Dempster naysayers apologetic opportunity

I wasn’t one of those posters, but I must say I am very happily surprised. If you had told me two months ago that Dempster would be contributing to the Cubs half as much as he is now, I wouldn’t have believed you.

I hope he keeps it up!

I didn’t think he’d go down in flames, necessarily, but I did think he’d walk a ton, putting the Cubs behind in games and resulting in mediocre to bad ERA and WHIP. This, is an organization with 9 possible starters and a manager with a very short leash, I suspected would lead to a reassignment to the bullpen..

Slightly mitigating that was noticing how hard he worked over the off season to get ready for this job. He showed up to spring training in better shape than he’s ever been with this team and seemed incredibly focused on proving himself.

But I’m surprised, and now give him his props. (And hope he doesn’t regress…....but that goes without saying.)

to find Dempster’s BABIP (Batting Average for Balls In Play) but I think I read that he is on the low end of .300, which likely means his ERA will be going up and you can’t expect him to maintain this. However, I still think that as his BABIP creeps up, he can still be a good starting pitcher and has been a very pleasant surprise for us.

I don’t think anyone believed he would be this great of a starter for the first 1/4 of the season. I thought he would be a 5th starter at best, maybe work in the pen. I am really surprised by this season he is having

for Soriano haters. He clearly has turned the corner this season, much earlier than last.

I continue to call him “Dumpster” out of a sense of love. But that said, to see him be the surprise of the season-well he and Johnson, IMHO-is something I didn’t anticipate!

Good job, Crazy Canuck!

that Dempster has been doing the one thing that gets major league hitters more than anything . . . changing speeds. I haven’t been able to watch too many of the games, but the ones I have been able to catch he gets hitter way out in front a lot. Hopefully he can continue to fool them.

I didn’t think much of the idea. I know he won’t keep up at this level but at least he is looking servicable at worst and so far better than that. Definitely better than Marquis at this point.

During Al’s thread contest to project players. You can look it up.

Dempster I thought was going to do well, not this well, but better and my only fear is that he breaks down. He has good stuff and for teams like yesterday who are going to swing at his spitter, they will be dominated.

For those who think their opinion using whatever means or resources of past interpretive data and can’t come around to say they were wrong…..well your opinion diminishes in weight for reality is what is going on now.

Example: Before ‘05 DLee was a good player but not great….he hit and hit and hit in ‘05 and even in August people said he is not supposed to do this. Now people look at him as a triple crown threat.

Professional athletes are funny people, they work at things and when they really work they get things right. Dempster came to camp motivated to be a starter again and now is emerging as the #2….because of this year’s performance…not the last years…...His stats are his stats except two of the most important…..

IP and W/L those are the results, the others are indicators to how he is getting there. Give me innings and give me Wins…....

...I think it’s a little early to be demanding an apology from the naysayers. Here’s what I wrote in my community projection:

If anyone can pull this off… ...it’s a wily, clever fellow like Ryan Dempster. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not predicting a run at the Cy Young, but I think he’ll turn in a performance somewhat comparable to his 2001 with the Marlins. (Also, I’m either too lazy, too unimaginative or too ill at ease with my own math skills to try to make a mixed prediction for him as both a starter and a bullpen guy, which, quite frankly, is entirely possible.) In other words, he’s this year’s Jason Marquis - and I’m not sure where that leaves the actual Jason Marquis.

Going into the season, cwyers (IIRC) pointed out that Marquis and Dempster are actually pretty similiar pitchers, but Dempster has the edge in that he can strike guys out. So far, that’s what’s really been paying off for Demp—he’s cutting down opposing hitters and keeping the ball out of play.

As others have pointed out, however, this may change as the season goes on—particularly when the weather heats up and he’s more at risk for fatigue and batters are looser at the plate. Remember how encouraged many of us were by Jason Marquis’ performances early last season.

Don’t get me wrong: I hope Demp maintains his dominance and turns out to be the surprise success story of 2008. Such a thing would have seemed a little ridiculous to predict back when it was first announced that Ryan would move into the rotation, but predicting Jim Edmonds would be patrolling centerfield would have seemed similarly outlandish back then, too.

When all is said and done, the biggest advantage I see in Ryan Dempster is his intelligence and insight. He really appears to be a very thoughtful guy who studies the game of baseball closely and reflects deeply upon on his own performances. Like I said, if anyone can pull this off, it’s him.

... how about the naysayers on this board who said about the White Sox:

Pitching? Who needs pitching?

TEAM ERA? Sox 5th in the AL & 6th in MLB.
TEAM WHIP? Sox 5th in AL & 8th in MLB.

... how about the naysayers on this board who said:

Gavin Floyd sucks!

ERA? 14th in the AL
WHIP? 9th in the AL

Dempster. He made me vervous several times last season but I had a feeling he would do well this season. Very happy for him and us.

I never really liked him. I wanted him to be a starter but I had no clue he’d be this good. But keep in mind Jason Marquis was this good this early last year.