Mulder and Ordonez- how will they look in the second half?

[gabenterprises]

I'm thinking my team may rely on these guys to finish my rotation and the OF. What are people's thoughts on their second halves?

[j_d_mcnugent]

i am optimistic they will both be solid although neither one of them will be a stud. mulder seems to be coming around. supposedly he was resistant to changes suggested by the pitching coach early in the year but after he got pounded by cincy a little while ago was more open and responsive to change. doesnt strike out enough people to be a stud pitcher but i think you will see something resembling vintage mulder in the 2nd half. ordonez will be a decent 3rd outfielder (maybe 2nd outfielder) but will lack the power numbers and stolen bases to be a stud.

[reznorsboy]

I think Maggs is due for a productive second half. I doubt he will get usual Maggs like numbers but he will gets some HR's and RBI's. Mulder is 10-5 but alot of his wins where against crap teams. St. Louis is on fire though so He may keep getting wins based on his run support. He is definetly worth a roster spot.

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

I'm pretty skeptical of both right now. Mulder will get you wins, but that's about all I'd be counting on him for at this point, and Maggs won't have his usual power numbers in DET, but he could still be somewhat valuable as a bench/spot start OF.

[gabenterprises]

When and why did Mulder go from being an ace to a maybe spot-starter? Is it for reasons that limit his ceiling particularly?

[SaintsOfTheDiamond]

When and why did Mulder go from being an ace to a maybe spot-starter? Is it for reasons that limit his ceiling particularly?

The when of that is after the AS game in '04. If I knew the why I'd be on the Cardinals payroll I imagine.

[gabenterprises]

So there was no injury, no event that precipitated the decline? Does anyone know if he looks the same? If so, I'd expect big things.

[beltrans_boy]

So there was no injury, no event that precipitated the decline? Does anyone know if he looks the same? If so, I'd expect big things.

No real injury or catastrophic event. He's just walking too many batters and his declining strikeout rate is unable to offset the walks. Combine that with an increased HR rate and you've got a recipe for disaster.

Who knows? He could be hiding an injury, but for whatever reason, Mulder isn't the same, and I don't think he ever will be.

I don't understand how it "just happened" either, but it did, and it's looking more and more like this is a permanent situation. It's really a sad situation.

[j_d_mcnugent]

Earlier this week, Mulder watched the gradual deterioration of his delivery by comparing video from the past several years. Friday, he took the delivery he had used in a Tuesday side session against major league hitters. Rather than revert to bad habits as had happened before, Mulder found consistency.

Mulder didn't require his first outfield putout until the third out of the third inning. Five days after allowing three home runs to the Colorado Rockies, he held the Giants to three singles through six innings.

While with the A's, Mulder compiled a 5-2 record and 3.42 ERA against Oakland's interleague rival.

Mulder held the Giants with a single strikeout. He also walked one and hit a batter while pitching around a third-inning infield error. More significant, pitching coach Dave Duncan helped him identify a mechanical flaw that had lengthened his delivery. Mulder devoted a Tuesday side session to making his delivery more concise. The side session was convincing enough for Duncan to predict a turnaround effort.

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maybe the cards are just saying good things to help mulder feel more confident but i think he has shown some progress since getting slammed by cincy. his last start was vintage mulder--73 pitches for 7 innings (lifted early due to groin), only 4 hits, 14gb to 5 fb. his flawed delivery has been offered up as an excuse several times before but mulder admitted he didnt think that was the cause and didnt change anything. now he has actually worked on changing mechanics. its just one start so it may not mean anything but i would buy low on him if i could. i see a bunch of quality starts and wins in the 2nd half.

[Heathos33]

How come nobody has mentioned Mulder's day/night splits when looking at his performance. He is amazing in the evening, while in the day time, he pitches horribly. It's not even close. Look at that when determining whether or not to start him.