What to Do with Hennessey?

by delorean on Apr 15, 2008 4:43 PM PDT

Does Hennessey's latest ineffectual outing finally force Bochy and Sabean's hand? How far away is Chulk from returning, anyway? Seems like it should be any day now.

A couple of interesting factoids about Hennessey that I did not know:

After posting a 2.38 ERA in nine Northwest League starts, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his back. He had it removed in February 2002, but it grew back later that season, putting him out for the rest of the season.

Hennessey found himself in the Major Leagues in 2004, making his debut starting against Greg Maddux, who was looking for his 300th win. Although Hennessey lost the game and Maddux got his 300th win, the Giants were impressed with Hennessey's poise, and he made six more starts, finishing with a 2-2 record and 4.98 ERA.

Gotta love that wikiepdiaz.

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Comments

I didn’t watch the game, but weren’t all the pitchers pretty ineffective?

Another interesting factoid about Henn… Apparently, he still has another option remaining. Hearsay, I don’t remember where I read it, but I recall just reading that earlier.

"He called the sh** POOP!" -- Adam Sandler

by JRPhillips on Apr 15, 2008 4:46 PM PDT reply actions

he wasn't bad...

but he wasn’t good. I think you gotta send him down. Maybe they could tell him that he might get a chance to stretch out in Fresno, to become the starter he wants to be. I’d hope it was a lie, though.

by BigO on Apr 15, 2008 4:49 PM PDT reply actions

Be straight with him. If he doesn’t know why he is being sent down then explain. He needs to regroup and rekindle the success he had in early 2007. He is a tough kid and hope for his return. He will have competition since Sadler, Hinshaw and Romo are pitching well.

by wilriv21 on Apr 15, 2008 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Is chulk really better than hennessey

Chulk is kinda bad

by superk1ng on Apr 15, 2008 4:58 PM PDT reply actions

Chulk is not bad.

207 Stats

124 ERA+
1.26 WHIP
3 HR’s in 53 IP

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Hmm

That should be 2007 stats

I’m not sure baseball was even invented back in 207

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions

sure was and there were plenty of Giants players

by wilriv21 on Apr 15, 2008 5:03 PM PDT up reply actions

I think some people think less of Chulk because he was involved in the Accardo trade, which isn’t really fair to him. Eh, what can you do?

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 15, 2008 6:54 PM PDT up reply actions

What can I do?

I can keep pointing out that Chulk is not a bad pitcher.

Not as good as Accardo but not bad.

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 7:16 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't remember Accardo being all that amazing...

He’s turned out to be okay for the Jays, but that might say something about our pitching coach…

Eugeniooooooo!!!!

by FairweatherFan on Apr 15, 2008 8:00 PM PDT up reply actions

I remember

He wasn’t as good for us as he is now. But I remember watching him pitch and going “This guy’s stuff is pretty good.” I was intrigued by him and was very disappointed when he was traded (particularly when it was for Hillenbrand). It turns out that his stuff was pretty good, after all.

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 8:10 PM PDT up reply actions

Accardo’s stint with the ML level Giants wasn’t very long, but he showed plenty of promise. He had good “stuff” and was considered closer material. He even had a few saves but was then traded away.

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 15, 2008 8:50 PM PDT up reply actions

I would believe it

like I said, I don’t really recall.

Eugeniooooooo!!!!

by FairweatherFan on Apr 15, 2008 9:11 PM PDT up reply actions

His peripherals as a Giant were great, but the ERA wasn’t quite there. I was really pissed when they tradeded and wasn’t at all surprised when he turned out to be a very good pitcher for the Jays.

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.

by jponry on Apr 16, 2008 1:37 AM PDT up reply actions

*traded him

Matt Cain: He'll save children, but not the Dodger children.

by jponry on Apr 16, 2008 1:37 AM PDT up reply actions

The problem here is that ERA and WHIP aren’t good indicators of the probability of future success.

