What's Wrong With Gorzelanny?

by Charlie on Apr 25, 2008 1:51 PM EDT Comment 4 comments

I agree with Wilton - it's time to get Tom Gorzelanny to a doctor. The velocity isn't there, and the control certainly isn't there. His stats so far this season are astounding - 22.1 innings, 13 strikeouts and twenty-two walks, plus an 8.46 ERA. Those are so bad they can't possibly be flukes; there's something seriously wrong. At any rate, he's hurting the team - at the very least, why wouldn't the Pirates at least skip his turn in the rotation a couple times, give him some bullpen sessions to sort things out, and let John Van Benschoten pitch for a while?

And yes, I just advocated replacing Tom Gorzelanny in the rotation with John Van Benschoten. This team is in trouble.

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Tracy killed Gorzo

A real shame too. It’s not as though the Pirates have much to show for all of the pitchers they drafted. Here is one who looked like he’d pan out. But, no, Tracy had to run him into the ground….

Steve Z

by steve_z on Apr 25, 2008 3:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No surprise to me

Many of us were indicating last September, especially the last 2 weeks of the season, that Gorzo was being ridden too hard. When you have thrown over 100 pitches in 5 or 6 innings, in a meaningless game, and get brought back in to pitch the 6th or 7th, that’s definitely pitcher abuse, and it happened at least 2 or 3 times in September.

In 32 starts last year, he had ONE start with less than 90 pitches thrown (7/25 vs. Mets, 6ER in 2 1/3IP). In his last 10 starts of the season, he averaged 106 pitches a start, with only 2 of those starts lasting past the 6th inning. Remember, at the end of July, he had actually been shut down for 2 starts. That should have raised a warning flag to begin with.

I firmly put any blame for physical problems with Tom Gorzelanny on the manager and coaching staff of the 2007 Pirates.

Ian Snell, on the other hand, only had 7 games all season where he went past 105 pitches. HIS last 10 starts, he averaged 100 pitches, with 6 of those starts going at least 7 innings. Much more efficient.

by Thunder on Apr 25, 2008 3:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Official NL Stats

As of today, we are last in fielding; last in runs scored (both earned and unearned); last in attendance, next-to-last in wins; and 13th (out of 16) in offensive runs scored. Now, does anyone seriously believe that we lack talent and are in need of major trades? Unfortunately, all of this is to be expected when Neil decided to stand pat with a team that won only 69 games. I can assure you that Frankie (Trader) Lane would never have done such a stupid thing and would have cleaned house. Sure, he made some bad trades but he also made some good ones and elevated the Indians from a .500 team in 1958 to a second place finish in 1959 because of his trades. The Baseball Prospectus has been saying for several years that we lack leadership in the front office and that we need a plan to follow and to stop reacting to poor performances and start taking an active position in establishing a plan. So far, I haven’t seen any plan from Neil other than “stay the course”. Maybe all of the vacant seats will begin to wake him up from his slumber or maybe he’s just afraid to pull the trigger for fear of making a mistake. Either way, he is treating us to more of the same and I’m tired of it.

by Illinois Pirate Fan on Apr 25, 2008 5:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Illinois Pirate Fan

I understand your unhappiness with the situation, but I don`t agree with a lot of your criticisms of the new management. I`m sure that Neil Huntington quickly figured out that a quick trade or two prior to the season wouldn`t necessarily make much sense in the long run. It`s going to take a few years to really turn this thing around, and this is a best-case scenario, IMHO.

1) Invest in new facilities in the Dominican Republic. Good idea.
2) Make sincere efforts to scout and sign top prospects in other countries worldwide. Good idea, and I believe they will do it.
3) Do a much better job scouting certain areas of the U.S. looking for talent-add scouts. Good idea.

Since the new people got settled in their jobs, I bet they have been making the utmost efforts to prepare for the June draft. I also bet they will be willing to spend the money and make the necessary efforts to select and develop players with a plan in mind, and not just a crapshoot , which mostly ended with the Pirates getting crap under DL and Co.

I`m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt this year and maybe more.

The moves you are looking for through trades at the big-league level will come in the summertime. Marte will be dealt, and I think Bay and Nady will be shipped out, too.

What we get for them and how much the team is able to improve will take a few years to measure.

The organization at all levels and in every way was a disaster when the new people came on board. It`s just going to take time, and lots of it.

by patthatt on Apr 26, 2008 1:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs