7 replies to this topic

[Oswego Chris]

I made the mistake today of responding to one of the posters who said that Volsatd sucks by saying "he is 25..when Sandy Koufax was 25... he basically sucked" I said I wasn't comparing them. Then some of the yahoos on there ridculed my baseball knowledge. Fine. Here is the point I was trying to make. Travis Wood and Volstad are not finished projects....they could still go either way...to say "they suck", is rather short-sighted....here are some examples:


player career w-l and era at age 25


Cliff Lee 17-12 4.88
Chris Carpenter(you know, the STL ace who won the World Series ) 34-50 5.04
James Shields 18-16 4.21
Ryan Vogelsong 8-25 6.41
Koufax 54-53 3.91

Halladay's first good year as a starter was at 25


am I saying Volstad and Wood will be these guys?...no....but a 25 year old pitcher is a prospect...not a finished project

[King Jeff]

Both have had stretches where they were pretty lights out, so I don't count either of them out. I think the addition of Wood and Volstad, along with Paul Maholm has improved the rotation and in effect the team by leaps and bounds. The potential is there for a pretty good rotation, I would settle for average after last years debacle.

Also interesting, two guys that you mentioned(Carp and Halladay) were scouted and drafted by none other than Tom Wilken. Good comparisons, I can remember seeing each of these guys at some point and time and thinking, "eh, there's not much there", especially on Roy Halladay. (Halladay and Volstad seem similar, not saying that Volstad is Halladay, just saying their numbers, size, and scouts opinion of them were similar at around the same age.)

[Fishin Phil]

Never argue with an idiot, they will bring you down to their level and then beat you with experience. Remember, they've been idiots for a long time.


You are right of course. Passing judgement on them would definitely be premature at this point.

[Robbo]

Excellent point Chris. Most pitchers take time to develop and not all are phenoms that have it all put together before 25. Hoping Wood and Volstad prove that this season.

[FFP]

OC, I think you were perfectly clear on the main board. I only read it twice because I couldn't figure out where the responder was coming from. I still don't yet.

These players have potentially bright futures. Baseball Operations looks at stats, narratives, scouting reports, character, body type; and they see potential. It's fun trying to figure out what they see; why are they buying this lottery ticket?

For every five guys they take this chance on; one or two will develop into someone they can trade up with, one or two will not develop much, and one just might become The Guy. It is going to make watching the season even more fun.

To your point about pitchers who deveop later this Albert Chen article on the cutter was pretty rich. Mentions your example, Sheilds. (Not my find. I found it on an excellent thread at a Boston site that was drilling down on our new pitcher, Melancon.)

[Brett]

Chris - most of the yahoos (which included me) were joking. We knew you weren't comparing anyone to Koufax. This is good stuff, nevertheless.

[Oswego Chris]

I know you were joking Brett....

the teacher in me tries to educate some of the younger posters who seem to know everything about baseball...

[Ashley]

I am excited for Wodd and Volstad, I mean we aren't expecting them to be ace's out of the gate if ever but we need consistent pitchers that will be out there every 5th day. The Cubs had a revolving door in the 5th spot l think having 2 guys that can sure up the rotation and both who have not yet hit their celling yet is a huge step forward for the Cubs!