RealGM

EXCELLENT NEWS! as per Bastian.

http://mlbastian.mlblogs.com/

"He looks really good. The ball is really coming out of his hand well," Ricciardi said. "He feels really good. There's another kid that you're just rooting for him, because he's had so much bad luck."

Ricciardi said McGowan is currently up to 110-115 feet in his throwing program and could be on a mound some time next week.

Awesome quote by JP below.

Oh, as for Ricky Romero?

"You know what?" Ricciardi said. "You need a wheelbarrow to take his balls to the mound. That's how big they are."

This is the only good news we've heard about McGowan in a long time, but I don't even care about that.

Who else thinks JP should keep his job based on that quote alone?

O____O

only JP would know

"You know what?" Ricciardi said. "You need a wheelbarrow to take his balls to the mound. That's how big they are."

I see 10 jokes per Romero start and a nickname in the future of this quote.

I immediately thought of this, even though long doesn't necessarily equate to big.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaY9ewvpzk

From now on, instead of the skipping over the foul line thing Romero does, he should do the Sam Cassell "I've got huge balls" dance.

His nicknames are already established: Rookie Romero (expires soon) and RR Cool Jay (going forward)

Well good to know JP loves Romero's balls, too bad he won't be around to admire them next season.

youngLion wrote:This is the only good news we've heard about McGowan in a long time, but I don't even care about that.

Who else thinks JP should keep his job based on that quote alone?

Jerry Howard and Alan Ashby said something about McGowan's progress a few weeks ago. Of course it is more promising coming from the general manager even though he's a pathological liar.

Yeah - the pathological liar bit isn't good. But McGowan coming around is good. Pitching rotation next year should be decent.

Doc (iffy)
McGowan
Litsche
Romero
(who ever)

How's Marcum doing in his rehab?

The issue with McGowan isn't when he recovers, it's the degree to which he recovers. Labrum injuries tend to rob pitchers of their velocity, often permanently...and McGowan throwing 89-91 just isn't likely to be effective, as he lacks the command necessary to be crafty.

Marcum's long-term prognosis might be a bit better, even though he was shut down at the end of July; he was never a fireballer, and TJ surgery tends not to be a career-killer anymore. Still, could be 2011 before he looks like himself again, if that.

Kevin Willis wrote:Yeah - the pathological liar bit isn't good. But McGowan coming around is good. Pitching rotation next year should be decent.

Doc (iffy)
McGowan
Litsche
Romero
(who ever)

How's Marcum doing in his rehab?

Cito said the rotation will be Doc (if he stays), Romero, Marcum, Rzep and Purcey?? to start the year. Litch won't be ready until at least May/June

Garmfay wrote:

Kevin Willis wrote:Yeah - the pathological liar bit isn't good. But McGowan coming around is good. Pitching rotation next year should be decent.

Doc (iffy)
McGowan
Litsche
Romero
(who ever)

How's Marcum doing in his rehab?

Cito said the rotation will be Doc (if he stays), Romero, Marcum, Rzep and Purcey?? to start the year. Litch won't be ready until at least May/June

That's not a bad rotation. Purcey is iffey though, besides that - not so bad.

Purcey's iffy but he's got some stuff. If he gets his velocity back and a bit more control, he'll be a little better.

Besides, who else are we going to throw out there? Mills? Buress? Tallet?

God, I hope we don't start Tallet next year. *shudders* He's a great reliever but he's so bad as a starter...

tsherkin wrote:Purcey's iffy but he's got some stuff. If he gets his velocity back and a bit more control, he'll be a little better.

Besides, who else are we going to throw out there? Mills? Buress? Tallet?

God, I hope we don't start Tallet next year. *shudders* He's a great reliever but he's so bad as a starter...

um, how about our best pitching prospect, Brett Cecil?

I would go with a rotation of
Halladay
McGowan(if he's healthy and regains most of his velocity)
Marcum
Romero
Zep
Cecil

Bullpen
Long Relief:Tallet
Long Relief:Richmond
Middle Relief: Shawn Camp
Right Specialist: League
Lefty Specialist: Carlson
SU:Downs
CP: Frasor

Avenger, Cecil is not ML proven. hes had a terrible season (except for that game in oakland) and i doubt hell ever be albe to make the cut. he a AAAA player IMO.

zilby wrote:Avenger, Cecil is not ML proven. hes had a terrible season (except for that game in oakland) and i doubt hell ever be albe to make the cut. he a AAAA player IMO.

What are you basing this on? He didn't have a great rookie season so he'll never make it? He's a converted reliever so naturally he got tired at the end of the season. He's still got #2 starter stuff according to scouts.

zilby wrote:Avenger, Cecil is not ML proven. hes had a terrible season (except for that game in oakland) and i doubt hell ever be albe to make the cut. he a AAAA player IMO.

I disagree, most of Cecil's problems can be attributed to fatigue like mentioned above. He kept running into problems because he was leaving his fastball up in the zone , it was especially worse late in the season when he clearly looked dead tired.

Cecil needs a lot more time in the minors. He was brought in the minors as a reliever and doesn't have the stamina to handle being a starter. You saw it night after night; 3 or 4 innings in, he fell apart.

Consider this: Cecil posted a WHIP of over 1.65 and an ERA of 5.30, gave up 1.6 HR/9, posted 3.7 BB/9.

He had 17 starts, during which he got well above league-average run support and in which he lasted less than 5.2 IP on average. That's not good.

In 10 of those starts, he gave up 3+ runs (in 5 of them, 5+ and in 3 of them, 7+), and in those 10 starts, he threw 48.1 IP and allowed 49 earned runs. See where I'm going with this? Over nearly 3/5s of his starts (about 59%), he had an ERA of 9.00.

Brett Cecil was terrible this year. He has loads of promise (and flashed it from time to time), but he needs to build up his stamina, his control and his approach to pitching in the majors, because he was pretty bad this year. He was especially bad in July and August.

Cecil will be something down the road, but he's not even worth it as our 5th starter; frankly, as much as I hate him as a starter, there's nothing that makes Cecil more compelling than Brian Tallet.

Tallet had a 5.32 ERA as well, and an ERA of 5.41 as a starter. Almost no difference, right?

So if we're going to have a crappy 5th starter, between Cecil and Tallet, I'd rather it be Tallet so that Cecil can work in the minors until he's ready.

Granted, I'm overemphasizing ERA here, but my point is that neither of them are very good starters, neither go deep into games, and both give up a lot of runs, so we might as well let the young kid learn the proper way, down in the minors, until his arm is actually ready for the Show.

Cecil is going to get better, though. A lot better. I think he would a better option than several other starters in the system (Purcey, Mills, Ray).

Mustard_Tiger wrote:Cecil is going to get better, though. A lot better. I think he would a better option than several other starters in the system (Purcey, Mills, Ray).

Oh, absolutely; as I said, he's definitely going to be something... but he needs to stretch his arm out and get used to being a guy who's in the game for more than 3 innings, and I'd rather that happen in the minors, when him getting the crap kicked out of him doesn't matter. I'd rather him dominate and boost his confidence and pitching plan and whatever down there, then lose games for us up here while he's learning.