GDT 5/19: Folty v Woodruff

As I have been saying for a while now, a big part of the BP solution is to finally move the guys who don't belong in the rotation into the BP.

Newk and Touki are the prime examples of such pitchers. Touki's move to the BP may not be permanent, but it should be clear by now that Newk's role is being a weapon out of the BP.


I think closing the book on Newk as a starter is premature. He has no-hitter caliber stuff. Also, see Glasnow, Tyler.

I am perfectly ok with him being used in relief by the Braves.
 
I think closing the book on Newk as a starter is premature. He has no-hitter caliber stuff. Also, see Glasnow, Tyler.

I am perfectly ok with him being used in relief by the Braves.

You're using an example of a guy who had to join one of the top 2-3 organizations at developing pitching to learn how to throw strikes as your argument?

All impact BP arms have "no-hitter caliber stuff".

Newk's K/9 has been declining every MLB season, and currently sits under 6. Maybe it's time to realize what Newk is?...exactly what I've said he is for years.
 
You're using an example of a guy who had to join one of the top 2-3 organizations at developing pitching to learn how to throw strikes as your argument?

All impact BP arms have "no-hitter caliber stuff".

Newk's K/9 has been declining every MLB season, and currently sits under 6. Maybe it's time to realize what Newk is?...exactly what I've said he is for years.

You also said he has TOR stuff period.
 
Personally, I think it’s likely they let Newcomb get one last shot next year in spring. If Folty, Soroka, and Fried can stay healthy and put up good results, here’s your 2020 rotation, at least how I think it should shape up (no particular order) …

Soroka
Fried
Folty
Veteran SP (maybe Gausman, but maybe he gets flipped to refuel the system some)
????

Personally, my call is that if Wright can get his **** together, he ends up being the ???? to be honest. In another channel, someone has compared him to Fried before 2019 in that he goes too much for the chase strikeout and if he can learn that he doesn’t always have to do it, he can really take off. He had a bad start when he was given a shot this year, but we were thinking in another channel that he might have been tipping something off as well. I think it’ll be a battle between him, Newcomb, and Toussaint for that spot.

I would have said that Newcomb could get another shot this year, and he could, but with the pen in flux as it is, it’s also a very good possibility they leave in him the BP for the rest of the year.
 
another factor against Newk coming back to the rotation next year is the number of guys who will be competing for that spot.
You've got the current rotation besides Teheran, plus the younger (probably better) guys who will be competing for it.
Newk has to continue to improve and also beat those guys out. No easy task. I doubt it happens.
 
another factor against Newk coming back to the rotation next year is the number of guys who will be competing for that spot.
You've got the current rotation besides Teheran, plus the younger (probably better) guys who will be competing for it.
Newk has to continue to improve and also beat those guys out. No easy task. I doubt it happens.

Who is coming up that is better. Wright needs more time. Allard? Weigel? Touki? Anderson? Ghost of Gohard?

I just don’t see anything. Ready by spring next year at this point. Long season and a lot of time to develop so that may change. But the Newk I saw this weekend is our 3rd or 4th best pitcher for sure.
 
Who is coming up that is better. Wright needs more time. Allard? Weigel? Touki? Anderson? Ghost of Gohard?

I just don’t see anything. Ready by spring next year at this point. Long season and a lot of time to develop so that may change. But the Newk I saw this weekend is our 3rd or 4th best pitcher for sure.

That's because you saw him airing it out in a short stint.
 
Who is coming up that is better. Wright needs more time. Allard? Weigel? Touki? Anderson? Ghost of Gohard?

I just don’t see anything. Ready by spring next year at this point. Long season and a lot of time to develop so that may change. But the Newk I saw this weekend is our 3rd or 4th best pitcher for sure.

you saw Newk out of the BP.
we saw him earlier in the year looking...quite bad.
and yes, i think any of those guys, save allard or probably weigel, could be better options.
i also said "probably" better. i think one of wright, touki, anderson, or wilson could easily emerge as a better option..especially considering we don't know what they are yet (while i think it's pretty clear what Newcomb is).
 
you saw Newk out of the BP.
we saw him earlier in the year looking...quite bad.
and yes, i think any of those guys, save allard or probably weigel, could be better options.
i also said "probably" better. i think one of wright, touki, anderson, or wilson could easily emerge as a better option..especially considering we don't know what they are yet (while i think it's pretty clear what Newcomb is).


