Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Matchup for G22 - Astros at Reds

Paulino vs. Volquez

Felipe Paulino

Paulino's got one more start to prove he belongs and to force Coop into a tough decision when Moehler comes off the DL. While Paulino didn't pitch poorly on Apr 23 vs. Milwaukee, he pitched so well against the Reds on Apr 19 that it felt like a Jekyll/Hyde performance.

Last two starts:




vCIN6IP3H/0ER6K:2BB7GB/7FB
vMIL6IP10H/4ER4K:0BB10GB/12FB


Apparently the Brewers looked at that Reds game, because while Paulino had a 17:18 strikes looking:swinging against the Reds, that cut down to 21:6 by the time his turn came up against Milwaukee in the Game of One Thousand Singles.

Paulino vs. Cincinnati, April 19












Taveras1x20K:1BB
Dickerson0x20K:0BB
Votto0x31K:0BB
Phillips0x30K:0BB
Encarnacion0x21K:1BB
Nix2x20K:0BB
Hernandez0x21K:0BB
Gonzalez0x21K:0BB
Volquez0x21K:0BB
Dickerson0x10K:0BB


Now look at first-pitch strikes and balls for the Reds / Brewers games...

FPS: 14 / 15
FPB: 9 / 12

Troubling: Paulino is letting hitters tee off with RISP at a .545 clip (6x11).

Edinson Volquez

It's hard to know what to expect from Volquez - but right now he doesn't look like the 17-6 All-Star pitcher he was in 2008. Volquez' best game of the season was the April 19 game against Houston (typical, right?), but he followed it up with a 5IP, 1H/3ER, 7K:7BB performance against the Braves, throwing only 53 of his 97 pitches for strikes. Against the Astros on 4/19:













Bourn1x31K:0BB
Tejada1x20K:0BB
Berkman1x10K:2BB
Lee0x10K:2BB
Pence0x21K:1BB
Blum0x31K:0BB
Smith0x32K:0BB
Quintero0x30K:0BB
Paulino1x21K:0BB
Erstad0x11K:0BB


FPS: 13
FPB: 14

To come up with four hits against a guy who can't find the strike zone like that is flat-out depressing. But contrast Paulino's BAA with RISP with Volquez, and Volquez BAA with RISP is .125 (3x24). Dude just buckles down. He's had the bases loaded on him 11 times, and it's resulted in 0 hits (2 walks, though). He is not afraid of your three runners on.