Season Recap - Starting Pitching

Let's go to the mound and recap the starting pitchers for the 2010 Greeneville Astros. There were nine different starters for the G-Stros this season. We will cover seven of them in this section. The other two were primarily relievers who made a spot start or two and will be covered in the relief pitchers recap.

One of the challenges in assessing short season pitching stats for starters is the limited number of starts. Add to that the pitch count limits that many new draft picks come in with, their initial few starts may only last from one to three innings. Therefore, one bad or one great outing can skew the numbers significantly.

Therefore I propose the Appy Astro Adjusted Scoring System (3A2S). This system involves throwing out the best and worst outing a pitcher has and then figuring the stats. This I believe give s a more accurate picture of the pitcher's performance.

Let's start our review with 1st round pick Mike Foltynewicz. Folty had 12 starts during the season and accounted for 44 2/3 IP. His pre adjusted numbers are an ERA of 4.03, a WHIP of 1.37, K/9 of 7.86 & a K/BB of 2.6.

His worst outing was on the road on 8/6 in Princeton. He gave up 8 ER on 7 hits and 2 BB while striking out 2 in 2 1/3 IP. His best outing was the very next outing at home against Elizabethon on 8/11. On that night, he gave up just 1 hit and walked 1 batter while striking out 4 in 5 IP.

So his 3A2S season total looks like this: ERA of 2.89, WHIP of 1.34, K/9 of 7.96 and K/BB of 2.75

Assessment: Folty did better than his numbers show. He had some learning opportunities (2 rough outings) but finished very strong. Look for him in Lexington next season.

Rueben Alaniz also started 12 games. His pre adjusted line is 4.21 ERA, WHIP of 1.30, K/9 of 6.56, and a K/BB of 4.2.

His worst start was on 7/10 in Bluefield. That night, he gave up 10 ER on 12 hits, and 2 walked in 2 2/3 IP. He did strike out two that night. His best start was on 7/27 at Elizabethon. There he allowed no runs and only one hit and one walk while fanning 10 E-Twins hitters in five IP.

Alaniz's 3A2S season total comes to: ERA of 3.06, WHIP of 1.18, K/9 of 5.40 and K/BB of 4.29.

Assessment: Alaniz's adjusted ERA being over one point lower than his actual tells me he was also a victim of a bad outing. Alaniz should and could make the jump to Lexington but I suspect he might wind up in Tri Cities due to lack of spots.

Euris Quezada, who was called 'El Grande' by the coaches due to his 6'6" frame, also started 12 games. His season line was: ERA of 5.83, WHIP 1.47, K/9 of 5/40 & K/BB 3.17.

Quezada's worst start occurred on 8/20 in Danville. There he surrendered 4 ER on 6 hits and one walk with no strike outs in 2 1/3 IP. His strongest outing was on 7/21 at home against Bristol. That outing, he pitched 7 innings giving up no runs, one hit, one walk and fanned 3.

Quezada's 3A2S adjusted numbers: ERA of 6.00, WHIP of 1.48, K/9 of 5.83 and K/BB of 3.50.

Assessment: There is not much difference between his actual numbers and the adjusted numbers. This should be a pretty good indicator that we have a pretty good picture of the pitcher Quezada is. At 22 next season, I suspect he might be given a shot at Tri Cities but he might not be a starter any longer.

Richardo Batista is the 4th G-Stro to have 12 starts. The left who turned 19 during the season finished with a line of: 6.29 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, 6.47 K/9, and 1.52 K/BB.

Batista's worst night was on 8/9 against the E-Twins. He didn't make it out of the first inning, giving up 6 ER on 6 hits, 2 walks and 1 K in 2/3 of an inning. His best outing was on 7/23 when he went 7 innings giving up 1 ER on 5 hits, 1 walk and striking out 5 batters.

His 3A2S line is: 5.93 ERA, 1.80 WHIP, 6.37 K/9 and 1.38 K/BB.

Assessment: Batista's numbers are also pretty close. I expect him to be back in Greeneville next year. Even though the numbers aren't great, they were improved from his time in the GCL. Control must continue to improve.

Vincent Velasquez, the 2nd round pick of the Astros in the 2010 draft was consistent in his limited time on the hill. He only pitched 29 1/3 innings due to injury issues. He had 10 days between two starts during the season and then in his last outing on 8/24, he left the game when apparently some scar tissue from a previous injury popped. His line on the season was: 3.07 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 7.67 K/9 and 5.00 K/BB.

His consistency makes it tough to pick a worst outing. None of them were that bad. His worst was on 7/24 when he gave up 2 ER in 3 2/3 IP in Kingsport. That night, he allowed 4 hits but no walks and fanned 3. His best evening came on 7/14 when his pitch count limit was still low and he actually pitched in relief. He allowed just one hit and no runs in 3 IP while fanning 4 batters.

Velasquez's 3A2S line is: 3.18 ERA, 1.06 ERA, 7.15 K/9 and 3.60 K/BB.

Assessment: Valasquez's numbers are about the same but this is a very small sample size. There is a great deal to be excited about here but in cloud of injury is hanging over him. How his arm heals will determine his location this year. If healthy, I could easily see him in Lexington.

Angel Gonzalez made 5 starts out of 8 appearances for the Astros. (In a freak of scheduling, I was present for about 6 of those games he appeared in.) He also was send down in the middle of the season to the GCL for a tune up. When he returned, he was used solely as a reliever. This was Gonzalez's second year in Greeneville. His line as a start was: 7.66 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 6.45 K/9, and 1.60 K/BB.

His best outing was 6 innings of no hit ball in Kingsport where he walked 2 and fanned 4 on 6/29. His worst outing was on 7/9 when he surrendered 6 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks and struck out just one batter.

His 3a2S line as a starter: 8.56 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 7.24 K/9, and 1.83 K/BB.

Assessment: Looks like the decision has already been made to move Gonzalez to the pen. He should be in Tri Cities next year, if he is still with the organization.

The last starter to discuss is Gabriel Garcia. Garcia started the year serving a 50 game PED suspension. He was sent back to Greeneville where he made 6 appearance and 4 starts in August. He was much more effective in his two relief appearances (2.70 ERA in 3 1/3 IP) verse his 4 starts (4.15 ERA in 13 IP). However even his starting numbers were a large improvement from last year (7.91 in 38 2/3 IP). Based on his solid K/9 of 9.4,and the log jam of quality starters, I could see him being moved to the bullpen and being in Tri Cities next year.