While watching
the Red Sox last week, I wondered what had happened to Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka
signed six year 52 million dollar contract with the Red Sox in 2007. Matsuzaka
pitched Japan to victory in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and at age 26,
leaving Japanese baseball behind, seemed poised to enter his pitching prime in the
Major Leagues. Matsuzaka’s pitched effectively in 2007 and 2008. Injuries and
his penchant for racking up high pitch counts and walks, however, proved his
downfall. He pitched horribly over the next four seasons, starting only 56 games
from 2009-2012. He became a free agent at the end of last season and the Red
Sox expressed no interest in resigning him.
I
remembered that the Cleveland Indians had signed him, but he did not make the
club out of Spring Training. I wondered whether he had returned to Japan or had
been signed by another team. Matsuzaka made 19 starts for the Indians’ Triple-A
affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. He struck out 95 batters in 1031/3
innings and walked 39. The Indians released him earlier this week and he has
since signed with the New York Mets.
After
finding Matsuzaka pitching for Columbus, a far cry from his heydays of winning
the MVP award at both the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic and winning a
World Series with the Red Sox in 2007, I wondered how many other similar
players were still playing in Triple-A. I investigated the rosters of each
Triple-A team and constructed a 25 man team for each of the two Triple-A
leagues: the International League and the Pacific Coast League. This will be a
four part series. I will unveil the pitchers and hitters for each team in
separate posts. In honor of Matsuzaka, I have named this series of posts, the Daisuke Matsuzaka All-Stars.
First up: The International League Pitching Staff
All stats come from FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.
SP Chien-Ming Wang, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)
The Yankees signed Wang as a
international free agent in 2000 and he reached the majors in 2005. His best
years for the Yankees were in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he posted a WAR* of 4.1 and
pitched 218 innings. He followed up with an equally impressive 2007 where he
pitched 199 1/3 innings and generated 4 WAR. Injuries, however, soon derailed
his career.
SP Dave Bush, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)
Drafted by
the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2002 draft, Bush made his major league
debut in 2004. In 2006, the Jays traded Bush to the Brewers in a trade for Lyle
Overbay.** Bush had the best season of his career in 2006 as he had 7.11 K/9,
threw 210 innings, and a 3.6 WAR. Bush, however, never struck enough batters
out and as his ability to induce ground balls declined, he allowed more fly
balls and homeruns.
SP Ricky Romero, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)
The Blue
Jays drafted Romero sixth overall in the 2005 MLB draft, right between Ryan
Braun and Troy Tulowitzki.*** Romero premiered in 2009 and started 29 games for
the Blue Jays. In 2010, he posted a 3.6 WAR, starting 32 games, and striking
out 174 batters in 210 innings. Romero, however, could never get his walk rate
under control. In each season in the majors, Romero has averaged over 3 BB/9.
SP Jair Jurrjens, Toledo Mudhens (Detroit Tigers)
The first
pitcher from Curaçao to reach the majors, Jurrjens signed with the Tigers as an
undrafted free agent in 2003. In 2007, the Tigers traded him to the Braves in a
deal for Edgar Renteria. In 2009, Jurrjens tossed 215 innings with a K/9 rate
of 6.36 and earned 3.7 WAR. Injuries and ineffectiveness have hindered his
ability to stay in the majors and pitch effectively.
SP Alfredo Aceves, Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston Red Sox)
Aceves has
pitched for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He posted his best
season in 2009 where he appeared in 43 games as a reliever, striking out 69
batters in 84 innings. He has become more known for his eccentricities than his
pitching acumen, He has drawn the ire of two widely different Red Sox managers.
In 2012, he showed up Bobby Valentine when Valentine removed him from a game,
refusing to hand the ball to Valentine and meandered his way off the mound. In
Spring Training in 2013, with new manager John Farrell, Aceves blew off Farrell’s
instructions during a pitching drill, drawing Farrell’s ire.
