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Why Was Volstad Really Sent Down?

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  • Why Was Volstad Really Sent Down?

    If you had to pick one of the five Marlins starters to demote, I don't think there would be a consensus on Chris Volstad. His ERA is only 0.09 worse than Ricky Nolasco's and is 0.16 better than Nate Robertson's, so the front office isn't only looking at ERA. He's given up 10 home runs after the 2 he gave up against the Dodgers on Tuesday - not the prettiest number, but it's half of what Nolasco has given up and a drastic improvement from Volstad's line a year ago. The WHIP isroughly the same as Anibal Sanchez's and, like the ERA, is better than Robertson's. And it's hard to pin a starter's record on him when you consider the way the bullpen has pitched, so it's doubtful that his 4-8 record had THAT much impact on the decision.

    While none of the individual parts are terrible, the sum of the parts makes Volstad an irritating pitcher. It's certainly possible that the front office believes it has a better chance at winning games with rookie Alejando Sanabia, weeks removed from AA, starting every fifth day than it did with Volstad, just as it's possible they thought that a staff full of minor league coaches could give them a better chance to win than Fredi Gonzalez, Carlos Tosca, Jim Presley, et al. I don't think either is likely.

    I do believe that the Marlins, regardless of what they say publicly, know that this team is not going anywhere this year. They are officially looking to the future. And they believe that Volstad has more talent than he's shown thus far in his career. They believe that he can be better than a 4th or 5th starter. He's struggled to last more than 6 innings all season. Lately, he's been struggling moreso than usual: in his last 6 starts, he's given up 5, 1, 4, 3, 3, 5 earned runs, respectively, and he's lasted past 6 innings in none of them. Volstad would have made just one start between now and July 20th, thanks to the All-Star Break. By demoting him to AAA, the Marlins can get him at least two starts, and possibly three if Sanabia performs well enough to warrant another go-round on the 20th. Those starts at AAA could help Volstad tune up whatever it is that has been haunting him. Today, the Tigers did the same thing with Armando Galarraga - and he pitched a perfect game* a month ago. He's been struggling and pitching like a 5th starter, but the team expects more. Now he'll be able to tune up in AAA with some extra supervision.

    At the same time, the team gets to see what Alex Sanabia has to offer. If the Marlins do decide that they're sellers, one or both of Nate Robertson and Ricky Nolasco could be moved. Given the way Andrew Miller has struggled in the minors, Sanabia is now the second-most-ready behind Sean West. If Sanabia performs well and the team decides to sell, Sanabia could grab a rotation spot.
    Originally posted by Madman81
    Most of the people in the world being dumb is not a requirement for you to be among their ranks.
    Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM me!

  • #2
    He was sent down because he has shown nothing this year and looks like shit.

    /summarizes

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    • #3
      Here it comes
      Christian Yelich
      LF, Greensboro Grasshoppers
      12/5/1991 - 19 years old


      .299/.375/.461/.836
      100-334, 24 2B, 0 3B, 10 HR, 38 BB, 74 SO, 26 SB (4 CS)

      ------------------------------------

      Last 10 Games:
      .394/.512/.697/1.155

      Last Update: 7/27/2011

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      • #4
        Because he's white.
        This post was brought to you by: Dat SEC Speed

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        • #5
          Fritz knows.
          Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM Hugg!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Ramp View Post
            He was sent down because he has shown nothing this year and looks like shit.

            /summarizes
            Come on Ramp, really? He was awesome in April. Look it up. Even the guys who usually hate on him in here all the time agreed with that. He was going at least 6 innings and even threw a complete game. So don't sit there and pull the "he's pitched like shit all year" thing.

            Mk7 is right. His numbers are not terrible. He doesn't even hve the worst numbers on the staff. It's also not like the last time he was sent to AAA or, for that matter, when Ricky was sent down either when they were getting lit up start after start. Just two starts ago, all of the beat writers used the term "hard luck loss" when he gave up 3 runs in 6 innings but lost because we got shut out.

