MSTI’s 2010 in Review: Starting Pitchers, Part 3
November 5, 2010 at 3:21 pm | Posted in Carlos Monasterios, Charlie Haeger, Ramon Ortiz | 22 Comments
Carlos Monasterios (A)
4.38 ERA, 5.37 FIP, 3.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, -0.2 WAR
You thought John Ely came out of nowhere? How about Carlos Monasterios, who’d pitched just two games above A-ball before being plucked from Philadelphia (via, briefly, the Mets) in last winter’s Rule 5 draft? I admitted I’d never even heard the name before at the time, which still comes in second to Monasterios admitting he barely even knew what the Rule 5 draft was.
He impressed enough in camp that I gave him a 15% chance of winning the wide-open #5 starter’s job that eventually went to Charlie Haeger, though he ended up making the club as a long reliever out of the bullpen, which is where he stayed for 11 of his first 12 appearances, save for a short (4 IP) emergency start on May 1 in Pittsburgh. For a guy with little experience and even less velocity (his fastball rarely topped 90 MPH), Monasterios was surprisingly effective in the early going, as he never allowed more than one earned run in those 12 appearances – all but three of which lasted more than one inning. When he was allowed to pitch, that is; I’m not going to link them all now, but in going back through the archives looking for bits about him, I found a surprising amount of times where I complained that Torre was wasting his better relievers in the lowest of low-leverage situations (think seven-run leads in the 9th) rather than using Monasterios, sitting him for up to a week at a time.
As the Dodgers suffered through injuries to Chad Billingsley and Vicente Padilla, Monasterios was forced into the rotation for five starts in May and June, where the results were a little less bright, allowing 35 baserunners with just 8 strikeouts in 22.2 innings, averaging barely over four IP/start. He then went on the DL himself with a blister, though he made the rookie mistake of admitting that the problem wasn’t really that serious.
When he returned in July, he split the remainder of his season equally between the pen and the rotation, starting seven games while relieving in eight. I didn’t always understand why:
Dylan Hernandez lets us know that James McDonald is being sent to the bullpen after just one start, with Carlos Monasterios getting the nod on Saturday, which is a good idea because… hell, I have absolutely no idea. I said the other day that I prefer McDonald in the bullpen anyway, but McDonald wasn’t exactly terrible in his one start, and his five strikeouts were two more than Monasterios has been able to get in any appearance, start or relief, the entire season. Even if you don’t want McDonald, John Ely allowed three runs in seven innings in his first start for ABQ, and starting him on Saturday would have only put him at one extra day of rest off his usual schedule. The idea that Monasterios is a better choice to start than either McDonald or Ely… well, I just can’t get behind it.
Indeed, Monasterios was much more effective as a reliever (2.06 ERA, .620 OPS against in 19 games) than as a starter (5.91 ERA, .899 OPS in 13 starts). Still, he made it through the entire season as an out-of-nowhere Rule 5 pick, and didn’t embarrass himself despite being relied upon far more than anyone would have expected. For that alone, he gets an A, but he probably also gets a ticket back to AAA next year now that he’s officially Dodger property. If he can develop a reliable offspeed pitch, he may yet have a future as a back-end starter, but even if he’s only a long reliever out of the pen that’s still a pretty good return on the $50,000 it cost to acquire him.
Charlie Haeger (F)
8.40 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 9.0 K/9, 7.8 BB/9, -1.7 WAR
And now we come to what is probably my biggest disappointment of the season, because I badly wanted the Haeger experiment to work out. A rubber-armed knuckleballer can be a huge asset at the back of a rotation, and Haeger appeared to have mastered his craft in becoming a 2009 PCL All-Star and pitching in some nice work for the big club at the end of the year. Now, we’ll all remember him for failing about as badly as he possibly could have, but the funny thing is, it started out so well. Remember his first start of the season?
But if you think I’m going to say a single bad word about a 5th starter who struck out 12 in 6 innings, you’re absolutely wrong. In just the fifth start of his career, Haeger tied Tim Wakefield’s career high for strikeouts – and Wakefield’s had 422 starts to get that many.
Haeger’s knuckler was dancing so much that two of those strikeouts actually ended up with a man on first, as A.J. Ellis couldn’t hold onto the ball. This guy’s been a big favorite around here for quite a while now, and with Joe Torre’s propensity for yanking 5th starters at the first sign of trouble, Haeger probably needed a good first start more than any other member of the rotation.
Unfortunately, that was the high point of Haeger’s year, if not his career. He was pressed into late-game relief three days after that start, and made his second start on two days rest. He didn’t make it out of the 4th inning, allowing seven runs to the Giants, and followed that up with equally disappointing starts against the Nationals and Mets before pitching four relief innings of one-run ball against the Brewers on May 4.
Then, on May 8, he faced the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, and…
last night Charlie Haeger got as many Rockies out as I did – zero.
Haeger faced only five Colorado batters, walking three while allowing two hits, and that was the last we’d see of him for nearly a month. With the Dodgers wanting to recall Ely before his ten-day demotion window was up, they needed to perform some roster gymnastics, which I found entertaining:
So while you can speculate on who that’s going to be… we all know it’ll be Charlie Haeger, who miraculously came down with a “bruised heel” after getting precisely zero outs against the Rockies on Saturday. What fortuitous timing!
A few weeks later, he managed to hurt his foot again, leading me to wonder if maybe he had really been hurt all along. He made one more lousy start in June (4.2 IP, 4 ER against the Angels) and that was that. He was DFA’d the next day, cleared waivers, and headed back to ABQ, where he was unable to find the success which he’d had there in 2009 – a 41/42 K/BB isn’t going to get you that far, even for a knuckleballer.
It’s clear that Haeger shouldn’t be – and won’t be – in the running for a rotation spot in 2011. Still, I think it’s premature to write him off completely. He only just turned 27 in September, and when Tim Wakefield was 27, he was going 5-15 with a 5.84 ERA and a 83/98 K/BB ratio for Pittsburgh’s AAA club. The point is, knuckleballers are notorious for taking a long time to develop. It may not be with the Dodgers, but we’ll be seeing Haeger in the big leagues again.
Ramon Ortiz (F)
6.30 ERA, 5.45 FIP, 6.3 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, -0.7 WAR
Ah yes, the first of our two disastrous Ortiz signings. Yes, he only made two starts and was more of a reliever, but I need to make these divide equally somehow. Shockingly, a 37-year-old who hadn’t been in the bigs in either of the previous two seasons and hadn’t been even league-average since 2004 didn’t work out. Who’d have thunk? Remember, I’d actually had an “Ortiz DFA-O-Meter” set up to see which of them would hit the chopping block first.
The funny thing is, Ramon Ortiz was only with the team until May 27 – less than two months – yet there was no shortage of complaints about him. Fooled by a nice shiny spring training performance, the team let him break camp in the bullpen, and disaster struck almost immediately.
I know the traditional move says to save your closer until you have a lead on the road, but I can’t express how much I hate, hate, hate that idea. You can’t get to a lead if you’ve lost the game beforehand, and watching undead Ramon Ortiz blow the game while Broxton watches is infuriating. I can’t restate this enough: your best reliever never entered the game, while three non-roster invites (two of whom, granted, performed well) did. I will never understand this.
April 13, the home opener:
When Ethier homered in the bottom of the 6th, we were looking at a 9-2 laugher. Yet Ramon Ortiz came in and was predictably horrible, allowing three runs on three hits (including a Mark Reynolds blast) and a walk. As you can see, this has spawned the birth of the “Ortiz DFA-O-Meter” to the top right, as they battle to see which one gets dumped first. So what was once a blowout became a situation in which the top two relievers (Ramon Troncoso and Jonathan Broxton) had to contribute 2.1 innings. That may not seem like a big deal today, but we saw this exact thing happen last week. Just wait until one of the next two games when it’s a tight situation, and now one might not be available, simply because Ramon Ortiz can’t hold a 7-run lead.
Of course, being awful out of the bullpen wasn’t quite enough, because the Dodgers had to let Ortiz get two starts in May. How’d that go?
Hey, I’m not going to complain too much about (what appears to be, since it’s still the 4th inning as I write this) the end of a 9-game winning streak. They were going to have to lose sometime, so that’s fine. But that doesn’t mean it’s okay to basically punt a game by letting Ramon Ortiz start, which was never a good idea in any way whatsoever. Should we really be shocked that Ortiz got lit up, allowing five earned runs and nine baserunners in 3.1? Of course not. His ERA is now 6.30. It’s just not working. I know there’s no obvious answer as to who fills the last spot in the rotation until Vicente Padilla returns, but we all agree it just cannot be Ortiz again, right?
Fortunately, that was it for him. After sitting unused for a week, he was DFA’d to bring up Justin Miller, and spent the rest of the year bouncing around the AAA clubs of the Mets and Rays, not meeting with much success for either.
But hey, no one could have seen his failure coming, right?
******
Next! Jonathan Broxton turns into a pumpkin at midnight! Hong-Chih Kuo defies the laws of medicine! And George Sherrill‘s deal with the devil expires, and then some! It’s relievers, part one!
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That Ortiz picture was worth it!
Comment by Mickey Hatcher— November 5, 2010 #
Hong-Chih Kuo: A++++++++++++++++
Wasn’t his season historically good, at least by franchise standards?
Comment by Bip— November 5, 2010 #
yes. im sure Mike will have more goodies when he posts about the relievers, but i think Kuo had the lowest ERA in team history with a minimum of 50 or 60 innings (forgot which). beat Gagne
Comment by Joey E.— November 5, 2010 #
You were right, Ortiz picture was worth it. Now, how come Ortiz is looking one way (LF) and the hitter is looking the other(RCF). Maybe his neck got snapped all the way around.
Comment by Gary— November 5, 2010 #
Got an issue with this, Mike. If your grades are based on what was expected of the player and how well they performed to those expectations, then Ortiz should get better than an F. I think almost everyone felt he’d be a mistake and wasn’t a major league pitcher anymore, and he absolutely lived up to the expectations.
Comment by J— November 5, 2010 #
Yeah, probably. But it’s Ramon Ortiz. So F it is.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— November 5, 2010 #
I felt he’d be a mistake and wasn’t a major league pitcher anymore, and he STILL failed to live up to my expectations. I think I could’ve gone yard off of him.
Comment by Dave— November 5, 2010 #
F+
Comment by DodgersKings323— November 5, 2010 #
Ortiz geeeeeezzz!i had almost forgot about that clown(remember the idiots who thought he was the next pedro! boy were the wrong!) a f that clown should have made that team in the first place ! You want to talk about why l.a didnt make the postseason i wonder if having the ortize’s,g.a, and every other piece of garbage that had no reason wearing a uniform in the first place!could it be these mickey mouse starters are the reason why are bullpen has been so overworked and maybe cost the careers of wade ,sherril ,troncoso,proctor,and maybe ox ?
Comment by Pete guerrero— November 5, 2010 #
Hey mike with the looming free agency about to commence any chance we get to see you break down some players you would like the Dodgers to go after in a blog ala last years…i always love reading your insight to what can band the Dodgers back up
Comment by can o corn— November 6, 2010 #
Lincecum, Cain, Baumgarner, and maybe Sanchez. Plus Wilson. Plus a bunch of guys who did what it took in long and short relief. And then throw in a catcher named Posey. The rest of that team isn’t much, but it somehow resulted in a world championship.
The Dodgers have Kershaw and Billingsley and then a scramble for the rest of the pitching staff. Check what Lilley will make for having a .500 record and an ERA north of 4 or 5 vs what Baumgarner will make. Also compare Kershaw and Billingsley with Lincecum and Cain when it comes to mental toughness. Dodgers have Martin; Giants have Posey. Giants have reliable middle inning pitchers and closer; the Dodgers don’t. I include the catcher because that goes with pitching. Posey’s got a gun for an arm and he can hit. Martin has neither.
Dodgers might even be better than the Giants across the lineup, but there is this little thing about under performing. Giants even leave one of the highest paid pitchers in MLB off the post season roster, but they win. Dodgers under perform; Giants maximize what they’ve got.
Dodgers have under performed since the 80s. Might have something to do with management and the nature of the players management chooses. The Dodgers have been soft for years now, something Jeff Kent knew well. Everybody hates Kent—and yes, he is an asshole—but all he ever wanted to do was win. Kirk Gibson wouldn’t fit in well with today’s Dodgers.
You don’t like that mental toughness argument? Maybe you like Billy Ball, too. Then tell me why the A’s were and the Dodgers are chronic also rans. Tell me why it’somehow the Dodgers’ responsibility to talk a five-tool player (Kemp) into playing his best, why he can’t just do the best he can do from personal pride. Oh, his feelings are hurt. Tell me why Billingsley, with the stuff he’s got, somehow decides he’s got to lose it at critical times. One is confident Koufax, Drysdale, Hershisher and Sutton, among others, would sympathize.
Why is it that serious pennant contenders manage to somehow make low paid plug in pitchers work? But the Dodgers can’t? There is something really wrong with the Dodgers, either in talent selection or in coaching. Check those well traveled guys the Giants had, and then check the ones the Dodgers had. How did the Giants end up with the guys who could pitch a couple of shutout innings, while the Dodgers got the guys who couldn’t throw strikes when it counted? How did the Giants get some bearded asshole with a mohawk who somehow knows how to close games, while the Dodgers got a big fat guy who throws straight fast balls down the middle?
Comment by SC Dodger— November 6, 2010 #
Sc dodger your an idiot!wow!how fast do we forget, just last year l.a made the nlcs for the second straight year(if a few things go l.a’s way they have a chance at a ring) .yes i know the midgets did what the dodgers couldn’t this year.but if you look at the giants roster on paper they had no buisness being in the w/s in the 1st place.burrel was waived by the rays,torres was going to be the 5th of,ross was d.f.a by the marlins,huff had bounced around the bigs last couple of years,i think sanchez was coming of a injury ,renteria was so horrible it look like he was done,and possey wasn’t even on the team to start the season,the only good hitter was going to be fat ass panda and this year he sucked .cry baby wilson pitched around hitters like a pussy for some reason the phillies and ranger hitters never made him pay !(i think utley and howard had something like 1 rbi for the series giants p is good but not the good)every hitter on the dodgers had a bad year ethier wasn’t the same after breaking his hand
Comment by Pete guerrero— November 7, 2010 #
I actually think SC is totally right. I think the 2009 Dodgers were about as good as the 2010 Giants, because I think the Dodger hitting was better than the Giant hitting by about the same margin the Giant pitching was better than the Dodger pitching. However, all the Giants players stepped up when it counted and all the Dodgers fell apart when it counted. I have no idea what causes that and what a team can do about it, but when I watch the Giants play and when I watch the Dodgers play (and watch Torre coach) I just don’t get the same feeling. The Giants seem passionate and determined, and the Dodgers seem frustrated and disjointed. When Torre comes out to argue a bad call, it feels like he’s doing it because he’s supposed to, not because he’s defending his player.
Comment by Bip— November 7, 2010 #
Is no one going to discuss how Burrell, Ross, Huff, Renteria, et al, all were somehow resurrected from the dead by the same team that had to get rid of Guillen for that HGH-related “shoulder injury?” It’s not like the Giants don’t have a long, long history of cheating, but I guess the media are just going to ignore this one and play up the “misfits” angle.
To me, this is the most tainted achievement in baseball since Bonds broke the home run record — shockingly playing for the same team.
Comment by Bill Grabarkewitz— November 8, 2010 #
Well, I’m not willing to jump on the doping allegations just yet, but Grabarkewitz is right; the Giants were damn lucky all these scrap-heap vets managed to have great years for them instead of being the usual pile of suck that they are. And I know, I know, the Giants are the world series champs, so how can they suck? But the truth is, they managed to ride a decent hot streak through the playoffs and beat up on some ice-cold teams. I mean, come on, they beat an injury-riddled Braves team, a Phillies team where Rollins, Utley, and Howard weren’t hitting, and a Texas team where Cliff Lee, Josh Hamilton, and Nelson Cruz suddenly went ice cold. They’re a decent team, sure, but the Giants got lucky.
Comment by Jorge— November 9, 2010 #
When your best hitter is jamey carrol youre team as a whole had a bad year.i have alot of faith in kemp,ethier,martin,furcal,loney for next year i know they will help l.a win the west.finally as for bills(who a couple of years was a allstar and probably deserved to start that game) and kershaw are as good as anybody’s top two this year both make the allstar team and one of them wins the cy young, so cal dodger can u guess which closer got the save for the 2010 allstar game? Ox you bastard and he will do it again in 2011!
Comment by Pete guerrero— November 7, 2010 #
Faith in Martin? Buddha is a better bet.
Torre is/was beyond doubt the most over rated manager of all time. Bill Russell, aka Mr Deer-in-Headlights could have had a winning record with the money-ball Yankees of the late 90s early 2000s. Take those years away, and he’s only a .500 manager because of a hot Manny Ramirex in LA.
Comment by Claude Osteen— November 7, 2010 #
Yankees weren’t exactly high spenders then like they are now. And if you remember 1996, the Braves were heavily favored. I hate to defend Torre, but its retarded to not give him credit for managing those teams.
Comment by Juan Pierre— November 8, 2010 #
Retarded? OK, take away the Yank years, as I said, and where was Torre’s genius in evidence at stops w/ the Braves, Cards, and Mets? Take Manny out, and how did Joe pull this year’s Dodgers up from a nosedive?
Juan, anyone can toss out names…like retarded…especially when they can’t respond to facts. Try again.
Comment by Claude Osteen— November 8, 2010 #
Claude is spot on, Torre is brought in for a “personality manager” but he failed to do that even, on top of terrible lack of strategy. Don’t forget the biggest postseason collapse was on his lap in the 2004 ALCS. The Yankees were still near the top in spending during those runs, just because you don’t outspend the 2nd place team by $50Mil doesn’t mean you aren’t a favorite.
Comment by DodgersKings323— November 9, 2010 #
Bip your right on torre!i think as i said before they hired the wrong joe the better choice would have been girardi.torre should have been after the first year hes good at managing egos not teamsthen this year he says that he hopes he gets a call from the mets when the dodgers still have a slim shot at a playoff spot what an asshole!i dont know what kind of manager donnie is going because he has never been a manager i do know they they once again hired the wrong person for the job they should have hired ex catcher now yankee bench coach tony pena(wouldn’t it have been great to see the dodgers the first team to have a african -american player now hire their 1st minority manager)another thing about this years world series why didn’t the media make a big deal about manager washington being possibly the 1st african – american manager to win a title could it be it had something to do with the fact he admited he did cocaine this year or has there been a african-american head coach to win a title already?
Comment by Pete guerrero— November 7, 2010 #
Bill grabarkewitz i have been telling this to every giants fan that i know (i live in norcal)!bonds shows up in frisco for the playoffs in one of the games against braves or phillies to probably give them some steriod tips. renteria some how comes back to become w/s mvp after tearing his biceps muscle early in the nlds!i did some research and i found something like 8 or 9 ex-giants from the 02 team that were on the mitchel report.what would happen if the f.b.i offers guillen a deal to talk or face jail time in doing so he spills the beans?
Comment by Pete guerrero— November 8, 2010 #