Anyone Can Pitch: June to August 2022

 

Our chronicle of the wonderful pastime of position players pitching continues with the new Anyone Can Pitch cards, culled from June, July and August of this year. We're going in reverse alphabetical order because blogger apparently thinks reversing my image order is a cool and fun thing to do sometimes.

So we start with Brian Serven of the Rockies, who's been a backup catcher who might eventually take the position over from Elias Diaz, and has completely nullified the once-strong prospect Dom Nunez. Serven, in the midst of a 13-0 drubbing from the Dodgers, got an inning of work on the mound, and managed to score no runs and allow no hits. So hey, that's a good plus if he goes up the depth charts.

A friend of mine's a Mets fan, and the night of the deadline he was just slow burning because the Mets had done NOTHING. He was expecting them to get Soto or somebody and I'm like "...Darin Ruf." And then a few weeks later he messages me and goes 'joke's on you, Ruf's shutting down the Braves'. And sure enough, the former Giants bench bat was the only Mets pitcher that was able to keep the Braves from scoring any more runs on August 15th. Through 2 innings, Ruf gave up only 1 hit, and no runs. I joked the Mets should start him in the NLCS if they play the Braves.

With the lack of solid MLB options for the A's this year, utility infielder Sheldon Neuse has had to play a ton of roles for the club this year. This has included a pair of pitching appearances. Neither of these appearances garnered any runs, or any hits. And to Neuse's credit, on both occasions, he was throwing strikes. I think he might actually be one of the better pitching options of all the position players on here, even if he doesn't throw smoke like Christian Bethancourt does. 

Mike Ford has played for a few different clubs this year, and just hit a homer against his old club while playing for the Angels. For the majority of this year he was DHing in Atlanta, and not well at that. So far this year he's played for the Giants, Mariners, Braves and Angels, and the only one he's pitched for has been the Braves. During a tough outing in Philadelphia, Ford took the mound and didn't make things much better, giving up the second of Darick Hall's first two MLB home runs [in one night], and leaving the game with a 18.00 ERA.

The image of a Clemens on the mound shouldn't surprise anyone. However, the image of Kody Clemens, who made the Tigers as an infielder, on the mound should give baseball fans pause. Clemens, in between appearances at the bat, has made 4 relief appearances for the Tigers. Two of them were scoreless, the other two he gave up a run. Obviously Clemens hasn't been perfect, but when one of the people who taught you how to pitch was ROGER CLEMENS, I'm sure that some scoreless innings are gonna come naturally.

Elsewhere in Detroit, Harold Castro has also made 4 pitching appearances for the Tigers. Castro has given up at least 1 hit in all 4, giving up an earned run in two of them. He did manage to strike out a batter during the game against the White Sox, so that's at least a plus in his chart.

Diego Castillo was brought up as a hard-hitting infielder out of Spring Training, and while he hasn't been as hot as he was in Florida, he's played a lot of roles for the Pirates this season. Castillo has made two pitching appearances for Pittsburgh; neither went especially well, as he gave up 4 runs in each one. Like Castro, he did manage to strike someone out during his game against the Cubs. 

And we end on La Tortuga. I am saddened that no one has figured out how to properly use Willians Astudillo. The man is such a fun player, such a unique hitter, and the closest we'll get to another Bartolo Colon. Astudillo made two pitching appearances for the Marlins, and did not allow a run in either of them. He didn't even allow any hits. Yes, he has a fairly simple pitching style, not a lot of heat, but he stopped the bleeding. That is all these position players need to do, anyway.

We'll see if we have any more of these for September. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2021: Tigers

 

The 2021 Detroit Tigers. Uh...look, if it weren't for Miguel Cabrera, pretty much every Tigers team from 2015 til now would just be the mid-to-late-90s Brewers. Who the hell came out of those teams? Nobody even close to a Hall of Famer hiding in there. Jeff Cirillo? Jeromy Burnitz? Mike Matheny? Just a wasteland for people who are kinda good but never really get anywhere.

The Tigers made it to third this year on the strength of performances like Casey Mize, Jeimer Candelario, Akil Baddoo and Robbie Grossman. Aside from them, there wasn't a ton going on. The Tigers' usual band of young players tried making an impact, and a lot of them failed.

Willi Castro was the starting 2nd baseman this year, essentially warming it up for Niko Goodrum, who'll probably be starting there as Javier Baez takes short. Castro hit .220 with 91 hits in 125 games.

2022 Prediction: Will fade into the background as a utility backup and maybe have some contact moments.

Harold Castro had the better season of the two, and hit .283 with 37 RBIs in 106 games. He's clearly not at the level that he was a few years ago when coming up, but he's become a relatively useful piece, with a bit more upsides than Willi Castro and Victor Reyes.

2022 Prediction: A smaller role, then waived somewhere for him to get very hot in August. 

A surprising starting tool for the Tigers was former Brewers starter Wily Peralta, who made his way up around midyear and went from a bullpen piece to a starter. In 18 starts he had a 3.07 ERA, using small-ball, less Ks and more control to stifle opposing batters, despite a 4-5 record.