RP Matt Capps, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)
The Pirates
drafted Capps in the 7th round of the 2002 draft. In his best season
by WAR, Capps produced 1.7 wins above replacement for the Pirates in 2007. In
2010, he saved 47 games combined for the Nationals and Twins. Like most
relievers, he only was effective for a few years. In 2011, the gopher ball did
him in as Capps allowed 10 homeruns in 65 2/3 innings.
RP J.C. Romero, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)
Romero, a
21st round pick of the Twins in 1997, has been in the majors since
1999. He has pitched for the Twins, Angels, Phillies, Red Sox, Rockies, and Cardinals.
A left-handed reliever, Romero is the epitome of a LOOGY. LOOGY, an acronym for
“lefty one out guy” means that Romero typically only faced one left handed
batter per game. Left-handed hitters
have hit a career .210/.312/.288 against him in his career. Righties have hit a
much more respectable .256/.389/.408.
RP Mike MacDougal, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia
Phillies)
MacDougal,
the 25th overall pick by the Royals in the 1999 draft, reached the
majors in 2001. Other players drafted in the 1st round who made it
to the majors included Josh Hamilton, Josh Beckett, Barry Zito, and Alex Rios. He
has pitched for the Royals, White Sox, Nationals, Cardinals, and Dodgers. In
2003, MacDougal went to the All-Star game and saved 27 games for the Royals. Walks
have always been a problem for MacDougal, even in 2003 he threw 64 innings and
issued 32 walks. MacDougal only made the All-Star team due to his saves and MLB’s
one player from every team must make the All-Star Game rule. His selection
demonstrates the ridiculousness of the save as a meaningful statistic and the
stupidity of MLB’s rules.
RP Kyle Farnsworth, Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh
Pirates)
Farnsworth
was drafted by the Cubs in the 47th round of the 1994 draft. He has
played for the Cubs, Tigers, Braves, Yankees, Royals, and Rays over the course
of his career. He reached the majors in 1999 with the Cubs. He saved 25 games
for the Rays in 2011 as part of Tampa’s recent successful trend of transforming
average relievers into closers. In 2001, he struck out 107 batters in 82
innings. The rest of his relieving career never lived up to that remarkable
season. According to Baseball Reference, Farnsworth has an ERA+ of 101 (with
100 being average).
RP Manny Delcarmen, Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles)
Declarmen, “The
Pride of Hyde Park” debuted for his hometown team the Red Sox in 2005. The Sox
selected him in the 2nd round of the 2000 draft. Delcarmen had
impressive K/9 rates of 7.59 and 8.72 in 2006 and 2008. By 2009, however, his
groundball rate had dropped to 42.5%, down from the previous year’s 51.8% and
his walk rate per nine increased to 5.13 from 3.39, the previous year. He has
not pitched in the majors since 2010.
RP Joe Beimel, Gwinnet Braves (Atlanta Braves)
Another
LOOGY, Beimel has pitched for the Pirates, Twins, Rays, Dodgers, Nationals, and
Rockies. He was drafted in the 18th round by the Pirates in 1988. In
587 2/3 innings, Beimel has produced exactly 1 WAR. Beimel’s career numbers
against lefties are .254/.319/.396. Righties meanwhile have hit .280/.365/.435
off him. The difference between Beimel against a left handed batter and a right
handed one is the difference, this season, between Lyle Overbay.254/.304/.421 and
Matt Holliday .282/.366/.456.
RP Kameron Loe, Gwinnet Braves (Atlanta Braves)
Loe has
pitched for the Rangers, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Brewers, Mariners,
Cubs, and Braves. He was drafted by the Rangers in the 20th round of
the 2002 draft. Loe is six foot nine, making him one of the taller pitchers in
baseball. In 560 innings in the majors, Loe has allowed 623 hits. And he allows
1 homerun every nine innings.
*Wins above replacement, a measurement of how many wins a
player added to his team
** Yes, that Lyle Overbay.
*** As much as the Jays would like to have Tulowitzki, the
Mariners did worse. Drafting 3rd, they chose Jeff Clement, passing
on Ryan Zimmerman, Braun, Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce, and Jacoby
Ellsbury.
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