Swarzak isn't the point of this thread, but I have no problem with his performance this year (or last year). He's valuable as a mop-up guy and occasional spot starter. He doesn't strike out many, and he can get hit hard, but he throws strikes. He may not have a future in the rotation, but that doesn't mean I want him off the team, either.

 

Manship just hasn't shown anything to warrant an opportunity to stay in the bigs. Despite having an awesome last name (and only 6 starts in the majors), he's been nothing short of awful. I can't even point to a good Jeff Manship "moment" in any of the four seasons he's pitched, and he's 27 now. 4 home runs in 10 innings pitched is worse than some Home Run Derby pitchers...

Let's see if I can summarize this. Most bullpens, but particularly the Twins' bullpen need a long man that can pitch multiple innings, might be called on to pitch a lot in a short time and then not pitch for a week. The Twins have Swarzak for that role and he has been pretty good for that. Manship profiles as another long man and he has not shown that he has the ability to pitch a lot in a short period of time, nor has he shown the ability to get big league hitters out in any role. Waldrop will not be a long man, but will join Burnett as a righthanded middle reliever/setup guy who mostly will pitch one inning three or four times a week with varying amounts of leverage.

The only reason Swarzak provides value to the team is because it seems absolutely no one else is capable of doing long relief on this roster. It's pretty frustrating to watch pitchers like Manship and Gray struggle because from a fan's perspective it shouldn't be difficult. It's not because he's a good pitcher and shanewahl has given plenty of explanations above. I really only scratch the surface analytically with Swarzak because his ERA has been consistently in the high fours for a few years and that is below average.

The only reason Swarzak provides value to the team is because it seems absolutely no one else is capable of doing long relief on this roster. It's pretty frustrating to watch pitchers like Manship and Gray struggle because from a fan's perspective it shouldn't be difficult. It's not because he's a good pitcher and shanewahl has given plenty of explanations above. I really only scratch the surface analytically with Swarzak because his ERA has been consistently in the high fours for a few years and that is below average.

While Swarzak's overall ERA has been in the high fours, his career ERA as a Reliever is 3.48 in 34 games (WHIP of 1.25). As a starter his ERA is 5.74 (27 games) with a WHIP if 1.50.

 

This year he has a 8.35 ERA as a starter (4 games/18IP, WHIP=1.855) and a 2.95 ERA as a reliever (18 games/36IP, WHIP+1.064).

 

He has very good value as a guy who can throw 2-3 innings at a shot.

Edited June 28, 201214 yr by SweetOne69

14 IP in AAA, 5K, 5BB. There have GOT to be better options. Space on this 40 man is not that valuable.

14 IP in AAA, 5K, 5BB. There have GOT to be better options. Space on this 40 man is not that valuable.

Waldrop?

 

Consider it an audition for next season... Space on the 25 man roster is not that valuable either. They got to see some time what these guys can do before they have to make the hard decisions