Detweiler to Start Monday

There are a number of reasons to like and dislike the move.

Likes:
• The Pirates haven’t seen him before. He might be able to cruise through the lineup a couple times. The Pirates are not the Red Sox.
• Get the first round pick some major league experience before sending him down to AAA to refine his game.
• A pitcher who can strike batters out.
• Showcase talent in the farm system for a possible deadline trade.
• Show confidence that his game is progressing each season.
• Smart move not breaking up the rotation in Syracuse… they’ve had enough turnover already.

Dislikes
• His control isn’t good enough to beat major league hitting yet.
• He doesn’t have the pitch selection to get through the lineup twice.
• He is being limited to 5 innings per start, and likely will not be given much to work with.
• There was nobody in Syracuse management needed to bring up.

Depending upon the how the Nationals hit, if Detweiler can make it to his through the order to his second at bat, whether it is four or six innings, it should be regarded as a solid start. What would not be good is for him to fall into Jordan Zimmermann’s pattern of falling behind early and giving Manny a chance to give him the hook after two or three. Regardless of how well he pitches, this is likely a one a done scenario for Detweiler, and will likely be starting back in Harrisburg or Syracuse next week. Balester is the most obvious choice to take the spot long term, as he has shown the ability to consistenly eat up six innings and not put the other team up six runs. His ERA and record at Syracuse don’t quite tell the whole story, as his BABIP is an astronomical .404. The K/BB rates are not out of ordinary, so it is likely that he has been a little unlucky.

In other news, looks like we were correct in our assessment of Scott Olsen… now how do we get the memo to Cabrera?