A's oh-so-close To Opening Season With BOTH Whiz Kids

[AussieDodger]

Spring Training has really been like Survivor Series when it comes to A's pitching.

So far we have established Dallas Braden is #1, but after that ?

Duch is hurt (received a cortisone shot to the elbow this week, never good news)
Gio is hurt (shoulder)
Vincie Mazzaro optioned to minors (my early favourite for a spot )

Of the others who have made 2+ spring starts.......
Outman: blasted last start - 3 IP, 8 ER
Edg. Gonzalez: blasted last start/sucks
Gallagher: struggled with control 7/6 K/bb in ST
Eveland has been so/so, hasn't pitched his way back to AAA, but hasn't set the world on fire.

Anderson and Cahill have easily been the best Oakland SP of spring training.

Anderson 16 IP, 0 HRs, 4 BB, 6Ks
Cahill 16 IP, 1 HR (by Travis Ishikawa ), 3 BB, 10 Ks.

Uncle Billy is desperate to get Duch in the rotation obviously

“Let’s face it, if Duke’s healthy you want him in (the rotation),” Beane said. “If he wasn’t ready to go five or six in his first start, we have to decide how long he is able to go. Right now we’re pushing to put him in the rotation even if in abbreviated situation and we’ll build him up from there. If it means he can only go four innings, we’ll take those four innings. We’ll just see.”

http://baybridgebaseball.com/2009/03/beane-on-the-pitching-staff/


For the final 4 spots, currently the best fit pitchers are Gallagher/Eveland/Cahill/Anderson.
If we assume Duchsherer is DLed to start the season (very likely), Cahill and Anderson will likely be the 4 and 5 SP.

As usual temper your expectations, but they're on the verge of BOTH being worth a pick up.

[rookies and cream]

That would certainly be interesting. I like both of them a lot.

[horatio]

Sure would be nice to see the A's get passed the "they might have been competitive if their entire roster wasn't injured" phase.

[CubsFan7724]

So what are the projections for Cahill? I have an opening pitching slot really, and Cahill and Hanson are both out there and intriguing me.

If Cahill is going to start in the majors I'm even more intrigued.

[AussieDodger]

So what are the projections for Cahill? I have an opening pitching slot really, and Cahill and Hanson are both out there and intriguing me.

If Cahill is going to start in the majors I'm even more intrigued.

It's a rather large jump they'll be making, so I'm not game to put a projection on it.
I don't think either Cahill or Anderson will give up that many home runs, that's about all I'm expecting.





A development after I wrote the original post:

At Phoenix, Duchscherer left a minor league game with elbow pain. The right-hander was making his first game appearance of the spring. He was scheduled to throw 35-40 pitches on the A’s off day, but had to cut the outing short.

“My arm still isn’t right,” Duchscherer told MLB.com. “I was fine warming up, but as soon as I started throwing at game speed, I knew I wasn’t going to last long. It got worse on every pitch. I walked a guy and gave up two singles and a homer and just said, `I can’t pitch like this.’ It’s probably the most frustrated I’ve ever been since I started playing baseball.”

General manager Billy Beane, who was not at the game, said Duchscherer’s setback was discouraging.

“Needless to say, this is bad news,” Beane told MLB.com. “I can’t say he’ll definitely (start the season) on the DL, but it’s certainly fair to say that it’s likely under the circumstances.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-springtrainingrdp&prov=ap&type=lgns


I've got a feeling that they're hiding something from his previous MRI.
They said whatever he had was "nothing serious" and yet he can't pitch

Another half step closer

[CubsFan7724]

I went ahead and dropped Pelfrey for Cahill in a 14 team 6x6 league. We'll see if it was a mistake...

[bigh0rt]

I went ahead and dropped Pelfrey for Cahill in a 14 team 6x6 league. We'll see if it was a mistake...

Dropping Big Pelf is always a mistake.

[kab21]

I would keep any optimism for either of them pretty low since I think the odds are pretty low that either of the 'Whiz kids' can post a sub 4.00 ERA this year. We're talking about a pair that has only has 30-40IP at AA each. In redraft leagues (esp 12 teamers) I would be barely interested but when you get into the keeper and definitely the dynasty leagues these guys are great to have since they can actually contribute some this year and have good upside.

[Inukchuk]

AD, if there were only one to come up, it would probably be Cahill, no?

[DVauthrin]

I went ahead and dropped Pelfrey for Cahill in a 14 team 6x6 league. We'll see if it was a mistake...

Dropping Big Pelf is always a mistake.

I wouldn't have done that either, pelfrey has ace potential himself.