Monday, March 29, 2004
The Case for Scot Shields
If you've read the breakdown of the 5 hole in the Angels rotation, you know that Halos should pray for rain every fifth day. However, they wouldn't have to if they'd just throw both Sele and Ortiz in the pen and give the nod to Scot Shields. Why this isn't obvious is beyond me.
Shields posted a sub-3 ERA in 148 IP last year and a 3.89 ERA in 78 IP as a starter. That's more than a run better than both Ortiz and Sele. His control was unbelievable as a starter, with only 1.5 bb/9, compared to 3.2 for Ortiz and 4.3 for Sele. Some other obvious things that literally jump off the page for him are his k/9 rate. Shields: 6.7. Ortiz: 4.7. Sele: 3.9. Both Ortiz's and Sele's WHIPs were over 1.50, while Shields was under 1.20. Why this isn't obvious to Scioscia is beyond me. The only thing I can imagine is that Shields struggled mightily as a starter in AAA in '00 and '01. Still, his 5.29 ERA and 1.37 WHIP totals at Salt Lake in 2001 were better than Ortiz and Sele posted last year (okay, actually Ortiz's ERA was 5.20, but oooooh, Ortiz was better by 0.09. Big deal.). Ortiz actually had a complete game last year in which he struck out a grand total of zero. Further, Ortiz would actually be better in short stints or long relief. In 45 pitches or less last year, his OBA was around .250. After that it rose alarmingly to .314. Am I makin' any sense here?
There's really every reason to give Shields an opportunity to start again, especially after his brief stint in the rotation last year. We can only hope that Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black will finally see the light early in the season when Sele's walkin' everyone who steps into the box, and Ortiz is backin' that up with more grand slams than Denny's. Please put Shields in the rotation, guys.
Shields posted a sub-3 ERA in 148 IP last year and a 3.89 ERA in 78 IP as a starter. That's more than a run better than both Ortiz and Sele. His control was unbelievable as a starter, with only 1.5 bb/9, compared to 3.2 for Ortiz and 4.3 for Sele. Some other obvious things that literally jump off the page for him are his k/9 rate. Shields: 6.7. Ortiz: 4.7. Sele: 3.9. Both Ortiz's and Sele's WHIPs were over 1.50, while Shields was under 1.20. Why this isn't obvious to Scioscia is beyond me. The only thing I can imagine is that Shields struggled mightily as a starter in AAA in '00 and '01. Still, his 5.29 ERA and 1.37 WHIP totals at Salt Lake in 2001 were better than Ortiz and Sele posted last year (okay, actually Ortiz's ERA was 5.20, but oooooh, Ortiz was better by 0.09. Big deal.). Ortiz actually had a complete game last year in which he struck out a grand total of zero. Further, Ortiz would actually be better in short stints or long relief. In 45 pitches or less last year, his OBA was around .250. After that it rose alarmingly to .314. Am I makin' any sense here?
There's really every reason to give Shields an opportunity to start again, especially after his brief stint in the rotation last year. We can only hope that Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black will finally see the light early in the season when Sele's walkin' everyone who steps into the box, and Ortiz is backin' that up with more grand slams than Denny's. Please put Shields in the rotation, guys.
