Misch Givings
by Grant Brisbee on Jun 11, 2008 12:42 PM PDT
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PrintBefore the season started, I considered Kevin Correia and Pat Misch to be interchangeable. Correia had the inside track on the fifth-starter’s job, and that was just swell, but Misch didn’t seem like a bad alternative.
Scorched earth. Flames ten feet high. Corpses. A hopelessly barren landscape.
Line drives did this.
Giants Fan #2
They warned us about Zito…
but it was Misch…dammit…
it was Misch the whole time.
Giants Fan #2 sinks to his knees and sobs.
Maybe I’m understating the point, but you get the idea. Misch has been abysmal. He just gave up another home run, even though all he was doing was pouring a bowl of Honey Smacks. There goes another one. It was a fastball right over the heart of the plate. I think the frog hit it.
What kills me is that Misch is allowing fewer baserunners than he was in 2007, and his strikeout rate has gone up. His K/BB rate is just fine for a fifth starter, and that’s a cautious statement. No, the problem is that a fifth of the hits he has given up have been home runs. This is odd, as his line-drive percentage is actually down from last year. Maybe we’re just running into sample size shenanigans. Misch has had a couple of starts with a catawampus inning sandwiched by effective innings, and maybe those catawampus innings are just clouding our judgment. Catawampus.
It’s mostly a moot point with Kevin Correia about to return. But when I look at Misch’s stats in relief last year (AAA – 66 innings, 74 strikeouts, 19 walks, 2.30 ERA), I wonder if his future isn’t in the bullpen. There’s no rush to find out – the rotation is full, and Jack Taschner and Alex Hinshaw have been just swell from the left side so far – but maybe Misch is being shoehorned into a role just because he has three or four pitches.
If you find my point, please return it (possible reward!), but in the meantime, consider this a moment to mull the myriad of Misch measures. Open Future of Misch Thread. I say he finishes the year in Fresno as a starter, but if the results are underwhelming, he begins 2009 in middle relief.
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also, catawampus!!!!
Also, Misch sucks.
Billy Hayes: His job is better than yours.
Needs some seasoning
Adopted father of the AnVil / GIANTSPACE™ returns!
by SoFa King Mike on Jun 11, 2008 12:57 PM PDT reply actions
Misch is fine
He’s an end-of-the-rotation guy who costs nothing. He’s been unlucky with the homers this year, and otherwise his peripherals are adequate. He’ll never be great, but if you think a lot of other teams wouldn’t dream of a guy at the end of the rotation who Ks 15% or more, walks 10% or fewer and mostly keeps you in the game, you’re spoiled.
If you want to see what the Giants could be running out there on the fifth turn through, look through some other team’s rotations. There are some pretty bad arms out there.
He might be unlucky, but the claims that he’s a cheaper Lowry might have been overblown.
The dilema with him as a reliever was pointed out; we already have lefties in the pen and I think Alderson might belong in that equation in the future.
Perhaps he could work on things in AAA and ultimately become a mischellaneous long reliever/spot starter; a LH version of Hennessey, if you will. He can’t cause too much mischief in that roll.
2008 Giants: A steaming pile of scrap!
He might be unlucky, but the claims that he’s a cheaper Lowry might have been overblown.
Well, if you’re talking about post 2005 Lowry, I think Misch could pitch about the same.
He could work well from a relief role, like Grant wrote, he had success in that role in AAA. That was the year he developed a cut-fastball, I believe.
I’d try him at starter a few more times.
Assuming Correia returns and does well Sunday the rotation is full without him. At whose expense would you start him? Saying “Zito” is obvious but realistic.
2008 Giants: A steaming pile of scrap!
Misch works well in the bullpen
Can Misch replace Taschner’s innings in the bullpen? This way GM Sabean can attempt to trade Taschner to a contender come the trade deadline. Most contenders can use a LHP in the pen.
Misch is not a starter
At least in his current state. He did fine in relief in between his two most recent starts. Maybe if he had more offense behind him, it wouldn’t look so bad, but he doesn’t so it does.