2022 Prediction: He'll make camp with somebody, maybe even the Tigers again, but I doubt he'll make the team.

And the last of the highly-touted Tigers starting prospects to make the bigs was Matt Manning, who joined Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal in the rotation this year. Manning went 4-7 with a 5.80 ERA in 18 starts, and, like Peralta and Mize, not a ton of strikeout numbers. 

2022 Prediction: A few more-big game starts, and 10 wins to boot.

Tomorrow, some reasons why the Twins came in last. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2020: Tigers (Part Two)

 

Continuing with the 2020 Tigers, we focus now on the actual rebuilding effort, and the glut of rookies and second-year players sent in to fix this team in progress.

The starriest name of this bunch is Casey Mize, the former #1 overall pick who burned through the minors in record time and made it to the majors in August. Unfortunately, perhaps the prospectors were up to something in suggesting a more prolonged minor league tenure for Mize, as his 7 game, 6.99 ERA, 3 loss run was the result of a rushed come-up for a player simply not ready for the bigs yet. I can only hope that he'll get his stuff together by 2021, cause...I can't have Mize flame out, he's looked so good.

2021 Prediction: Some time in the minors, but 100 strikeouts once he eventually gets back to the majors, and a better sign of what's to come.

Going slightly better was the other rookie pitcher brought up alongside Mize, Tarik Skubal. In 7 starts, he posted a 5.63 ERA with a 1-4 record, marginally better than Mize's, and with more Ks with 37. 

2021 Prediction: Of Mize and Skubal, Skubal will spend more time in the majors and have better, sharper stats.

Victor Reyes, a guy who started 100 games in 2018 yet has become more valuable the less games he plays, is still a valuable outfield bench bat. In 57 games, Reyes bat .277 with 56 hits and 14 RBIs, still working with contact ability while also making a case to start again next year.

2021 Prediction: Will start for the first half of the season, but is eventually gonna fight for Daz Cameron and Riley Greene for a starting spot. 

Willi Castro was taking some much-needed shortstop starts away from Niko Goodrum, and proved to be a formidable replacement with great defensive numbers. He also hit .349 with 24 RBIs in 36 games, an impressive spread that should put a good word in to start at SS next year.

2021 Prediction: His first season as a starter will make him a crucial piece of the Tigers going further, and land him some post-season accolades.

Meanwhile, the other Castro on the Tigers, Harold Castro, had only 22 games as a utility OF/3B type, but made the most of them, hitting .347 with 17 hits. I don't know if he'll be starting anywhere next year, but his bench numbers are still very crucial.

2021 Prediction: Of the young guys in this post, Castro has the biggest chance of getting dealt sometime during next season.

And finally, Daz Cameron, Mike's son, made his debut this year after a few seasons getting prospect accolades in the minors. The 17-game minor stint, despite landing him the starting left field gig, wasn't a lucrative batting sting, as he only hit .193 with 11 hits. But the Tigers are putting a lot of trust in Daz Cameron, and 2021 may be a breakout year for him.

2021 Prediction: Will finish in the top 3 ROY voting, with some outrageous outfield defense numbers and a 150-hit year.

Coming Tomorrow- Though they weren't as huge of a playoff contender, this was still a decent Twins year. 

Uncustomed Heroes of 2019: Tigers

I didn't think the Detroit Tigers could get worse than they did in 2018, but with 114 losses compared to 98, I guess my expectations took a hit this year.

This year was so bad that one of the leading candidates for a post-season custom from the Tigers was Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull had seventeen losses, and a 1.436 WHIP. This is our marquee guy, folks.
Why Him in 2019?: Started 30 games in his rookie year.
2020 Prediction: Similar K numbers, but better W/L ratio. So...the team has to be better.

 And for the team to be better, the Tigers need to put trust on durable homegrown people, and not...a backup second baseman from the 2018 Reds who they shoved to first base. In response, Brandon Dixon hit .248 with 136 strikeouts.
Why Him in 2019?: Led the Tigers in home runs with FIFTEEN. LORD.
2020 Prediction: Won't have to start many games cause the Tigers will be better? Please?

 Making me a little more optimistic about future Tigers teams are two mid-year call-ups. Harold Castro was the first, and he was a middle infielder who hit .291 in 97 games, and was one of 4 Tigers to hit more than 100 hits.
Why Him in 2019?: Hit .310 and .318 in July and September respectively
2020 Prediction: Will be a utility man after losing a starting spot to Jonathan Schoop

The other amusing rookie was utility outfielder Victor Reyes, who was phased in around May and hit .326 over the course of the last two months of gameplay. He did finish the season with a .304 average and 25 RBIs, which isn't bad.
Why Him in 2019?: His numbers in September saved the team from being completely eradicated from relevance.
2020 Prediction: Will usurp JaCoby Jones' outfield spot and become a new team hero.

Coming Tomorrow- The best-hitting AL team of the year, those Minnesota Twins.