Everyone's all about Houston Street, myself included, and justifiably he's getting comparisons to Brad Lidge. But I think Farnsworth is coming into his own as well, and I may go so far as to say that he could end up being a dominant closer sooner than later. Percy is solid, but he's old and injury prone... and with Oogie off to the Phillies that means Farnsworth is the sole setup man for Percival until he goes down again, and in the meantime Farnsy will pick up a save or two when Percival needs a day off.
Now, I know the arguments against him... he can throw 100MPH but he can't locate. When he gets into trouble, he doesn't pitch his way out of it, he throws his way out... and he gets lit up when he does that. But he hasn't done that this year, in fact he's kept his cool and really performed well:
In 27 innings he's got 1 win, 1 save, 11 holds and a key stat 36K. 36K/27IP is a very nice ratio, Brad Lidge like. He's got a polished 1.11 WHIP and a 2.33 ERA. He's also only walked 9 batters thus far, so he's clearly locating his pitches and using that cannon of an arm to burn them in. Now, he could fall apart... he's done nothing to prove that he can maintain this... oddly every other year starting in 2001 to present, he's had a good season, then a bad, then good, etc...
Well if the good year, bad year deal is true, this may be the year to take a flier on him. I'm thinking of dropping Mota for him...I hate even thinking about that, but Mota's disappointing me, and I've heard of the upside with Farnsworth.
I have been considering picking up Farnsworth as well. His overall numbers are very good, and if Percy goes down it looks like he will get save ops with Urbina gone. Although that may be worse in his case, since he is such a head case that pressure of closing may not be the best for him.
But so far this year he does have 36 K's in 27 IP. And he has not let up an ER since May 4th, which covers 15 games and 12 1/3 IP. Not bad at all.
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Stay far FAR away from Kyle Farnsworth. As a Cubs fan, I can tell you that the man could not close out a little league game without giving up a homer.
"People ask me what I do in the winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."-- Rogers Hornsby
Ron Santo wrote:Stay far FAR away from Kyle Farnsworth. As a Cubs fan, I can tell you that the man could not close out a little league game without giving up a homer.
I hear that. The guy looks like a freaking Greek God in person, but he just can't get his %#$* together for extended periods of time. He's went on streaks similar to this when he was with the Cubbies, but he'd string together a couple of bad outings and be down on himself for the rest of the year.
I'm not saying he can't do it... but my money is on him falling apart like he has every season.
Yeah, that may all be true. But what's a fact is he plays for a new team. and that makes all the difference in the world. If you have a scrub player, what's the risk in picking him up?
I could never really figure this guy out. He has all the tools to be a good closer but just never really stepped into the role. I guess the mental part is just as important as the physical skills. Maybe being on a different team is all that he needed.
by buffalobillsrul2002 » Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:24 am
Personally, I'd take a chance on him. He's definitely got the stuff and the arm to be a closer. So who's to say that he can't get his stuff together. The potential here is great enough to warrant a deep spot on the bench, depending on he league depth.
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by Octavian » Sun Jun 12, 2005 3:09 pm 
I hear that. The guy looks like a freaking Greek God in person, but he just can't get his %#$* together for extended periods of time. He's went on streaks similar to this when he was with the Cubbies, but he'd string together a couple of bad outings and be down on himself for the rest of the year.