I am just not as clear as others I guess. I still don’t think Newk is done establishing who he is yet. I love him in the pen. But he is different to me than touki. Touki needs to be groomed solely for the pen imo and Newk I would like to give more chances to start at some point.
 
As I have been saying for a while now, a big part of the BP solution is to finally move the guys who don't belong in the rotation into the BP.

Newk and Touki are the prime examples of such pitchers. Touki's move to the BP may not be permanent, but it should be clear by now that Newk's role is being a weapon out of the BP.

I agree.

I think you sell it to them as the Fried approach. Fried says the pen really helped his aggressiveness. You put both those guys out there for this year. Ideally you have them throw MULTIPLE innings. You could still trade them as starters or use them as starters next year. In the interim they help the team. They'd lose some value as RP for trades but if they perform well it may even out. If you traded them as starters based on their past performance its potential over results.
 
Who is coming up that is better. Wright needs more time. Allard? Weigel? Touki? Anderson? Ghost of Gohard?

I just don’t see anything. Ready by spring next year at this point. Long season and a lot of time to develop so that may change. But the Newk I saw this weekend is our 3rd or 4th best pitcher for sure.

Enscheff probably has the data. I didn't see a big uptick in velocity or stuff from Newk.

I just think he's mentally a RP. He wants to go out and thrown. He's not a planner.

When he's the starter other teams plan for him. His third pitch is more of an issue.

He needs to be throwing 2-3 innings per outing out of the pen. He's good at it.
 
Enscheff probably has the data. I didn't see a big uptick in velocity or stuff from Newk.

I just think he's mentally a RP. He wants to go out and thrown. He's not a planner.

When he's the starter other teams plan for him. His third pitch is more of an issue.

He needs to be throwing 2-3 innings per outing out of the pen. He's good at it.

The biggest difference is his control. And not just walking guys but also not falling behind hitters. Also not missing up and away. Hitters can’t eliminate a side of the plate like they did before. Now I won’t say that would translate the same when he starts. Like you said he might not be a planner or he over thinks thing like I feel touki does when he prepares for a start. Some guys just do better out of the pen. I am just not ready to say that is the case for Newk.

Now to be clear, I am not advocating him going to Gwinnett or bumping one of our starters. What I am saying is come June and later when the series start to stack on each other we need to toss Newk to help limit the load on our starting five. I personally don’t want any of our starters getting 180 innings. Not with the injury concerns each of them have.
 
Enscheff probably has the data. I didn't see a big uptick in velocity or stuff from Newk.

I just think he's mentally a RP. He wants to go out and thrown. He's not a planner.

When he's the starter other teams plan for him. His third pitch is more of an issue.

He needs to be throwing 2-3 innings per outing out of the pen. He's good at it.

Average FA velocity as SP: 92.5
Average FA velocity in BP: 94.5

That's a significant jump in FA velocity, and is typical of what happens when guys move to the BP.

Poor command out of the BP is not as detrimental as a SP because the uptick in stuff masks the lack of control.

BP arms also tend to have the platoon advantage more often than SPs, which also makes them more effective and helps mask any lack of command. This has held true for Newk because Snit can choose when to deploy him depending on the part of the lineup they are about to face.

PAs vs LHH as SP: 8 of 58 (13.8%) = .317 xwOBA overall
PAs vs LHH in BP: 11 of 30 PAs (36.7%) = .244 xwOBA overall

Those xwOBA values are literally the exact definition of a "stuff #4 or high leverage BP arm", which is what I've been calling Newk for years.

As I've been saying for a while now, Newk's most likely role is a BP weapon where he can face more LHH and leverage the breaking ball. I called him Oliver Perez for a long time now, and like Perez, he's finally in the BP after a lot of time trying to make him a SP. Let's just go ahead and leave him where he clearly needs to be, and where he is contributing value to the club.
 
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