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The Fog has Lifted....

February, 2003:

(Joe) Nathan is the owner of a 5.46 ERA in 556 innings above A-ball. I don't care if he's touching 92 again, he needs to have, at the very least, one decent season in the high minors before he is considered for a bullpen job in the majors.

I, of course, have since let go of the intern who wrote that. Moving on:

February, 2006:

However, the only thing (Josh Fogg) would provide would be depth. He'd be one more buffer between Kevin Correia and 180 major league innings. That's the only reason to acquire him....

That's hardly the most damning quote, but it's the best one I could find that related to my ambivalence toward Kevin Correia. If the Giants had traded him to another team for a raw A-ball prospect before the season started, I wouldn't have minded. The upside was limited, and the present wasn't too attractive either.

I'm hardly a genius about this stuff, though. Look at the Nathan quote again. It was written by some intern who hadn't watched Nathan pitch in two years, and I foolishly agreed to publish the opinion. I hope I was just as wrong about Correia, because last night was a stunning relief performance in a losing cause. I watched the game TiVo-style -- fast forward until a rally starts up -- after Matt Morris furred the place up. It's easy to know exactly what's going on by following the baseball diamond graphic in the upper-left corner, but you don't have to watch every single pitch in a game where the Giants are down fairly big.

Flying through the game, it took a while to notice exactly what Correia was doing, but it was obvious that he was pounding the strike zone to begin each at-bat. 0-1. 0-1. 0-2. The fastball has always had a bit of a hop to it, and the slider could fool hitters, but the location was always a problem. That's not a new story. Every organization has about 15 pitchers who would be instant All-Stars if they were magically blessed with above-average control. One game isn't enough to proclaim the dawning of a new Correiaera, obviously, but it was a glimpse of the upper reaches of Correia's potential.

He could be a good starting pitcher with the development of an additional pitch, or an excellent reliever with his current repertoire. So could a lot of pitchers, but a lot of pitchers didn't blow away the competition last night. What say thou?

Poll

Correia?

This poll is closed

  • 12%
    He'll make a good starter
    (3 votes)
  • 52%
    He'll make a good reliever
    (13 votes)
  • 20%
    What you see is what you get
    (5 votes)
  • 4%
    He's playing over his head even now
    (1 vote)
  • 12%
    Wait.."I" before "E", except....wait, wait.....
    (3 votes)
25 votes total Vote Now