Daisuke Matzusaka All-Stars Part III: The Pacific Coast League

Pacific Coast League Daisuke Matzusaka All-Stars

Starting Rotation

LHP Nate Robertson

RHP Armando Galarraga

LHP Jonathan Sanchez

LHP Aaron Laffey

LHP Dontrelle Willis

            The rotation features four lefthanders and a single righthander. Willis won the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year award and was the runner up for the Cy Young in 2005, but declined soon after and has not pitched consistently in the majors since 2007. Robertson and Sanchez carved out careers as back of the rotation lefties who couldn’t strike anyone out (Robertson) or walked too many batters (Sanchez). Laffey began his career as a starter in Cleveland and then shifted to the bullpen. Homeruns and low strikeout rates plagued him as a starter and reliever. Galarraga, most famous for his near perfect game in 2010 on a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce, also had a problem with gopher-itis, allowing 94 homeruns in 542 career innings.  

Bullpen

RHP Chad Cordero

RHP Peter Moylan

RHP Fernando Salas

LHP Hideki Okajima

RHP Manny Corpas

RHP Evan Meek

RHP Shawn Camp

            From 2005-2007, Cordero racked up 113 saves for the Washington Nationals and was one of the best relievers in baseball. Injuries, starting with a labrum tear in April 2008, have prevented Cordero from regaining his form. Okajima came over from Japan in 2006 and was a key piece in the Red Sox bullpen from 2007-2009. By 2010, Okijama’s K rate declined and so did his effectiveness. Moylan, from Australia, pitched for the Braves from 2006-2012, serving as a ROOGY (righty one out guy). He held right-handers to a .218/.279/.318 line. Like Cordero, injuries have plagued Moylan. Meek pitched from 2008-2012 out of the Pirates bullpen, but injuries and ineffectiveness have kept Meek from returning to the majors. Camp, a widely inconsistent pitcher, reached the majors in 2004 at the age of 28. He bounced around as a back of the bullpen reliever for some of the worst teams of the late 2000s: the Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, and Cubs. After a successful 2011 pitching for the Cardinals, Salas’s walk rate went up and the Cardinals soon sent him back down to the minors. Corpas closed for the Rockies in the second half of the 2007 season and through the postseason. He benefited from a .256 BABIP and a 84.9% strand rate in 2007. In 2008, his BABIP ballooned to .326 and his strand rate fell to 71.2%. In other words, more of his pitches fell in for hits and he was not successfully able to work out of as many jams with runners on base as the year before.