Please put Gorzelanny back in the rotation

by Cubsfan Waveland on Jun 11, 2010 3:23 PM CDT

Randy Wells keeps struggling and needs to be moved to the pen as the long reliever and mop up guy at this point.

Since his outing on April 25th in Milwaukee his era has risen from 2.49 to 4.86 not counting today's bad outing, it probably jumps to 5.05-5.15 range after today.

I think having 2 lefties in the starting rotation is a good thing. Just my Friday afternoon thoughts.

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Your headline makes it sound like this is happening

Just sayin’

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Jun 11, 2010 3:36 PM CDT reply actions

Better

I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT

Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson

by Shanghai Badger on Jun 11, 2010 3:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Thank you Sir

by Cubsfan Waveland on Jun 11, 2010 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions

I caught the beginning of the game

on my way to work. Two outs, and I was hopeful that he was starting to get a handle on the 1st inning issues. Then it fell apart.
I guess my question is, do you really want a guy who is currently having real issues during the 1st inning coming in later in the game, potentially having those same issues, only now without time to settle down or with the team having less time to make those runs up (in theory)?

It never gets to be easy

by chitownhawkeye on Jun 11, 2010 4:01 PM CDT reply actions

I would rather

Not be behind before my team even steps in the batter’s box every fifth game.

by thebluecrew1908 on Jun 11, 2010 4:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Exactly

Wells is falling behind in the count and making his sinker a worthless pitch because the hitter doesn’t have to respect it. He then has to throw his fastball and he is catching way to much of the plate and getting hit pretty good. This has been the reoccuring theme since his last start in April except for 2 start where he looked good.

by Cubsfan Waveland on Jun 11, 2010 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions

I said nothing about him

pitching in critical spots late in the game. I actually said he deserves long relief and mop up duty.

by Cubsfan Waveland on Jun 11, 2010 4:31 PM CDT up reply actions

I had thought this should happen before.

Wells came out after two bad outings and said the right things, seemed to get himself back on track…and has just floundered since. Time to put him in the pen and bring back Gorzy to the rotation. It won’t fix the team or get them hitting, but it’s a step they need to take. Hopefully today will show Lou he has to do this.

"Champions take responsibility. When the ball is coming over the net, you can be sure I want the ball." - Billie Jean King

by Sandberg's evil twin on Jun 11, 2010 4:07 PM CDT reply actions

Would rather try Andrew Cashner

because this season looks lost.

Maybe next year is finally our year.

by Unique on Jun 11, 2010 4:10 PM CDT reply actions

it's a rock and a hard place for cashner

it may be too early to try cashner as a starter, because you risk accidentally overusing him. what I’d do is probably work him out of the pen for another month, slowly extending him to 2 inning outings, before considering giving him some rotation time late in the year. I guess the other plan is moving him to Iowa, but I don’t see that happening.

Getting Gorzelanny some time is a positive idea in that, it potentially could increase his value, allowing us to perhaps net more than we could’ve hoped for. I’d be okay making the swap if they opted for that route.

by toonsterwu on Jun 11, 2010 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions

I actually think

trying Jay Jackson or Thomas Diamond would be a better option than putting Gorz back. For one, since I believe this season is falling apart, it gives us options next year and seeing what we have and what we need to acquire or trade.

Maybe next year is finally our year.

by Unique on Jun 11, 2010 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions

I just don't see the point of rushing Jay up here right now

I’m a huge fan, but he hasn’t exactly dominated AAA. I’d rather get him some work down in the minors … which is what Cashner SHOULD be doing … and then call him up late in the year.

