August 25, 2008
Rays Main Man
Outs per Swing interviews Andrew Friedman, the GM of the Rays. Nothing earth shattering, but they are talking about David Price:
TR: With the dominating season he's had so far, David Price's name has come up a lot recently. Are we close to seeing Price in a Rays Uniform? And have you thought about what role he would serve on the staff? Could he be the 2008 Joba Chamberlain?
AF: David has made tremendous progress in only [18] pro starts and has shown every bit of the potential that made him the first pick in the draft. He is not a finished product, but he has the ability and makeup to make a difference at the big league level for many years. How he fits into our puzzle here has been an interesting topic of discussion and we look forward to continuing that as we watch David progress.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:23 AM
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Always a bad idea using comparisons or this guys the next that guy. 1 huge difference is that the DRays don't need an 8th inning guy. They could use a closer but I don't see the wisdom of pushing this kid there. Maybe if they need a spot start but it doesn't look like they will. All 5 TB starters are 26 or under - Kazmir opened the season on the DL and Garza missed 2 starts. Other than that they've all been healthy. Hard to argue with the results. Probably best to take the safe route with this guy - they're in the post season and seem primed for next year. All they can really do is screw up by jerking this guy around.
Won't most of the Rays' starters soon be getting to the point where they're going to greatly exceed their respective total innings pitched last season? To avoid that they might need a couple spot starts in September, saving innings for their starters to use in October.
Not really. Sonnanstine has thrown 180 innings plus every season in the minors just about. Garza threw 175 last year, Jackson threw 161, Kaz and Shields both threw over 200. No one in the rotation really needs to be protected as far as innings pitched goes.
While he's struggled some in AAA, I still believe his 2 pitch combination is more than enough to make him at worst an above-average pen arm down the stretch. Perhaps giving a guy like Garza or Jackson a break towards the end. I don't worry about Sonnanstine. He's just an innings eater. 200+IP shouldn't hurt him at all.
There is always the question of "Mound Maturity" when you bring up a kid that young. In consideration of the Rays' remaining schedule, this could be a huge issue.
However, having a little diversity in the late season could be a useful advantage for Tampa.
Baptism by fire I say!
Let him start a game after they lock up the division.