Sox claim Doug Fister
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I think if there's one thing on this topic I've come to believe over the years, it's this: When you don't have an everyday starter at catcher, some battery combos simply work better than others. They get in synch with each other, and catchers get a feel for whether what a pitcher likes to throw in certain situations matches what kind of "stuff" the pitcher has that day.
So the answer to your question is, it depends on what pitcher is on the mound that day and how the catcher adapts to how well the pitcher is throwing.
You would have made money if you had taken the "Doug Pfister would have a better year than David Price" bet.
You sure about that? Aside from health, obviously, what has been better about Fister's year?
Price in 11 starts: 66 innings, 3.82 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.27 WHIP, 2.86 K/BB.
Fister in 11 appearances (8 starts), 52.2 innings, 4.78 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 1.76 K/BB
There really isn't a stat in which Fister is better than Price this year.
Then they must be better than Price too.
Anyway, Pfister pounds Price in the all-important Beats the Indians stat.
Anyway, Pfister pounds Price in the all-important Beats the Indians stat.
Not that it makes much a difference but if you throw out his relief appearances, he's at 4.47 ERA, 1.38 whip, 1.9 K/BB.
No doubt. Would be interesting to see if they split the lefties.
And by the way, ERod was touching 97 yesterday, if the gun was accurate. 100 mph lefty out of the pen for an inning or two wouldn't be terrible.
I may be late to the party on this b/c I haven't read through the whole thread but Fister's resemblance to Derek Lowe is remarkable to me. Same body type, motion and repertoire with a boring sinker/slider combo complemented by a curve he can locate that keeps hitters honest.
I hated him for awhile but man is he solid right now. And he works so fast. Him and Sale have to be at the top of fastest working pitchers.
Agree, and wish Edro gets back to this style. He is clearly spooked by the MFY.
I texted my friend a a couple starts ago saying this exact thing. Tall lanky RH, downward plane, similar mechanics that needs his sinker to be effective. It's like deja vu.
Has any other teams mid season additions- Fister, Nuner and Devers- been anywhere near as valuable as these guys?
Go back a few pages and read some of the posts here, they are hilarious. If Fister keeps this up the mea culpa's will be fun to read.
In the same vein, one month of excellent work and now we can't afford to extend him?
I will say, if this continues, Carl Willis may have just bought himself another few seasons with the work he did with Fister on the rubber.
In the same vein, one month of excellent work and now we can't afford to extend him?
I will say, if this continues, Carl Willis may have just bought himself another few seasons with the work he did with Fister on the rubber.
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Not to derail this Fisting Party more.... but I'm still setting my benchmark for Rodriguez on his pre-injury performance this season. I still think he's going to be a borderline ace....
What I noticed -- and it is only anecdotal -- was that his pace of pitching vs the MFY was far more deliberate this past start at the toilet than previously this season. It was well documented that he had altered his style to reduce time between pitches under the guidance of Sale and Price. And -- again with no data -- I thought the pace of play worked for him. But particularly later in the game vs MFY on Thursday night he seemed to have slowed down maybe letting the pressure get to him, hence my spooked comment. And I was sad that the last inning took away from what seemed to be a very good performance by Edro up until then.
But I agree with Trotsky that we should get back to the Fistering party. What a great, well pitched, playoff-like game it was yesterday. Very enjoyable. Well done Fisty!
Fister over his last 6 starts (dating back to July 31):
41.1 IP, 35 K, 11 BB, 3 HR, .241 BABIP allowed, .561 OPS allowed, 3.05 ERA.
So in an average start he's gone seven innings, struck out six, walked two, and it's been a tossup whether he gives up a single home run or not. All while turning his opponents' collective slash line into Alcides Escobar.
And in that stretch he's faced Cleveland three times and the Yankees once, as well as Baltimore which is one of the better hitting teams in the league. The only cookie has been the White Sox.
This is getting into Peavy 2013 territory.
41.1 IP, 35 K, 11 BB, 3 HR, .241 BABIP allowed, .561 OPS allowed, 3.05 ERA.
So in an average start he's gone seven innings, struck out six, walked two, and it's been a tossup whether he gives up a single home run or not. All while turning his opponents' collective slash line into Alcides Escobar.
And in that stretch he's faced Cleveland three times and the Yankees once, as well as Baltimore which is one of the better hitting teams in the league. The only cookie has been the White Sox.
This is getting into Peavy 2013 territory.
The Lowe observation is dead on. He does seem like he has a very small margin for error. If he's not locating he gets hammered. But he definitely deserves to stick and lets them focus on Price possibly being a bullpen option.
Velocities from Yankee Stadium have had to be adjusted more than once this year. I'm guessing he was more 95 than 97. I think Kelly hit 105 on that same gun and had it reduced to 103 or something very shortly after.
What would people consider out of our price range for Fister? How much money and years would people be willing to offer? IIRC Oakland signed him to 1/6 but Oakland could also offer him a rotation spot. I'm pretty sure everyone here would be on board and doing cartwheels at 1/6 for Fister next year but I'm guessing he'll get considerably more since he has more of a track record than Rich Hill did. Of course that brings us to the "we have too many starters" "you can never have too many starters" argument.
It would allow you to explore trades for David Price or even EdRod though.
It would allow you to explore trades for David Price or even EdRod though.
I would think anything more than what they're paying him now (which is a pro-rated portion of $1.75M) is going to be too much for the Red Sox next year IF their goal is to remain under the luxury tax.
Assuming they don't move any of their currently contracted starting pitchers and they're all healthy, Fister makes seven that they'd have to roster on the big club (Sale, Price, Pomeranz, Rodriguez, Porcello, Wright). That's at least one too many.
As nice as the depth would be, I think the money might be better spent on a reliever or 4th outfielder.
Assuming they don't move any of their currently contracted starting pitchers and they're all healthy, Fister makes seven that they'd have to roster on the big club (Sale, Price, Pomeranz, Rodriguez, Porcello, Wright). That's at least one too many.
As nice as the depth would be, I think the money might be better spent on a reliever or 4th outfielder.
The Costas/Kaat telecast last night had him as the fastest MLB SP worker at 18 and a fraction seconds between pitches. They didn't mention any second fastest working pitcher. I still thought the fastest would be Sale.
I don't know that it's a story of mea culpas. I was one who wanted nothing more to do with him round about a month ago. But was there anyone who wanted to see him pitch again at that point? He gave up 23 R (17 ER) in his first 25.1 IP over 7 appearances. There wasn't much that suggested we should expect a drastic improvement going forward. The difference since he's been plugged into the rotation full time is nothing short of remarkable, and it's come at a time that has really helped solidify the rotation in the absence of Price. We can only hope it's been fueled by the supposed mechanical changes, meaning this is the new and improved Doug Fister we have for September and October.
DD looks like a genius for this one. I have to admit I was one who mocked the signing and Fisters performance early on. I suspected Bannister has had a hand in his turnaround although I see the BP coach is said to have suggested the fix
I think there's a great chance Price has Tommy John surgery after the season. I can't imagine he'd try to tough it out for the next five years. Get it done and have a healthy last four seasons.
Of course it would be much easier for Price to accept the surgical option if the Sox can win it all, and he contributes in the postseason.
You're wrong...Go back and read...there were guys on here: Geoduck, Grimshaw, Stuck on Youk, HomeRunBaker etc who said his late inning relief appearance was promising, and Fister had been basically misused by Manager John. There were some SOSH veterans that didn't want to hear it. SOP.
Its comedy, nothing else, but I doubt very much we'll get a mea culpa from anyone.
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Has to be. Isn't he the only one to actually possess a postseason win as a starter?
Promising' 2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 ER. The results were not good and even if they were it was 1 appearance with the best results the first time through the order. Starters need to face the same hitter 3-4 times in a game.
During this time he was working on some changes with the BP coach which seemed to click his next start and he has been a different guy, or perhaps it is best to say he has been closer to what he was in the past with Detroit
YCPB. Most predictions that come true are sheer luck , like calling a coin toss. It was perfectly reasonable to conclude based on a fairly large sample that Fister was not very good. Adjustments were made and he is better. Its that simple.
Yeah there is no reason for anyone to write a mea culpa, from the evidence shown he was no longer a good pitcher. The Sox staff and he were able to turn things around and he has been good for several starts in a row which is great.
I don't know if it is real but I'm certainly willing to keep running him out there until he proves it isn't.
I don't know if it is real but I'm certainly willing to keep running him out there until he proves it isn't.
If they thought that Fister was having more than a dead cat bounce, they could sign him for 2*$8.5 and then subsidize $5.5 million a year of Porcello's remaining deal to get a good prospect and net $6 million luxury tax relief.
But, My guess is that as soon as the lights go out on 2017, Price announces he's having TJ surgery. And there's no reason why Wright can't go to the pen as 6th starter insurance-along with Johnson. So in that list, Fister is actually a 5th healthy starter.
Strangely enough, when I used to watch the tigers pitchers back in the day, I loved Fister and thought he had much better "stuff" than Porcello. When the Sox traded for Ricky P I was skeptical of his long term future and was upset they didn't get Fister instead for a much lower package.
Now it's nice to see them both in Sox uniforms pitching well
Sent from my SM-G955U using SoSH mobile app
Now it's nice to see them both in Sox uniforms pitching well
Sent from my SM-G955U using SoSH mobile app
Wait – why are we staying under the tax *next* year? I thought the point was that we were resetting the tax rates this season in order to spend moderately over the cap over the 2018-20 seasons.
It looks real to me. The movement on his fastball is legit, and the secondary pitches are sharp as well. If the playoffs started tomorrow, he should definitely have a spot in the rotation.
Somebody is going to buy into his resurgence this season (especially if it comes with a nice playoff appetizer) and it won't be the Sox. He's going to get 3/$30M from one of the dumber teams that need pitching (Twins, Rockies, Phillies, Orioles), mark my words.
For an organization that hasn't developed a pitcher since the Bush administration, finding a guy like this off the scrap heap is huge. I hope they find a way to keep him around.