And the bullpen shuffle begins

Lando12 · Post #1 » by **Lando12** » Fri Apr 30, 2010 8:32 pm

Smith down, Ambriz up

It's tough to get excited about a minor league reliever that turns 26 in a month, but Ambriz has been impressive at AAA. 15/1 K/BB in 8 IP is awfully good. I don't know exactly what rules apply to minor league relievers, but I do know that I want to see cartoonish dominance. Ambriz has that in an admittedly tiny sample.

I think it's interesting that Wright lives to see another bullpen change. I don't know the time table for Wood's return, but I would imagine that Wright sees the chopping block then, unless new injuries creep up.

FordPrefect · Post #2 » by **FordPrefect** » Sat May 1, 2010 5:27 pm

Probably. Unless they pull a Marte on Ambriz and dump him two weeks into an evaluation after giving him spotty playing time.

They're petrified of their SP to the point of needing two long men in the pen, apparently. Bewildering.

OTOH, man did Smith deserve this.

FordPrefect · Post #3 » by **FordPrefect** » Fri May 7, 2010 7:08 pm

Wood is activated, Lewis is sent to AAA.

Nothing to see here except that apparently Raffy Perez stole the photos of Shapiro that Gimenez had last year.

DavidMcGr · Post #4 » by **DavidMcGr** » Fri May 7, 2010 9:20 pm

I don't know why Sipp wasn't the one. I don't think it's a huge deal but he certainly has the most to learn in the minors and can't throw strikes at all (not only is his walk rate bad but he has only thrown 42% of pitches in the zone this season and has a career mark of 45%). Don't get me wrong, I like Sipp and think he has a good deal of upside but given his limited minor league experience (at least post-injury) I have to believe that he may benefit from a bit of time in AAA - at least moreso than someone like Perez or Lewis.

FordPrefect · Post #5 » by **FordPrefect** » Fri May 7, 2010 9:40 pm

I think they believe Sipp can throw strikes, and they want a matchup lefty, and it's either Sipp, Laffey, or Perez, and Perez lost his slider and Laffey is not a matchup guy.

Sipp the past year has gone through lulls where he has big problems with walks and then has lesser problems with walks. I'm not sure at his age he has anything to learn in the minors.

Frankly, the entire thing has an air of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic to it. I'm not sure there's even a "right" answer.

DavidMcGr · Post #6 » by **DavidMcGr** » Sat May 8, 2010 1:44 am

I don't see why they think he can throw strikes. His zone% is awful along with his walk rate.