I've kept an eye on Jerome Williams since he first debuted for the Giants in 2003 at the age of 21. He's another one of the guys -- this seems to be becoming more common -- that was out of the game for awhile, then reappeared and managed to stay on a major league roster for a few years. He's been on the Astros most of this year, then pitched a solid game for the Rangers against the A's(!) tonight after the Astros let him go.
And that's the funny thing about Williams -- every year that he's been in the majors, he's scuffled for the most part, but managed to have a number of really, really good starts. It's like he briefly puts it all together and pitches well, then it all falls apart again. To wit:
2003: pitched a complete-game shutout, a complete game with 1 ER, and three more games where he allowed two or fewer runs and pitched more than 7 innings.
2004: had a game of 8.2IP, 3 ER, and 7 more games where he went 7 IP or more and gave up 3 ER of fewer
2005: pitched 7 games where he went 7 IP or more and gave up 2 ER or fewer. In the last month of 2005, he pitched 6 games. He went 7 IP in 5 of them (and 6IP in the other).
2006: only pitches in 5 ML games. Allowed 1 ER over 6 in his second-to-last start, then got shelled in his last start.
2007: only pitches in 6 ML games. Gets knocked around pretty consistently aside from a 6 IP, 1H, 5BB, 0ER outing.
2008-2010: no ML games
2011: mixed in with some relief appearances and bad starts, has starts of: 7IP, 0 ER; 8IP, 1 ER; 6.1IP, 0ER and 6.1IP, 1 ER
2012: 1 complete game shutout, 3 other starts of 7 IP or more with 2 or fewer runs allowed
2013: 4 games with 7 IP or more pitched with 2 or fewer runs allowed and 6 more games with 6 or more IP and 3 or fewer runs allowed
2014: this year, he's mostly been doing mop-up work, but tonight he went 6IP, 5H, 1ER v. the A's.
I'm not really sure how unique this is, or what it means. Does he have concentration problems? Mechanical issues that go away for a few starts each year? Anyway, he seems like an interesting case, and I thought I'd share...
And that's the funny thing about Williams -- every year that he's been in the majors, he's scuffled for the most part, but managed to have a number of really, really good starts. It's like he briefly puts it all together and pitches well, then it all falls apart again. To wit:
2003: pitched a complete-game shutout, a complete game with 1 ER, and three more games where he allowed two or fewer runs and pitched more than 7 innings.
2004: had a game of 8.2IP, 3 ER, and 7 more games where he went 7 IP or more and gave up 3 ER of fewer
2005: pitched 7 games where he went 7 IP or more and gave up 2 ER or fewer. In the last month of 2005, he pitched 6 games. He went 7 IP in 5 of them (and 6IP in the other).
2006: only pitches in 5 ML games. Allowed 1 ER over 6 in his second-to-last start, then got shelled in his last start.
2007: only pitches in 6 ML games. Gets knocked around pretty consistently aside from a 6 IP, 1H, 5BB, 0ER outing.
2008-2010: no ML games
2011: mixed in with some relief appearances and bad starts, has starts of: 7IP, 0 ER; 8IP, 1 ER; 6.1IP, 0ER and 6.1IP, 1 ER
2012: 1 complete game shutout, 3 other starts of 7 IP or more with 2 or fewer runs allowed
2013: 4 games with 7 IP or more pitched with 2 or fewer runs allowed and 6 more games with 6 or more IP and 3 or fewer runs allowed
2014: this year, he's mostly been doing mop-up work, but tonight he went 6IP, 5H, 1ER v. the A's.
I'm not really sure how unique this is, or what it means. Does he have concentration problems? Mechanical issues that go away for a few starts each year? Anyway, he seems like an interesting case, and I thought I'd share...
