Lexington Legends: Kyle Godfrey

Kyle Godfrey
How did he get here?: Drafted, 13th Round (2008)
Stats: 6'4", 200 lbs, Throws: Right
Age as of April 1, 2010: 24

RHP Kyle Godfrey overcame a fairly miserable 2008 campaign in Tri-City by dominating at Lexington in 2009.

2009 Overview - includes three games with Tri-City

IP	ERA/WHIP	K:BB	BAA	K/9	BB/9
51.1	2.81/1.15	41:12	.218	7.2	2.1

Career (2008-09)

IP	ERA/WHIP	K:BB	HR/9	K/9	BB/9
81.1	4.32/1.39	73:31	0.7	8.1	3.4

What happened?

The question is which Kyle Godfrey is the Real Kyle Godfrey. If you look at 2008, he had a rough time of it. 6.90 ERA/1.80 WHIP. 1.68 K:BB ratio. Over 10 hits per nine innings. Almost six walks per nine. And compare that to 2009? Complete turn-around. If you factor out Godfrey's three miserable appearances in Tri-City in '09, he posted a 1.88 ERA/1.02 WHIP. 33K:8BB. His BAA dropped from .278 in 2008, to .218 in 2009. So we'll see what happens in 2010, but I like 2009 Kyle Godfrey way more than 2008 Kyle Godfrey.

What went right?

Groundballs. His groundout-flyout ratio was 3.21:1 in Lexington, and a 4.25:1 ratio in seven games in July (2.73 in August).

What went wrong?

Not a lot, but if we have to pick something, it would be RISP. In 8IP with RISP, his GO:FO ratio dropped to 1.80, and he allowed 5ER, with a .231 BAA. Still, a 5.643 ERA with RISP is not much to get concerned about.

Minor League IPs

The Orioles are limiting the number of innings pitched for their young'uns. Should the Astros do the same with pitchers under 25 years of age?

(Note: The Crawfish Boxes posted a similar story regarding Bud Norris)

Within that CB link, Tom Verducci explains:
The unofficial industry standard is that no young pitcher should throw more than 30 more innings than he did the previous season. It's a general rule of thumb, and one I've been tracking for about a decade. When teams violate the incremental safeguard, it's amazing how often they pay for it.

Alright, so let's take us a gander at this: Which pitchers age 25 and younger have already exceeded 30IP over 2008 totals?

Bud Norris
2007: 102.2 IP
2008: 80 IP
2009: 147.2 IP

Felipe Paulino
2007: 131 IP
2008: 0.2 IP
2009: 98 IP
It's worth noting that Paulino's IP jumped from 55 in 2005 to 126.1 in 2006. He threw 131 in 2007, and missed just about all of 2008. That's why he's listed - as a precautionary tale.

Danny Meszaros
2008: 26.1 IP
2009: 65.1 IP

David Duncan
2008: 55.1 IP
2009: 115 IP

Shane Wolf
2008: 58 IP
2009: 100.1 IP

As we get into Lexington, it's a little tricky, as many of the players were in short-season ball in 2008. Nevertheless:

Robert Bono
2007: 34.1 IP
2008: 75 IP
2009: 124.1 IP

Kyle Godfrey
2008: 30 IP
2009: 72.2 IP

Jordan Lyles
2008: 55.1 IP
2009: 133.2 IP

Again, this should be taken for what it's worth - pitchers advancing their careers (and some making an adjustment from short-season to a moderately full-out season). But it's still interesting.

Minor League Transactions

A few transactions to catch up on from yesterday...

Lexington
July 9: Place RHP Jose Trinidad on 7-Day DL
July 9: David Duncan called up from Tri-City
July 9: Kyle Godfrey called up from Tri-City

Tri-City
July 10: Scott Migl called up from Greeneville

Greeneville
July 9: Kyle Miller sent down from Lexington

Miller was hitting .213/.260/.340 for Lexington in 32 games.