Brad Peacock and Tommy Milone are here, now what? We’ve been waiting for these guys all year, and now that they’re here, it seems a bit anticlimactic. I mean, they’re not just mowing down hitters, they’re actually struggling as if they were human beings. After such a small sample, what can we glean? Well, not that much, but seeing these guys pitch against majors leaguers might tell you a few things. Here are just a few points here and there that jumped out at me
- I expected Peacock to get alot more swings and misses than Milone. That’s the difference that a few mph can make. Looking at contact rates, Milone is actually doing better, at 89%. Peacock is up at 92%. Anything lower than 80% is considered pretty good, give or take. Jordan Zimmermann, who wasn’t a strikeout machine this year but was great at getting outs, had a much lower rate than those two guys, at 82%. This isn’t promising so far for them.
- Milone’s control has manifested itself in the majors. 0 walks in two starts is a good way to start a career. He got hit hard at times, but not giving any free passes will help. Peacock, on the other hand, looked wild in his first start. He never had a low walk rate, and recognition of that curve ball helped the Mets hitters lay off the pitch, which he doesn’t seem to throw for strikes.
- Continuing with that Peacock curve ball… it has such dip and such bite that it may actually hurt his chances to succeed. He throws hard enough and has two good pitches, so this doesn’t prevent his success in the majors. But if his curve is recognizable the second time around, and it moves so much he NEEDS swings and misses on it, he may not be a starter. That kind of combo could do very well in the bullpen, though. I’m not saying he won’t be a great starter, but watching him pitch gave me some doubts.
I would like to see these guys get a real shot at starting both through the end of this year, in spring training, and early 2012. I’m not sure both will stick, but both are on the edge and could be effective starters if they make the right adjustments. And if we’re really lucky, both will.