Who is the Real Chris Volstad?

[Bobbob1313]

Seriously, does anyone think this is who Volstad is?

I don't think anyone can, so what do we do? Send him down? What is he actually doing differently this season that is causing those balls to find the seats?

I mean, he's getting slightly fewer groundballs, but also slightly less LDs this season.

Maybe look at his pitch data? Throwing his fastball 1 MPH harder on average and is using it 3% less often. His curve has been used 5% less, and he's using his change up twice as often.

Not sure where I can find data on what has happened when each pitch has been thrown, but maybe using the change up more is the problem?

[THE_REAL_MIBS]

Sending him down this late in the season really isn't going to solve anything. The minors only have about a week left of their season. Besides, who do we replace him with?

I'm not sure what should be done, either. Maybe the extra rest is screwing up his preparation? Maybe they need to change his pregame routine since he is having trouble locating his pitches in the first inning? This is two weeks in a row that he's thrown an average of 30 pitches in the first inning.

[nny]

I had a thread on teal and black about how all the fast balls that were hit were fast balls so it's his fastball that gets put right down the middle of hte zone

[Fish and Chips]

no better options available, i have way more confidence in volstad than west, rvh, hensley, etc.

just hope he battles it out till the end of the season, and work hard during the offseason and spring training



look at the strikes, right down the middle of the plate, major leaguers are gonna punished those pitches

[FishFanInPA]

I'm pretty sure Escobar's HR was right down the middle.

[MiamiHomer]

It was a change up that stayed up.

[Omar]

His ball isn't that heavy and he's getting smoked on pitches middle/up. Not a big shocker here.

Also, considering his stinkers since the ASB, I think we need to get him as much rest as possible. In the first half he was at least hit or miss, he's doing nothing but missing right now and regardless of what Option B may be Option A is losing ball games. If (big, big if) Sanchez can establish himself, I would try a platoon of Volstad/RVH/West/Whoever for the final two spots. It isn't ideal, but these are young pitchers with increasing workloads in a playoff race. If anything, you could intermittently have a bullpen game (start Martinez for 3 innings, Sanches/RVH for 3 innings, normal game from there) in order to sneak more rest in there for him.

[Sashimi]

I had a thread on teal and black about how all the HRs that were hit were fast balls so it's his fastball that gets put right down the middle of hte zone

fixed.

[Swifty]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here:

Why isn't this Chris Volstad? He's not a strikeout pitcher, after my posts earlier this year about his decaying GB/FB, apparently people don't see him as a pure sinkerballer, just a guy who relies on ground balls to be effective.

So....

If you have a guy without pure strikeout stuff, without a heavy sinker, why is it crazy to say a 1.3ish WHIP and a mid 4 ERA is just not indicative of his ability? When he was drafted and coming up, his ceiling was high end 3, Carl Pavano 2.0. Then he had a good start to the season, people started creaming their pants and getting way ahead of themselves and suddenly he's Roy Halladay 2.0 and the unfortunate victim of outlandish and irresponsible comparisons. Unquestionably there's room for improvement, but if you can't miss bats, if you pitch to contact with average or slightly above average stuff, how much better than a 1.3 WHIP are we really looking for? At his best, I think Volstad is a 1.1-1.2 WHIP, 3-3.5 ERA pitcher; basically 2004 Carl Pavano. But, like Pavano, I don't think that "best case" is sustainable...it's a career year, or, to spare the euphemism, an aberration.

Therefore, to conclude, let me ask what suggests that what we're seeing right now cannot possibly be Chris Volstad. Why is he unequivocally better than "this"?

And, now with devil's advocate out of the way, my opinion:

Volstad is a 3/4 who at his best gives us innings, which is a double edged sword. Because he pitches to contact, he can go 7 innings, because he pitches to contact with average stuff, he can get burned. I'd rather 220-240 innings of "hope it finds a glove" Chris Volstad over 180-200 innings of "hey I can strike guys out" Chris Volstad. Just the way our rotation is, and figures to be, set up screams a need for an innings horse, but ultimately that's it, that's his value, once he stops giving you innings, he's borderline useless. I don't see him being a 20 game winner, I don't see him getting a K/9 better than 6.5, I don't see him adding a legitimate sinker, I just see him remaining a guy whose best pitch is a slightly above average 2-seamer with an average curve and slightly below average change.

[Bobbob1313]

My point is, everything he's doing aside from the home runs is not indicative of a mid-high 4 ERA, and he's never given up home runs before this. I feel like that has to even out; you don't just stop being who you have been for your entire life.

And I'm not even saying he's not a mid 4 era guy. But that's not who he is right now, even. He's far worse than that recently, and so I guess that was the point. He might be a 4-4.5 ERA guy, but the guy he is right now should not be who he is, given his history.

[Fish and Chips]

i think people forget that he is only 22, and this is already his 2nd season in the ML. He has plenty of time to progress. I know he is have a horrible season, but why is everyone so quick to write him off?

Yea if he was 28, and having a high 4 era season, then i understand why people would expect the same result in future season when he is 29, 30, 31 etc, because by then he is who is he, and no room for real improvement

But he is only 22, and the fact that he is has almost a 1.5 of ml pitching under is belt is a great achievement.

[Ramp]

I have no idea who the real Chris Volstad is

[lou]

I have no problem with his career average line.

4.07 era, 1.34 whip, 6 K/9, average 25 HR per 200 IP.

Solid 3, Amazing 4.

Peak years like Lowe in his prime, bad years like 2009.

[Swifty]

he's never given up home runs before this. I feel like that has to even out; you don't just stop being who you have been for your entire life.

I don't like this argument. As a matter of fact, i hate this argument. At no point in his professional career did Volstad have to face elite hitting talent before now. It's impossible to say what he did at Jupiter, or in Carolina, or in Palm Beach Gardens is who he is, at those levels, average stuff goes a lot farther. What's more, it's simply axiomatic to say that pitching comes in ahead of the hitting. A 19-22 year old Volstad has a much easier time looking good against 19-22 year old hitters than I think most would even begin to realize. Volstad doesn't have to get used to hitting with a wood bat for the first time in his career, Volstad doesn't have to worry about long standing scouting reports and head to head matchups tilting the art of "surprise" in the hitter's favor.

For the first time in his career, Volstad is getting tested, I do not think there's anything that says he absolutely has to go back to being the guy he was in the minors other than the fact that it's nearly impossible to give up 30ish home runs a year in consecutive years.

[Bobbob1313]

He's always profiled as a groundball hitter, he was excellent at limiting HRs in the minors (At every single level, no matter who he faced), and he was excellent at it last season in his 84 innings here. You don't just stop being who you have been you're entire life.

If you really believe this, then you must also believe there is absolutely no value in scouting pitchers or looking at their minor league numbers.