            That's why I'm so pissed. This was uncalled for. Our starting pitching has been the least of our problems and Volstad hasn't even been our worst starter. I'm sure the front office wants us to have the Padres rotation but, as has been said before, we don't have any better options in the minors than Volstad.

            He has nothing left to prove in AAA. He's spent all but 10 days of the past two years in the majors and has shown that he can pitch t this level. He has nothing left to learn in AAA.

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            • #7
              I think the real issue is that they obviously expect more from him. I think they should...he's young, projectable, tall, and put up great MILB numbers and looked great in his debut season. Right now he's pitching like a 5 starter and I think even you could admit that. That's why he and NateBob could put up the same numbers and we'd have different reactions, because we expected nothing from Robertson but we all want more from Volstad.

              I don't think they expect him to magically figure it out in 2 or 3 starts (I'll eat my hat if he gets more AAA starts than that). I just think they're taking the All Star Break as a way to get him some extra starts and extra attention. And as an added bonus, maybe it lights a fire under his ass. This may be who he is, a 4.50ish pitcher who gives up too many home runs. But that's not what we expected and not what we should expect.
              Originally posted by Madman81
              Most of the people in the world being dumb is not a requirement for you to be among their ranks.
              Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM me!

              Comment


              • #8
                He started 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA in his first 6 starts.

                Since then, he's 1-6 with a 5.22 ERA and we're 1-10 when he starts. He has a .297 baa in those starts and he has failed to make it 7 innings in any of them. He failed to get out of the 6th inning in 6 of them.

                This is not rocket science, he's been terrible.
                --------------------
                Since May 12

                21-15 when anyone but Volstad pitches
                1-10 when he does

                We're 35-31 this season when he doesn't pitch and 4-13 when he does.

                I don't see why this is even confusing.
                Last edited by HUGG; 07-07-2010, 03:51 PM. Reason: Doublepost Merged

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                • #9
                  Wow, I've seen his only victory in his suck-ass stretch. I'm his lucky charm.
                  This post was brought to you by: Dat SEC Speed

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                  • #10
                    Which is obviously the reason he was demoted, same reason Galarraga was demoted by Detroit.

                    But it seems obvious to me that if I had to rank our 5 best pitchers in our organization, right now, he'd still be one of them. I don't think the FO really feels Sanabia gives them a better chance at winning than Volstad. I think this is all because they feel he should be better than he is, and he should be.
                    Originally posted by Madman81
                    Most of the people in the world being dumb is not a requirement for you to be among their ranks.
                    Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM me!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      His first career appearance was in Denver too. I'm thinking the Denver International Airport has to come into play somehow.
                      This post was brought to you by: Dat SEC Speed

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                      • #12
                        I feel confident that if we give Sanabia 11 starts, we'll win more than 1 of them.

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                        • #13
                          He will be back up after the all-star break, they probably just want him to get some work in and fix some things. In my opinion this is a good sign, we are just trying to help his performance.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Hugg View Post
                            I feel confident that if we give Sanabia 11 starts, we'll win more than 1 of them.
                            I think you could say that about almost any pitcher in baseball, period. I mean, the odds of a team winning only 1 in 11 starts has to be pretty low and as much as I rail on the guy, they haven't been all his fault. He's had some starts of 3 ER in 6 IP. It's not great or pretty, but you've gotta figure a major league team could score 4 runs every now and then in the same game a bullpen pitches 3 scoreless innings.
                            Originally posted by Madman81
                            Most of the people in the world being dumb is not a requirement for you to be among their ranks.
                            Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM me!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              You send Chris Volstad down because he's got to be better than this. He needs to get his head on right, because he should be better than this, and you hope he can get back to doing what he needs to to be successful.

                              And leaving his 2-seamer waist high and in is not what he needs to do to be successful.

                              MK7 is actually right on this one. You send him down because you expect and need him to be better than he is. Not so for Robertson.

                              Also, I don't think Robertson or Nolasco have options, but I could be wrong.
                              poop

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