Comments on: The Big Rzepczynski

By: hotstatrat/scoresheetwiz

hotstatrat/scoresheetwiz — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:58:58 +0000

Good point. Significantly, the Jays cashed in Scott Rolen for the vastly inferior Encarnacion late last summer. Now they have Alex Gonzalez in place of Marco Scutaro. The latter move shouldn’t hurt them defensively.

By: Bret

Bret — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:57:10 +0000

A.H? Really?! After Doc works way better! Just kidding of course, nice article! Hope you’re right about Rzep!

By: Stocktopus

Stocktopus — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 02:04:16 +0000

Damn you fangraphs! About a month ago I had stumbled upon Rzep when doing some searching for good GB pitchers (my fantasy league just added ground outs to the pitching stats, and I was looking to take advantage of that). Now he may no longer be a secret to the rest of the league! How dare you post useful information that people other than me are allowed to read!

By: mdecav

mdecav — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:33:01 +0000

Obviously, you’re not a golfer.

;)

By: Mike Green

Mike Green — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:52:01 +0000

For short term fantasy purposes, you want to know how the Toronto defence will shake down for 2010, as the DER is going to have a lot to do with how Zep does in the short run.

In the longer run, I like his chances, with the usual arm health caveats. Brandon Webb had a similar minor league and early major league profile (good call, VivaElP). As Zep matures, he’ll probably go after hitters a little more, the K rate will drop, the W rate will drop (by about 1/2 the amount that the K rate drops) and presto, you have a fine starting pitcher for a few years. You have to watch him to know this, but unlike many pitchers with a mediocre walk rate, his command/composure is good which (in my view) is a positive marker for his long-term control.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:59:05 +0000

That would be decent if the Jays get the Cy and the Giants get the FA.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:57:23 +0000

He’s not afraid of pounding the zone with his slider, but is very reluctant to put his fastball over the plate. That’s why he works deep into the count.

If his changeup can play, he can get confident in putting that fastball over the plate, otherwise he might be in trouble.

By: LeeTro

LeeTro — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:02:00 +0000

Obviously, a pitcher is not going to have an 80 mph slider and a 79 mph curve; they’re the same pitch.

By: LeeTro

LeeTro — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:58:39 +0000

The slower a breaking pitch is, the lower the vertical movement value will be, so you would expect a lower value for ‘Zep. Anderson’s average vert. mov. was about -5.3 inches, which looks a lot more like a curve, though velocity says slider. It’s interesting that both of them throw from the 3rd base side of the rubber, lessening the effect of the slider.

By: opisgod

opisgod — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:55:29 +0000

Barry Zito V2 lol