Could be Duke as lefty swingman.
Luhnow (via McTaggart): “This probably makes us think about [Zach] Duke’s role if he doesn’t win a spot in the rotation."
Makes sense. Righties have torched him in his career (.313/.356/.471) while LHB have just roughed him up a little (.280/.333/.418). If he manages to have a good first half as a lefty specialist, maybe they can spin him into a decent prospect, and they'd still have Cedeno and Abad for the long-term.
And Mills sajd that he wants two lefties in the bully, so I guess that means that we get to root root root for Abad and Wright. I'd prefer Cedeno over Abad or Wright, but he got sent down before the news of the Escalona TJS. Maybe Cedeno returns?
I hate the entire concept of a "lefty specialist." If you can't pitch to hitters on both sides of the plate, I see little to no value in that. This team needs pitchers who can get outs.
There isn't many of those in the world. Most "good" pitchers have substantial differentiaton in their splits. Those that don't are usually closers. Houston doesnt' have one of those either.
I'm not so sure of that. In my memory, pitchers like Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Steve Carlton and Sandy Koufax seemed to be able to get everyone out--it didn't matter what side of the plate on which the hitter held his stick. I just think that only facing hitters from one side of the plate because you can't get the others out doesn't give much value. I was never a big Byrdak fan, even though I acknowledged that he was pretty good at getting lefties out.
By "good pitchers" I was thinking about ML average journey-men type guys. Guys like Brett Meyers, Wandy. Guys that will have long careers and be considered average to above. What I find amusing is the number of LH specialists that seem to get RHers out at a higher rate. Houston had one of those recently and I can't recall who it was. Maybe Abad. I think Byrdak would be a welcome addition to this time now. Not that it matters a great deal.
Looks like Zach might be a specialist for facing AA hitters.
reverT is available.
If he's breathing and a lefty, let's throw some money at him!
For the record, I'm both breathing AND a lefty! Throw some money at me please!
Hell, Mark, I'm jealous. But seriously, if you can still gun low 80's (which was a challenge for me at my prime) with some movement, you're missing out on the big bonanza.
I might be able to touch 80 kilometers an hour if you give me a few months of prep work.