If our pen is full of lefties already (and Taschner and Hinshaw are much better than Misch), maybe send him over to Fresno and let him work on the consistency he’d need to start and maybe figure out how to avoid those nasty early innings.
Or trade him. That works, too.
Also: catawampus. It says it all.
It's my blarg! Quick Pitch
his last two starts have been horrible. and to think i flew up to SF from LA to watch him pitch against the Pads on May 31st. it was the most unexciting game ive seen in a long time. It was over after he allowed 4 runs in the top of the first. The trip wasnt a total disaster cause i also attended June 2nd against the Mets when we clobbered them 10-2. But I’m out of patience with Misch … he’s only managed to ruin my day on far too many occasions. send him down and keep him there.
Who scares this Giants fan?
Tyler Walker and Vinnie Chulk.
Not sure if the stats support this, but when they come into the game, I just assume that anyone on base will score. Just sweep them in and let them start with no one on base.
I think you're right, Grant
That’s how I, too, see his 2008 and 2009 going. Perhaps he’s mischcast as a starter, for the very reason you pointed out. I know DrB always was hoping he’d get a chance at starting, but after seeing these last few outings I’m a little squeamisch about him. Correia should definitely be in the rotation, and although I’d be remisch if I didn’t at least mention the $126m albatross now occupying the #5 slot, I can’t say I’d prefer Pat to Barry at this point. He’s driving me meshugganah.
Your 2011 SF Giants: the 2008 Augusta Greenjackets!
Not interchangeable
Clearly Kevin Correia and Patrick Misch weren’t interchangeable, nor did they appear to be.
Don’t get me wrong. I have liked Pat ever since I saw him in relief of Tim Lincecum last year in Fresno. I had read that his curve likely wouldn’t play in the majors, leaving him vulnerable to having both that and his semi-fast ball hit. But after seeing him pitch, I thought he was indeed going to become a major league pitcher.
Since he was in the bullpen at that time, I saw him as more of a reliever, but I certainly felt he would belong. And he HAS been very good out of the bullpen, although he has been vulnerable to the long ball and to inconsistency as a starter.
But as heretical as this sounds - especially coming from the spiritual president of the Tim Lincecum fan club as I have been - Kevin was the Giants’ best starter over the last quarter of 2007 when he was installed in the starting rotation. Kevin is probably the most underrated pitcher the Giants have, just as pitchers such as Matt Morris, Noah Lowry and Brad Hennessey were overrated this time a year ago.
When Kevin was giving up key long balls as a reliever last season but otherwise pitching well, I speculated that he might be better off as a starter where the occasional long ball wouldn’t completely ruin his effort. To be honest, Kevin was even far better than I expected as a starter, posting an ERA of just over two and a half. Even with his slow start to this season before he was injured, Kevin’s ERA as a starter since he began that role in mid-August of a year ago is around three and a quarter.
I agree with you that many may have underrated Patrick last season. But I believe you yourself underrated Correia correspondingly. To think the twosome was interchangeable is something like thinking all .300 hitters are equivalent. Differences can sometimes be subtle—but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important.
Well, I was as pleased with Correia’s eight starts in 2007 as anyone. But that’s a small sample size. Over his career as a starter, Correia has a 4.36 ERA with a below-average strikeout rate. I thought Misch could provide something comparable. It wasn’t meant to be a slight on Kevin as much as it was meant to be praise for Misch.
by Grant Brisbee on Jun 12, 2008 10:49 AM PDT up reply actions
I think Misch needs time. He is going to have to completely relearn pitching. He used marginal stuff to be very good in AAA. But those sequences, those pitches are not going to work nearly as well in MLB. He needs time to learn which pitches just got fouled of in AAA but get lost in the bigs. Best for him would be to keep on starting. But the organization doesn’t need that (hime) so, next best solution is going to AAA to continue as a SP – and look to perfect some of what he has learned while up here.
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