And that homerun total is certainly great, but unlikely to be sustainable. Last year Chulk gave up a homerun on 4.8% of his flyballs, which is ridiculously low and will almost certainly regress to the league average (~10%). It’s been shown that the ability to control homeruns-per-flyball isn’t something that a pitcher can control. And that regression is going to look even worse when we consider that Chulk had an absolutely awful 30.6% groundball rate last year.

Do not want.

by Steve on Apr 15, 2008 5:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Well

His strikeout to walk ratio was pretty good too.

I agree that his homerun rate is likely to go up. But I don’t see how we can call him a bad pitcher based on that.

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions

Dude

I only see three stats. I want my money back!

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 15, 2008 6:50 PM PDT up reply actions

As soon as I get some money from you

I will certainly give you some of it back.

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 7:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, send him down

If he recovers, good. Otherwise, replace him with someone else. One thing the Giants have plenty of is prospects that should do a good job in the bullpen.

With Hennessey being religated to relief, it’s not a tragedy if he doesn’t pan out.

Only 958 games until the end of Zito's contract

by thehavenot on Apr 15, 2008 5:06 PM PDT reply actions

OH! OH! I know this one....

demote him and hope he locates that misplaced velocity.

Mike Loree: Gotta take someone with a 50th round pick.

by BrianBokake on Apr 15, 2008 6:08 PM PDT reply actions

Like they say about pitching

It’s always about location.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Apr 15, 2008 7:16 PM PDT up reply actions

to be followed with

calling him back up in a couple of weeks when whoever fills his slot (wait for it…) is so horrid that the replacement is sent back to Fresno (or just cut loose, hi Kirk Rueter/Brower/Herges)

by natteringnabob on Apr 15, 2008 8:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Didn’t they send Yabu down today?? We’re stuck with Hennessey for now.

Brian Sabean's new dad: Firm believer in corporal punishment

by rxmeister on Apr 15, 2008 6:34 PM PDT reply actions

Peripherals suggest that there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s getting plenty of strikeouts. His walk rate and home run rate are high but not outlandish. His groundball rate is terrific—nearly 60%, with a very low line-drive rate. The problem is that his BABIP is .587, which is just nuts.

The velocity loss is a problem, though.

by Evan on Apr 15, 2008 6:37 PM PDT reply actions

this is about Henn right?

that is a crazy BABIP.

Adopted papa of a bouncing new waiver wire 27 year old. Castillo hits doubles.

by kennv on Apr 15, 2008 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Hennessey...

was OK today. Two bloops, one of which should have been caught by Lewis, turned into a run his first inning. Then a bloop by Upton, which might have been caught by any other 2B than Durham, turned into a triple and a run in Henn’s second inning.

The velocity loss is a problem, though. Gosh, that sounds familiar.

Disfrute Los Gigantes every day at www.leftymalo.com

by leftymalo on Apr 15, 2008 9:05 PM PDT reply actions

I know

You’re talking about Yabu right?

SAVE_US.RAY
Get yer Nattowear

by Natto on Apr 15, 2008 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions

Fucking Sabean and Bochy

How does these idiots continue to be employed by a MLB club?

Billy Hayes: Nine more big-league plate appearances than you.

by delorean on Apr 15, 2008 9:07 PM PDT reply actions

Who makes the decision on who to call up and stuff?

by Gamer101 on Apr 15, 2008 9:47 PM PDT reply actions

Nothing

It’s only half a month into the season, so it’s too early to really worry about his performance, especially as a relief pitcher. Let him work his way back into form & if he’s still struggling in a couple of months, send him down to allow him to work on things.

Proud owner of the most boring Username! Alex Hinshaw: Coming soon to a bullpen near you!

by GiantFan on Apr 16, 2008 3:26 AM PDT reply actions

agree

let him pitch his way through this. He’s no longer pitching the 7th (we’ve got a Merkin for that), so keep bringing him in when the Giants’ are 3 up or down to let him get back on track.

by tyrannoman on Apr 16, 2008 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions