Morales or De La Rosa? Who’s No. 5?
Jorge De La Rosa can be domianted and he can be dominating.
The question is how much more patience the Rockies will have in waiting for some consistency from the left-hander, partiuclarly in light of recent efforts by Franklin Morales at Triple-A Colorado Springs.
De La Rosa goes into Friday’s start against Arizona with a 4-7 record and 5.64 ERA. He was the victim of a lack of run support in April, but he has only seven quality starts out of 15 starts. He was 4-1 in June, but had a 6.08 ERA.
Morales, meanwhile, is 2-2 with a 3.48 ERA at Colorado Springs in eight starts overall, but in his last four starts he is 2-1 with a 1.90 ERA. In 23 2/3 innings over those last four outings, he has walked seven and struck out 16.
Should the Rockies:
A-Leave things as they are.
B-Bring up Morales and put him in the bullpen.
C-Bring up Morales, put him in the rotation and move De La Rosa to the bullpen.
D–Bring up Morales, put him in the rotation and remove De La Rosa from the roster.
I would love to try option C. Embree hasn’t been the answer in the pen and DRL might be more consistent and comes with a strike out pitch. And, if Morales fails, we can revert. I don’t want to give up on DRL. Maybe his best role is out of the pen.
I think the answer will come about after tonight. I think that DLR’s stuff is electric, but his head is not focused enough for a major league starter. The same perhaps can be said for Morales, but he is the younger version of DLR in my opinion. I think Morales would have a longer leash in terms of the club’s patience. I believe the answer to be C as of this moment, but if DLR does well tonight and his next start perhaps after the break it will be B.
It has to be C. The position the Rockies are in right now they cannot afford to be patient and wait for DLR to come around. Put him in the pen in the event an injury surfaces, so you can still get him in against big league hitters, and he could provide long relief in case you get into another 13 inning affair. A solid 5th starter is a must.
I also think there is a trust factor when he takes the mound. He may work out for 3 or 4 innings but you hold your breathe that he does not get into a mental funk and give up a big inning after that. It just seems like DLR implodes too quickly, right now.
Option D preferably I’d say. Moving the bees’ nest to the bullpen could be even more disastrous than starting him.
I just hope that if they move DLR to the pen it doesn’t destroy what little confidence he has.
Right now, leave them as they are, until De La Rosa starts losing games again and Morales’ velocity is confirmed to be back more towards normal. DLR’s 6.00+ ERA is nasty looking, but as long as he’s winning 4 games a month, his team is making sure it’s not really a problem. Plus, DLR’s ERA is often inflated by those miserable outings where he lasts barely 3 innings and gives up 7 or 8 runs. DLR bounces back and pitches six innings and two runs the next start, but the damage is done.
I think that if we DO end up needing to replace DLR in the rotation, he should be given a shot in the pen. However, I honestly don’t see that as an ideal role for him. DLR panics in pressure situations, and part of the bullpen’s job (especially for the nasty lefthanders) is to come in an ESCAPE pressure situations.
I would have to go with B, and give Embree the boot.
You’ve got to go with B, and release either Embree or Rincon. I’m really not interested in watching Morales get into the rotation and struggle with his control again. DLR hasn’t been lights out or anything, but his ERA is skewed by 3 truly wretched starts (2 of which were back to back at the end of May). For the most part he’s been solid. I can’t see Morales coming in to start and doing better than DLR is- I think the production they’re getting out of DLR is the best case scenario in terms of what they could get out of Morales. I don’t want to see Morales in the rotation until 2010.
I vote for C, but with the caveat that I wouldn’t rush Morales back to the Rockies. I would give him the time that he needs at AAA to regain his confidence, skills, and physical endurance. In the long run I think that Morales could be an effective major league starter, and I wouldn’t want to jeopardize that by rushing him back to the Rockies.
I haven’t gone back through DLR’s starts this year, but my recollection is that he tends to usually do OK for an inning or two before he gets into trouble, so I have wondered if in the long run he might not be more effective as a reliever.
The answser might also be E – a starting pitcher to be named later. I am hopeful that the Baker deal is the first of several that O’Dowd can pull off that bring pitchers to the Rockies and their farm system. If O’Dowd can find a capable starting pitcher, perhaps in exchange for Atkins, then Morales can stay in AAA for now, and DLR can go to the bullpen.
I really think “C” is the best way to go. JLDR has established that he can get a handful of batters out at any time. He just can’t usually get a lot of batters out. You don’t have to restrict him to being a situational lefty, either.
At that point, I send Rincon to the Springs.
Morales pitched okay before he was injured, and all things being equal, I don’t know many who think JLDR is a *better* starting pitching option than Morales.
There may be an option no one’s considering here, and I’m not sure if it truly merits consideration, but what about stretching Fogg out to start and putting JLDR in the pen?
I like “B,” at least for July. That would provide some time to see how Corpas’s injury turns out and whether O’Dowd can pick up a good reliever in a trade.
Everyone’s frustrated with DLR’s ballooning ERA, but his “on” performances have been so strong I’d rather they try to see if the coaching staff can settle him down a bit.
The other side is that there’s no guarantee that Morales won’t go through his own bouts of inconsistency as he tries to re-establish himself. An initial pen stint would all the coaching staff to work him in to games in situations of increasing leverage (assuming he pitches well).
(A re-post. My original post disappeared; I’m not sure if it went into a moderation quarantine due to hyperlinks or if it was eaten. I’m re-posting without the links):
Another note on DLR’s abysmal performance with runners on:
As a caveat towards DLR’s bullpen usage, several have noted before that DLR has done much worse with runners on. His extreme splits in these situations pretty much define his frustrating 2009 season. DLR’s 2009 OPS in various situations:
empty .696
men on .918
RISP 1.025
Those are so bad I’m surprised it hasn’t reached the level of appearing in the press. (Maybe they have and I missed it.)
It would seem kind of fluky, except his record with RISP was pretty bad in 2008 as well (bases empty .756, RISP .920). His splits are much more like the league average in previous years.
So, I’m not sure if there’s a Rockies-specific issue or what. Is it a pitch selection problem, etc.
Odder still is that DLR isn’t having trouble in every situation in which he pitches from the stretch. He appears to be just fine with a single runner on, no matter the base. The trouble starts with the really sticky situations, which pretty much matches what frustrates us. He cruises, then puts 2 or 3 on, and Boom! (Obviously at this level we’re really running into sample size issues, but the contrast does match what we see.)
So perhaps this also signals some sort of oddity in approach that DLR and the coaching staff can work on.
Hi, i’m writing from Maracaibo, Venezuela and i’m a Big fan of Colorado Rockies since 1993, and I’m a huge fan of “The Big Cat” Andres Galarraga.
I think option “B” is more conservative. This way, Franklin Morales will have the oportunity to establish as long as Tracy gives a couple of chances to De La Rosa.
Go Rockies!!!
C.
I would prefer not using him in the bullpen just because I don’t think he’s mentally tough enough to handle that role and a demotion, but I’d rather not get rid of him with nothing in return.
Maybe they could package him in a trade or something.
Option C. DLR is too inconsistent and Frankie deserves another shot.
Do you guys ever listen to the coaches. DLR has probably the best stuff on the staff. If he can settle down and I believe he is making progress, then keep him where he is. Don’t mess with his head any more. We could lose him. He has had as good a June as anyone.
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