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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Volquez earning ‘Little Pedro’ nickname on the mound

“He’s in love with Pedro,” said teammate Francisco Cordero. “He sees Pedro like he’s a god. He’s not trying to be like Pedro, and the good thing is he’s not trying to imitate him. He’s just trying to do his job.”

So far this season, Volquez, 24, has been doing it better than nearly everyone else. Through Monday, Volquez is 5-1 and leading the National League in ERA (1.06) and tied for second in strikeouts (52). This is from a player who wasn’t even guaranteed a spot in the Reds’ rotation when he was traded by the Rangers along with pitcher Danny Herrera this winter in a deal for outfielder Josh Hamilton.

But Volquez earned a spot with a stellar spring and so far this season has been one of the bright spots on the last-place Reds. He’s even outpitched teammate Johnny Cueto, whom some teammates and scouts say has better stuff and who was the talk of spring training.

So how for real is this guy?

Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: May 14, 2008 at 10:10 AM | 13 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: reds

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1. whoisalhedges Posted: May 14, 2008 at 12:56 PM (#2780157)

It won't be long before his arm is stuffed and mounted on Dusty Baker's wall.

2. The Essex Snead Posted: May 14, 2008 at 12:59 PM (#2780161)

He seems to be doing it against all comers, but he's walking a lot of guys (26 in 48.1 IP), and his giving up only 35 hits in the same span doesn't seem sustainable. Also, if Dusty keeps pulling the same garbage he pulled two starts ago (allowing EV to throw 114 pitches -- 28 in his final inning! -- in the midst of a Reds-centric blowout), then he won't be pitching at all.

I just realized I traded Volquez for Hamilton in my fantasy league! (Granted, I also rec'd Stephen Drew & Soria, & the other guy got Mauer & Khalil Greene, but still.)

3. DCA Posted: May 14, 2008 at 01:09 PM (#2780167)

Volquez .... Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
Pedro ... Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lb.

more like big Pedro.

4. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: May 14, 2008 at 01:12 PM (#2780171)

It won't be long before his arm is stuffed and mounted on Dusty Baker's wall.

Pitch counts:

95, 75, 112, 105, 104, 100, 118, 110

He's 24, and he threw 175 innings last year. While Baker's past record is not good, very little in how he's used Volquez so far looks troubling to me.

5. Shredder Posted: May 14, 2008 at 02:24 PM (#2780263)

How quickly they forget Ramon Ortiz.

6. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: May 14, 2008 at 02:43 PM (#2780290)

How quickly they forget Ramon Martinez.

7. SouthSideRyan Posted: May 14, 2008 at 02:49 PM (#2780302)

The pitch counts on their own don't look awful(though not really good either), but the fact that the 118 came while his team was up 9-0 is pretty damn inexcusable.

8. The Essex Snead Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:05 PM (#2780318)

The pitch counts on their own don't look awful(though not really good either), but the fact that the 118 came while his team was up 9-0 is pretty damn inexcusable.

Yeah, that's the example I was citing in #2. He had 90-something pitches through 6 IP (4 hits and 4 walks), the Reds were up 9, and yet Dusty trots him out there to chuck another 20 pitches (most likely because the pitcher's spot was first up in the next inning)? It's with these sort of dimwitted moves that Dusty earns his less-than-favorable reputation.

9. We don't have dahlians at the Palace of Wisdom Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:26 PM (#2780362)

but the fact that the 118 came while his team was up 9-0 is pretty damn inexcusable.

It doesn't seem like a bad spot to let your pitcher build up their arm endurance in a low leverage situation. If you never let your pitcher go past 100 pitches you create six inning pitcher. If you're going to train your pitchers to go deep into games, I would rather my young pitcher throw 118 pitches in a 9-0 blow out than a one-run game where they're going to put maximum effort into every single pitch.

10. Lassus Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:38 PM (#2780387)

Volquez is working out a lot better on my fantasy team than my other spring training phenom - Manny Parra - did.

11. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:43 PM (#2780397)

Volquez is working out a lot better on my fantasy team than my other spring training phenom - Manny Parra - did.

BeanoCook would like to hit you in the face... twice!

Another fun thread, revisited

67. Larry Bowa Approves of The Justin Upton (1k5v3L) Posted: March 24, 2008 at 11:24 PM (#2719069)

I was debating b/w Parra and Volquez for the last pick of a 6x6 mixed (al+nl) league; needed a sleeper as my 6th starter. Went with Volquez.

...

71. BeanoCook Posted: March 25, 2008 at 12:40 AM (#2719093)

I was debating b/w Parra and Volquez for the last pick of a 6x6 mixed (al+nl) league; needed a sleeper as my 6th starter. Went with Volquez.

Parra is the better of the two.

12. Lassus Posted: May 14, 2008 at 03:58 PM (#2780414)

HA! Thanks, levski, that's priceless. I took both for my roto team but had to drop Parra because, er, he was sucking. Badly.

You'll be thrilled to know I drafted Maine AND Pedro. Maine's finally paying off, even if his WHIP is still above acceptable levels.

13. The Kids Are Enright (1k5v3L)

Posted: May 14, 2008 at 04:04 PM (#2780423)

In the middle rounds of that same draft, I was debating between Maine and Billingsley. So I called shoewizard, and his advice was "Billz all the way, biatch!". So there was that. Billz been riding my bench ever since...

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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Volquez earning ‘Little Pedro’ nickname on the mound

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