Speier on Porcello:
Speier on Miley:
We're also apparently in the mix for Masterson, another sinkerballer.
So we could end up with three of the five starting pitchers being sinkerballers.
It seems we have excellent infield defense with Sandoval, Pedroia, and Napoli. Xander seems to be the weak link, although he could provide average defense. Any which way it'll be additional pressure and scrutiny on Xander.
Any thoughts on the implications of this? It could only be for one year - Porcello is a FA, and Masterson is supposedly looking for a one year make good deal.
I would think that it makes Xander *slightly* more tradable than before, and perhaps JBJ's defense slightly less valuable. It would also make Napoli less tradeable, due to his excellent defense at first.
Do we see Marrero getting the occasional start as an excellent infield glove? Do we move Brock Holt for a more defensive infield sub? I don't know how sinkerballers impact Vasquez's value as a framer.
However, his breakthrough may have had as much to do with the defense behind him as with his own work on the mound. A pitch-to-contact sinkerballer, Porcello had suffered for years as a result of a Tigers infield that had myriad defensive deficiencies. The team upgraded in 2014, with Nick Castellanos taking over at third for Miguel Cabrera, Cabrera moving to first and Gold Glove candidate Ian Kinsler joining the club as a second baseman. The result was a year in which Porcello’s actual ERA reflected the kind of contact that he elicits, as well as the frequency of his strike-throwing (he averages 5.5 strikeouts and just 2.2 walks per nine innings in his career).
Speier on Miley:
That said, his numbers were made worse by a putrid Diamondbacks defense, and he’s also spent his career in one of the more difficult home pitching environments in the game.
We're also apparently in the mix for Masterson, another sinkerballer.
So we could end up with three of the five starting pitchers being sinkerballers.
It seems we have excellent infield defense with Sandoval, Pedroia, and Napoli. Xander seems to be the weak link, although he could provide average defense. Any which way it'll be additional pressure and scrutiny on Xander.
Any thoughts on the implications of this? It could only be for one year - Porcello is a FA, and Masterson is supposedly looking for a one year make good deal.
I would think that it makes Xander *slightly* more tradable than before, and perhaps JBJ's defense slightly less valuable. It would also make Napoli less tradeable, due to his excellent defense at first.
Do we see Marrero getting the occasional start as an excellent infield glove? Do we move Brock Holt for a more defensive infield sub? I don't know how sinkerballers impact Vasquez's value as a framer.