I’m okay with giving Diamond a look if they wanted to do that. In all honesty, Wells hasn’t been bad, as JSB notes below. He’s had a bit of bad luck. If we’re going with a righty and it’s not Jackson or Cashner, I’d be fine sticking with Wells. I wouldn’t mind getting a 2nd lefty in there, and try to build Gorzelanny’s value up a bit.

by toonsterwu on Jun 11, 2010 4:44 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree and disagree

I agree that we shouldn’t bring anyone up (yet), however, I think that Wells HAS been bad and we need to give Gorzellany another chance. Gorzellany has a 3.54ERA, while Wells’ ERA is now 5.15. Having two starters with ERA’s over 5 isn’t going to win you many ball games, especially when our team doesn’t score any runs.

by TheGrinch13 on Jun 11, 2010 4:58 PM CDT up reply actions

I agree but...

…. if you don’t stretch him out, then you’re going to need to limit him again next year. He threw what, 100 innings last year? This year is going to be about the same thing at this current pace. You’re looking at a situation close to what the Yankees did with Joba. Very few situations turn out to be Phil Hughes.

Move Cashner into the rotation, get him to 140-150 innings, no Dominican/Arizona leagues and let him rest his arm, then have him go 170-180 next year when we’re hopefully rebuilding.

by serbianking33 on Jun 11, 2010 6:59 PM CDT up reply actions

I still think it is too early to give up on Wells

Young starters that don’t have dominating stuff can go through some ups and downs. I have no illusions that Wells is going to be a top-of-the rotation pitcher, but I think he definitely can be a solid 4th or 5th option. The 4th or 5th starter should generally be a cost-controlled guy who eats innings. I think Wells is more than capable of filling that role for the foreseeable future. Let’s let him finish out the season and see what we have (or at least give him some more time). Also, he isn’t totally getting rocked and his BABIP is an unsustainable .343 and his strand rate is also unusually low at 67%. Hopefully Wells can get it turned around, but either way we need more time to assess whether he is a legitimate part of the future.

by JSB on Jun 11, 2010 4:39 PM CDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs

Not saying

Give up on him as a starter I am just saying he is struggling and unless you are giving up on the season he doesn’t need to be starting right now when Gorzelanny was pitching good enough to be in the rotation. I don’t think the season is lost but it is tilting that way every passing day.

by Cubsfan Waveland on Jun 11, 2010 4:47 PM CDT up reply actions

I am giving up on the season

And the difference between Wells and whatever Gorz might give us isn’t going to be the difference for this team. Let’s evaluate Wells for the future.

by JSB on Jun 11, 2010 7:39 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Wells and Gorzelanny are both 27 years old.

Leaving aside the fact that the future should be now for both of them, there is absolutely no reason to favor one pitcher over the other based on “evaluation for the future”.

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by D98 on Jun 12, 2010 12:06 AM CDT up reply actions

They both should be evaluated for the future

When Silva or Lilly get moved, put Gorz back in the rotation. I don’t like jerking pitchers back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation.

by JSB on Jun 12, 2010 10:37 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions

Agreed.

MLBMilestone.com - following the numbers to Cooperstown

by D98 on Jun 12, 2010 12:30 PM CDT up reply actions

Agreed.

Let Randy battle through this.

Certified Twitterfiend.

by daver on Jun 12, 2010 1:58 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not against Gorz in the rotation

but to be fair to Wells as JSB indicated the peripherals look a lot better than the production and Wells breakdown is almost all with runners on (out of the stretch). If he can do some side work and figure out what’s going wrong out of the stretch his skills suggest he could improve upon last year. His K Rate is up, His GB Rate is up, the BB’s are in line

just needs to figure out what the heck is going on out of the stretch

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by DartmouthCubsFan on Jun 11, 2010 5:30 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I say let Wells figure it out in AAA

And I’m all for giving Diamond a few starts and see how he does.

"I'd rather hit home runs you don't have to run as hard." -- Dave Kingman

by BucknerKongCardenal on Jun 11, 2010 6:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Hmm

Depending on Wells options I wouldn’t be totally opposed to this. Diamond was at one time a fairly highly rated prospect in the Rangers organization, so he does have some talent. I thinks BBs have always been the concern with him, so if he can get that straightened out he might be decent.

by JSB on Jun 11, 2010 7:43 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions