Loading ...7 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, and only 93 pitches in a very efficient outing against a patient ballclub.
I love this guy’s makeup, evidenced by this quote:
Through three games, Bailey was asked if the big leagues were everything he expected.
“The bases are still white,” Bailey responded sardonically. “We use wooden bats up here just like we did down there. We have jerseys and cleats. There are a lot more fans and bigger stadiums. That stuff doesn’t play a part when you’re out there playing.”
Long live Homer Bailey.
Not yet, Chad. In 18 IP, Bailey has walked 11 and recorded only 7Ks. A BB/9 of 5.5 is not top of the rotation stuff. The potential is there, but he’s got to find the corners and miss more bats before it’s realized.
Well, I didn’t say he was an ace yet. Certainly he has work to do.
But the potential is there, as evidenced by last night. It’s very exciting. If he isn’t injured, there is no reason to believe he won’t improve across the board.
I agree with Chad. Yeah, he’s been wild, but most young pitchers are. The question is whether or not he’ll be able to increase his control as he gets older. I think he’ll do it.
Just filling my role as DWB – Designated Wet Blanket.
My caution is more in response to those who have suggested the Krivsky shouldn’t go after starting pitching as he deals the vets and Dunner. I disagree. Harang is solid. Belisle and Bailey are works in progress that I expect to turn out to be positives, but as we all know with pitchers many things can happen to derail that.
After that, the rotation looks pretty shaky, particularly if the Bronson Arroyo we’ve been getting since early May is the Bronson Arroyo we are destined to get from here on out. Lohse will be gone either at the deadline or after the season because he’s a Boras client.
I think Homer will take the rest of this season and most, if not all, of next season to refine his command and control. Hell, if he’s stepped up to be a No 1 or No 2 by Opening Day, 2009, he’ll still be all of 22 years old. And 2009 is the earliest I expect this team to be a true contender.
Rob Neyer on Homer:
Would you think less of me if I wrote ill of a talented young pitcher?
This morning, venerable baseball writer Hal McCoy obviously is impressed by what Homer Bailey did last night …
OAKLAND — Homer Bailey earned his bones Tuesday night, lived up to the hype and the press clippings and the fan adulation.
After passable performances in his first two major-league starts, Bailey was vintage Clemens-esque against the Oakland Athletics in the football mausoleum that is McAfee Coliseum.
Would you think less of me if I wrote ill of a veteran baseball writer? I hope not, because I feel compelled to take issue with Mr. McCoy, just this once. For one thing, the Coliseum’s really not so bad (thought it helps when there are more than 20,000 fans in the stands, and there weren’t last night). For another, did “vintage Clemens” have many games where he struck out three batters and walked four?
Everybody’s excited about Homer Bailey. We should be excited. But I have a tough time getting excited about his three starts so far. In 18 innings, he’s walked 11 hitters and struck out seven. He’s allowed a .222 batting average, but that number cannot hold. Neither can his 4.00 ERA, unless those other numbers get flipped around.
One positive marker: Bailey hasn’t allowed a homer in those 18 innings, which continues his professional tendency: as a minor leaguer, he’s given up only 15 homers in 313 innings. Nobody’s that good in the majors, though, which Bailey will soon discover if he continues to pitch behind in the count.
Just FYI.
I’d say give him at least 5 to 6 starts before you start to analyze his K to walk ratio, etc. He’s only 21 and this has to be a major (pardon the pun) adjustment for him (regardless of what he says).
I think the most important thing at this point is his poise/confidence and the bottom line results.
Phil, you’re right about every bit of that. But I don’t care.
I don’t care if Bailey has an ERA of 5.50 this season. The experience gained in this season of pitching to major league hitters will be of immeasurable benefit to young Mr. Bailey. He will find that he MUST improve his control to excel up here, and I feel comfortable that he WILL improve.
Take a look at the first season or two for Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine, and Roger Clemens. Now, those comparisons are unfair to Bailey, as we’re talking about two inner-circle HOFers, and another probable HOF pitcher.
All the numbers that have been cited tell me is that Bailey is an imperfect pitcher RIGHT NOW. Well, of course, that’s true…we all knew that. The question is whether Bailey will be a stud in two years or so.
Chad,
I agree with you 100%. I’m just a little more cautious with my enthusiasm.
It needs to be said that Homer hasn’t exactly been throwing to cream-puff offenses either. In that respect, Rob is correct that it’s impressive that he hasn’t given up any HRs.
But he’s also correct that if Homer keeps missing with the breaking stuff and can only get a strike when he needs it with the fastball, major league hitters will make him pay for that. And that may be a good thing. Nothing gets your attention like watching your best pitch get deposited 450 feet away behind the centerfield wall.
As long as Homer isn’t abused and doesn’t get hurt in the process, I don’t care if he takes his lumps in ‘07 or ‘08 – just as long as he learns from the experience and is ready to take it up a notch in ‘09.
(Just a side musing – wonder what it would take to get Rockin’ Leo to leave Bal’mer?)
I thought the Clemens comparison was a bad one when I read McCoy’s article – I’m not sure who Homer reminded me of last night, but it wasn’t Clemens.
That said, I think that might’ve been a conscious choice by Bailey. He was making guys miss, but seemed content to let them pound grounders into the ground. They were hard grounders, and/but Phillips and Gonzalez played well behind him.
I’d like to believe Bailey is in the process of learning an lesson about efficiency.
I thought Bailey had 2 pitches working all night last night. Early, it was FB and CH; later it was FB and CB.
For me it’s not so much talking about the greatness of Homer Bailey, it’s talking about something positive that gives a glimmer of hope in a vacumn of last place depression and despair. Maybe all my hopes are not statistically justified, but they are all I have left (oh, that and a Jack McKeon bobblehead), so please leave my thread of hope intact. Long live Homer! Long live Hobbs!
Amen, preach.
Glimmers of hope: Homer, Hobbs, EdE, Phillips, Dunn, Harang, Votto, Bruce, the 2007 draft class.
Shadows over those glimmers: Krivsky, Narron.
ever since he got called up, in my head I refer to him as Bibbles. He doesn’t have a nickname yet, can I just put in a meager request that his nickname be “Bibbles.” Homer Bibbles.