his prime, but just like with him how many people discounted him to make teams, and look how many times he helped teams into the postseason past his prime. Mark Prior's arm was shot near the start of his career, he never learned how to truly pitch in the majors like Webb has. Give me a crafty 33 year old pitcher coming off a 2 year injury like Carp any day over a rookie Mark Prior coming off injuries.

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  3. I'm going to be 100% real, do I think he will be the same, no. But give the man a shot, you may get a diamond in the ruff. I lived in Colorado for 5 years while in the army, even sitting in the stands at Coors field in 2007 and 2009 I can't believe all the negative Rockies fans there are. In addition going to Avs games in the years of 2006-2009 I sat in half full games with some really bitter fans. Bitter? I am a Blues fan, we have ZERO championships. Go to a Blues game you would never know that this team never won a championship since 1967. We as fans love winners, but sports are nothing but a way for all of us fans to get together, eat, drink, and see some action. In late 2009 after I moved back to St. Louis my family drove 700 miles back to Denver because we had tickets to a weekend game. Mind you the Rockies made the playoffs in 2009, on a weekend game in great weather there was maybe 24,000 people. Lets not forget Rockies fans, before 1993 there was only a AAA team in Denver. I try to look at positives, because if you don't you can find a negative in just about everything in this world. Plus remember, these sports players are only human.

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  4. I like Webb, I hope he can regain his form. I wouldn't mind seeing him do well just have to see if the velocity and sink is there in spring training.

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