Loading ...More very interesting information about Edinson Volquez, after his brilliant performance last night:
Edinson Volquez allowed only one hit in eight innings in his 3–0 win over the Astros on Wednesday, after giving up just one hit in five innings in a loss to the Braves in his last start. The last pitcher with consecutive starts of five-plus innings and no more than one hit allowed was the Nationals’ Shawn Hill, who did it spanning a trip to the disabled list in 2007. The last Reds pitcher with consecutive starts like that was Ron Villone in 1999; the last before him was Johnny Vander Meer, who had consecutive no-hitters in 1938.
Wow. All the way back to Vander Meer.
Of course, this is overstating things a bit, because Volquez’s previous start, frankly, wasn’t a great one (he walked about thirty batters). Still, it’s interesting….
But if you don’t care about all that, you can always discuss uniforms with us here and here.
After a month, the team’s ERA is 4.11 despite some really bad starts here and there and some really bad performances from Burton and Lincoln.
and more on Volquez from this mornings hardballtimes
“Edinson Volquez has a 46% ground ball rate last year. Through one month, it’s 61%. Unfortunately for him, his BB/9 (6.67) and HR/FB (30.8%) are almost as eye popping.”
What we needed to see from Voltron was command. And he displayed it. He threw strikes when he had to, when he wanted to he hit spots. His stuff has always been electric, as long as he has command he will be fine. Cueto went through a bout of wildness last year as well but seems to have it under control. They are eerily similiar.
The guy I am worried about suddenly is Harang. He isn’t striking anyone out the last 2 starts and that is worrisome. Supposedly when he is right his sneaky fastball gets him a lot of Ks.
and a little more on the 4.11 ERA
after one month of the season
adjusting the #s and separating the starters and relievers
The rotation ranks 15th in baseball, 8th in the NL, 4th in the Central
This is with Cueto (#19) and Harang (#25) both being among the 25 best starters in baseball during the 1st month. Arroyo (#107) and Volquez (#109) have been among the worst 25 starters in baseball during the 1st month. Lets hope Volquez started to turn it around yesterday.
Here is something that’s a little surprising.
The bullpen ranks 6th in baseball, #1 IN THE NL, and #1 in the Central
Looking at Reliever Expected Wins Added (WXRL), Rhodes (#13), Weathers (#18), and Cordero (#25) are all among the top 25 relievers in the game.
Speaking of Rhodes, I am might worried he won’t survive the workload he is being given. Last year he pitched what, 47 innings? He had a lot of 1 batter appearances. Dusty is asking muchmore from him, typically an entire inning. At his age and with recent injuries (missed all of 07) will he survive? He is a key member of the bullpen right now.
I think the irregular workload from the WBC set him back a bit. Nice to see him catch up finally.
One game over .500 every month puts us right where we want to be.
Rhoades looks fine to me. I didn’t realize he was in as good of shape as he is. I always thought he was a little on the portly side.
That game was a lot of fun to watch last night, but Dusty should’ve had guys warming up a little earlier. That diving catch by Bruce saved a lot of potential heartache at the end. Voltron was clearly gassed.
I hope we don’t come to associate the career of Edinson with those of VanderMeer or Villone. VanderMeer had the two no hitters but was sent back to the minors a couple of years later and ended as a sub-.500 pitcher. Villone also is sub .500 and a journeyman at best. Both are known for throwing hard but not throwing strikes and also for having more potential than performance.
Good call Mark.
While Vander Meer might be one of the most over rated pitchers in Reds history because of his consecutive no-nos he was not a bad pitcher.
Can you name 5 better Reds starters during his time?
to name 3 is easy, Walters, Blackwell, and Derringer but after that I think it’s tough
I agree with Mike. Vander Meer was sub .500 career wise and overrated but definitely not a bad pitcher.
A much, much better pitcher than Villone.
I think the issue is that we’re hoping Volquez has the longevity and stuff to be more than “not a bad pitcher.” I’ll take a few all-star pitchers on my staff thank you very much.
Ken Raffensberger was a very good starter with the Reds in the early 50’s who had a terrible record. Problem was he played for the longest period of bad Reds’ baseball ever.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raffeke01.shtml
Baseball Prospectus online site has some comments about Volquez today. They were discussing pitchers whose stat lines belie they’re actual performance:
Edinson Volquez. His ERA (4.45) wouldn’t seem to qualify him for this kind of list, but when you look at his numbers, you find that he is giving up his share of line drives (21.1 percent) and is not paying for them (a .208 BABIP, third-lowest mark in MLB among pitchers with at least 20 IP). The biggest concern is that his command has taken a step backwards; he’s walked 21 men in 28 1/3 innings (with 28 strikeouts). Volquez’s stuff is so good that he’s going to get his Ks; the concern is that his command, which was better but still not great last year, will force him to choose between missing the strike zone or throwing hittable strikes. So far, he’s been fortunate, but that’s not likely to continue.