Gio fires a shot at Matt Williams

[Elvir Ovcina]

I'm guessing his option doesn't get picked up at the end of the year.

That would be nonsensical.  It's for $12 million and there are essentially no FA starters available.  You'd pick up the option even if you only planned to trade him.  JA Happ - a 33 year old lefty starter who's never pitched more than 175 innings and has one season with an ERA under 4.20 since 2012, got 12 million a year for 3 years last winter in a much deeper market.  Gio's 3 years younger, his numbers have always been much better, and amazingly he even throws more innings.

[dshawg77]

That would be nonsensical.  It's for $12 million and there are essentially no FA starters available.  You'd pick up the option even if you only planned to trade him.  JA Happ - a 33 year old lefty starter who's never pitched more than 175 innings and has one season with an ERA under 4.20 since 2012, got 12 million a year for 3 years last winter in a much deeper market.  Gio's 3 years younger, his numbers have always been much better, and amazingly he even throws more innings.

And Doug Fister could have been had for much cheaper....there are other options available. If we don't trade any other starters, I would rather go with Lucas. It has yet to be determined if his option will be picked up IMO, a lot of baseball left. I don't think it is a slam dunk his option should be picked up. Just my two cents.

[welch]

Is there a rule of baseball saying that a team must have at least one LH starting pitcher? If not, maybe Gio competes with Giolito next March for the rotation.

[Ray D]

No. of course there is no such rule. But optimally you want to throw a lefty once every series. It's disrupts the opponent's lineup.  (Of course one lefty won't accomplish that so some teams carry two. But then you're throwing a lefty 40% of the games. So it's a balance.)

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Is there a rule of baseball saying that a team must have at least one LH starting pitcher? If not, maybe Gio competes with Giolito next March for the rotation.

Best as I recall, the '04 Red Sox went the whole season without a lefty start.  Pedro, Schilling, Arroyo, Wakefield, and Lowe, with a few spot starts by ????. It has not been done very often.

[Monarch]

No. of course there is no such rule. But optimally you want to throw a lefty once every series. It's disrupts the opponent's lineup.  (Of course one lefty won't accomplish that so some teams carry two. But then you're throwing a lefty 40% of the games. So it's a balance.)

Gio is not disrupting anything other than giving us a chance to win and the BP a chance to rest.

[welch]

Best as I recall, the '04 Red Sox went the whole season without a lefty start.  Pedro, Schilling, Arroyo, Wakefield, and Lowe, with a few spot starts by ????. It has not been done very often.

I remember that the 1981 Yankees had at least three LH starters: Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and Dave Righetti.

[welch]

I remember that the 1981 Yankees had at least three LH starters: Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and Dave Righetti. They must have had two or three SP / RP's, and somebody must have thrown right-handed. Why was it not a catastrophe? That version of Yankee Stadium had a very deep LF, very short RF. (One reason people were astonished when Steinbrenner signed Dave Winfield and demanded that Winfield hit a lot of home runs.)

[comish4lif]

85 out of 107 'from the lefty starters: Rudy May, Guidry, Righetti, Tommy John, Underwood, and 1 from LaRoche.

[Elvir Ovcina]

Best as I recall, the '04 Red Sox went the whole season without a lefty start.  Pedro, Schilling, Arroyo, Wakefield, and Lowe, with a few spot starts by ????. It has not been done very often.

The Dodgers had a very long run (I think it was multiple seasons) without a lefty start during the Chan Ho Park years.  Rather remarkable considering their situation now.

Edit: Found it - it was 1994-1996, partway into 1997.

[Smithian]

Best as I recall, the '04 Red Sox went the whole season without a lefty start.  Pedro, Schilling, Arroyo, Wakefield, and Lowe, with a few spot starts by ????. It has not been done very often.

You and everyone else on this board knows you have encyclopedic memory of the Red Sox. Don't act like you're taking a shot in the dark.

[mitlen]

You and everyone else on this board knows you have encyclopedic memory of the Red Sox. Don't act like you're taking a shot in the dark.

....  and baseball reference. com ...  and wikipedia   ....  and access to old copies of the Boston papers  ..... 

[More of #34]

He started the season looking great.  Now he's back to what he was and is not dependable.  It's a weakness in the starting rotation.

[Optics]

So what's the solution? I don't think there are any viable SP options in the minors(doubt Giolito is major league ready at this point). Do we just DL Gio and just bring up a career AAA type guy just to hope Gio can figure his crap out?

[Ray D]

So what's the solution?

Score more runs.  If this lineup would produce at the level it is capable of it would bail out the starter nearly every start.

[Optics]

Score more runs.  If this lineup would produce at the level it is capable of it would bail out the starter nearly every start.

Perhaps, but the strength of this team was supposed to be its starting pitching allowing us to win most games only scoring 3 runs.

[Monarch]

Perhaps, but the strength of this team was supposed to be its starting pitching allowing us to win most games only scoring 3 runs.

well, he gave up 3 runs, the offense scored 3 runs after to tie it up (bailing him out somewhat). then he coughed up 3 more runs. he stinks. if he wasn't left handed he would have been gone a long time ago.

[Ray D]

Perhaps, but the strength of this team was supposed to be its starting pitching allowing us to win most games only scoring 3 runs.

I think we need to score 4. And we should be able to.  Our pitchers usually hold the opposition to 3 or less. So, if they give up 5, we lose.  I think we'd win 100 games though.

[Smithian]

well, he gave up 3 runs, the offense scored 3 runs after to tie it up (bailing him out somewhat). then he coughed up 3 more runs. he stinks. if he wasn't left handed he would have been gone a long time ago.

No he wouldn't.

He isn't Strasburg, Zimmermann, or Scherzer but Gio Gonzalez has produced 15+ WAR for the NATs from 2012-2015. That's eighth best in the National League over that time period. Want to knock out his 2012 campaign? From 2013-2015 he was twelfth in the NL.

Gio Gonalez has been consistently frustrating over the years but ultimately productive. The problem is this year I'm less confident than in the past that he'll turn it around.

[DPMOmaha]

I think we need to score 4. And we should be able to.  Our pitchers usually hold the opposition to 3 or less. So, if they give up 5, we lose.  I think we'd win 100 games though.

Nats average 4.59 a game. NL average is 4.31. Nats give up 3.55 runs a game, NL average is 4.34

If they get to 4, they're going to win most games, which is what they're doing.

[Baseball is Life]

Is Bronson Arroyo ready yet?

[Minty Fresh]

No he wouldn't.

He isn't Strasburg, Zimmermann, or Scherzer but Gio Gonzalez has produced 15+ WAR for the NATs from 2012-2015. That's eighth best in the National League over that time period. Want to knock out his 2012 campaign? From 2013-2015 he was twelfth in the NL.

Gio Gonalez has been consistently frustrating over the years but ultimately productive. The problem is this year I'm less confident than in the past that he'll turn it around.

Those numbers are a part of what's keeping him here.  But Gio starts result in 6.0 IP or less in 2/3 of his starts - his NL average (translation - with Washington) is less than 6.0 IP per start.  That is not just frustrating, it's a killer on a bullpen over the course of 35 starts.

And his numbers get worse with each passing year.

If he was right-handed he'd be in the bullpen at best.

[monkeyhit]

I think his mentality actually makes him more suitable for the pen (bullpen of course). 
He might succeed there an inning or two at a time. They could switch him with Solis, but that's not easy to do. Maybe Solis should have started last night.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

You and everyone else on this board knows you have encyclopedic memory of the Red Sox. Don't act like you're taking a shot in the dark.

why I said best as I recall is, what I remember the most about that team, was how few starts they got from other starters beside those 5.  The righty stuff I forget the precedents, although Elvir nailed it with the dodgers.

[Optics]

I think his mentality actually makes him more suitable for the pen (bullpen of course). 
He might succeed there an inning or two at a time. They could switch him with Solis, but that's not easy to do. Maybe Solis should have started last night.

I'm not so sure about that. RPs have less room for error then SPs since they often only get one inning. If Gio comes in late as a RP and walks the leadoff guy, you just know a meltdown is incoming.