CrazyTrain
Well-known member
Elite relief pitcher? He’s been great, but his LOB% is like 99%. He won’t sustain that (obviously). Elite is a strong word and he hasn’t earned that yet.
Around The Majors 2019
- Thread starter CrimsonCowboy
- Start date
Elite relief pitcher? He’s been great, but his LOB% is like 99%. He won’t sustain that (obviously). Elite is a strong word and he hasn’t earned that yet.
Braves1976
It's OVER 5,000!
While Swarzak was getting us out of a jam today Biddle was having another bad game for Seattle giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk, hbp and wild pitch.
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chop2chip
Well-known member
Newk has never shown he’s a #3.
If he becomes that, then yes. I agree. Put him in the rotation. I’m much more confident in his ability to become a lockdown reliever.
chop2chip
Well-known member
The degree by which my words are being twisted is unbelievable.
Of course, he hasn’t shown he can sustain this because he just moved to the pen. But in the time he’s been in the pen he’s been elite (2.62 FIP, 10k/9, less than a walk per 9). I am much more confident he can sustain that than I am that he will become a #3.
zbhargrove
Well-known member
He didn’t say he was an elite RP... he said he has been elite since being moved to the bullpen thus far and he has. You can’t argue with that. Will it continue? Maybe or maybe not but he certainly has been an elite RP in a small sample
I mean he put up 1.9 fWAR last year in his first full season. I don't know what your definition of a 3 is, but I imagine most 3's don't do much better than that. Maybe 2-3 fWAR.
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i mean no one has **** on him. i don’t know what you’re talking about.
that last sentence tho
yeah he put that up but there were indications he was going to regress. and then he did. i was Newk’s biggest cheerleader for a bit there so it’s not like i’m anti-Newk. i think he still has a shot to be a starter even. but his role as a RP this season has been huge and i think he could easily continue to be an asset there. where as i think he’ll continue to struggle as a starter. with the way the game has been moving, having a guy who i think is a legit weapon out of the pen is a huge contributor to me. it’s not even a slight in the least.
He regressed over the 2nd half of the season, but still finished with s FIP of 4.15, xFIP of 4.33, and a .273 BABIP.
Maybe a tad lucky overall, but not outlandishly so. What I saw were marked improvements from his rookie season. And it's possible fatigue took it's toll in the 2nd half of last year as well.
Southcack77
Well-known member
As with most things there was a massive overreaction to the most recent thing that happened.
so what was the excuse in ST when he couldn't throw a strike, and then to begin the season when he also couldn't throw a strike, or strike anyone out. even in the minors he wasn't striking guys out.
i'm all for giving him another shot as a starter. if he can beat out the crop next season it will mean a lot. all i'm saying is he looked great in his RP role and was a huge asset. i'm much more certain he'd continue to be an asset there than as a starter.
but we'll see. if he can become more than a stuff 4/5 i'll be really happy. if he can't, he's a weapon out of the BP. no downside for me.
bravesfanMatt
Steve Harvey'd
Newk was/is a pitcher who was mechanically broken. The question is going to be is he fixed. In the pen he is striking out 10+ per 9. So I am completely tossing his stats from the beginning of the year out. He also showed he can carry his success over several innings. His last outing he went 4 and 2/3 of one hit ball and 6 strikeouts against a Pirates team that none of our other pitchers could handle as easily. So he can physically be a starter. I have my doubts he mentally can.
NinersSBChamps
<B>Voted Worst Poster <br> 2015 (Co-Winner)</BR>20
Is this the around the league topic? Why are we talking about some fat ass Braves pitcher.
Tapate50
Well-known member
CrazyTrain
Well-known member
His FIP and xFIP were more or less equal (as was the majority of his stat profile including k/9, bb/9, etc..) in the 1st vs 2nd half (they were actually better in the 2nd by a little), but his BABIP normalized and his batted ball rates switched from 23/45/32% to 9/51/40% (soft, med, hard). Fatigue might've been the case, but IMO teams just figured out you could key in on his breaking stuff and began murdering it since his fastball was so erratic.
tossing his stats as a starter out seems silly. some guys are great relievers but can't start. it's very common.
zbhargrove
Well-known member
In fact, it looks to me like the dude's lost a good amount of weight... wondering if that's been helping as well.
May be it was mechanical. May be it had to something to do with the juiced ball. He certainly never had problems striking people out prior to 2019. Regardless, I wouldn't put too much stock into a month or so worth of stats at the start of the season.
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bravesfanMatt
Steve Harvey'd
I am not tossing stats out. I am saying he seems to have fixed his declining K issue as a pitcher. We will now get to see if he fixed it as a starter or is he only good as a reliever.