Last Gasp for Komine

by Buck18 on Jan 25, 2008 11:31 AM PST Comment 18 comments

Here's a guy I've heard nobody talk about for months. He had a very bad year for Sacto (5-12?) and has certainly slipped way down the list of pitching prospects. A few questions: Is he still listed on Sacramento's roster? Did anyone see him pitch last year? Can anybody answer just why he had such a bad year? Was he hurt? Did he lose velocity? Is there any chance at all that he will be part of the A's organization this coming season? OK---the reason I ask is that he had one very good start in the majors two years ago, and one bad one. Then he was shipped to Sacramento where he had a bad year. But while he was up, I got his autograph (just after his good start) and he was a nice guy and actually had a conversation with me. I'm pulling for the (not so much anymore) kid. He is, I'm sorry to say---the kind of pitcher I like---little and (because in today's baseball, size matters) an underdog.

I know that I'll probably find another fave, but our pitching is so haunted by injuries that I thought I would give Komine another glance. As far as I know, he is durable, if perhaps not very talented. What's the deal with this guy? Thoughts?

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He wasn't hurt in the regular season...

but he did get hurt in the AAA championship game and had to leave after two innings. I'm not sure what his medical status is/was, but it's very possible that that contributed to his passing through waivers after the season.

I suspect he's basically Colby Lewis except a few years back in the AAAA spin cycle.

cardinalprecepts.blogspot.com

by PaulThomas on Jan 25, 2008 11:48 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

If I recall

...when he got his start in the bigs, folks were somewhat surprised to see him there. He shocked with his debut, but fell back to earth pretty fast.

I'd suggest maybe he's a AAA guy who got lucky once during his cup of coffee, and that really he's at where he's supposed to be at... for now.

We should play Jack Cust at shortstop for a week, just so we can feel good about Crosby again.

by Ozzz on Jan 25, 2008 12:01 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

He was never much of a prospect ...

By all accounts, he's a good, likeable guy ... but other than a very brief period in 2005 when he figured out how to strike guys out ... and then forgot ... he's never really given any reason to think that his ceiling was any better than AAAA.

He's better than he showed in 2007 -- the jump in home runs allowed probably wasn't real -- but he doesn't likely have the stuff to make it in the bigs.

"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback

by devo on Jan 25, 2008 12:12 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hurt by his defense?

In his second big league start, I remember that he was hurt by some weak defense (was it Crosby?). When I questioned him about it, he said, "these things happen." Actually, I guess that meant I met him after his second start, not his first. I hope he catches on someplace----maybe I'll see him playing for the Long Beach Armada, my local Golden League team....I hope not. I root for the little guys.

"It's a cookbook!"---The Twilight Zone

by Buck18 on Jan 25, 2008 12:39 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

i was at

both his first major league start, and the game where he went 6.1 in relief of joe. i remember the first pitch he threw in the majors was a strike, and he caught the return throw from suzuki (it was the first ever hawaiian battery), stepped off the mound, and tossed into the dugout. i turned to my brother and said "now he'll probably give up a towering home run on this pitch". and he did.

the game where he went 6 1/3 was great. he saved the bullpen and got a great ovation. totally unassuming and just did his job. likeable guy and i root for him as well buck.

President of the Joey Devine fan club as of 1/15/08. Accepting applications for other positions. "He has no equivalent." -Paul DePodesta on Jeremy Brown

by flipgatey3 on Jan 25, 2008 2:04 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Nice to know.....

....I'm not alone in this. Whether he ever plays for the A's or not, I can't help rooting for the guy. I think he's every bit as good as, say, Windsor, but sometimes I think baseball teams don't give guys a chance. Of course, if you are Crosby, you get very chance.

"It's a cookbook!"---The Twilight Zone

by Buck18 on Jan 25, 2008 2:19 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I think he's better than Windsor...

the problem is, that's not saying much.

cardinalprecepts.blogspot.com

by PaulThomas on Jan 25, 2008 3:46 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

windsor

killed his arm at fullerton. he could have been much more.

President of the Joey Devine fan club as of 1/15/08. Accepting applications for other positions. "He has no equivalent." -Paul DePodesta on Jeremy Brown

by flipgatey3 on Jan 25, 2008 5:33 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Windsor could still come around

2007 was just a bad year all around for Windsor, but I'm not ready to give up on a guy who posted a K/BB of greater than 3 as a 23 year old in AAA in 2006. Komine's a couple years older, and doesn't have nearly the Minor League track record that Windsor does.

by MrIncognito on Jan 25, 2008 6:03 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

One problem with drafting

college pitchers from good teams is that they get over worked. In Windsor's case they went to the World Series, might even had won it, forget that but know he was pitching almost every other day for extended periods, also remember the A's weren't very happy about it. I still hold out a glimmer of hope for him, and since he was injured all last year did not get over worked. This will be a big 'Spring training for him.

by china bob on Jan 27, 2008 11:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

didn't he have major surgery a few seasons ago?

by OaklandSi on Jan 25, 2008 4:58 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Tommy John surgery July 2004

by OaklandSi on Jan 25, 2008 5:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Komine's Debut...

...was on July 30, 2006. Kurt Suzuki didn't make the bigs until 2007. Komine was pitching to Jason Kendall in his first major league start:

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2...

by Aaron C on Jan 26, 2008 9:19 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

right

i must have mixed that up...when suzuki and komine were batterymates (must have been last year in the relief outing), they were the first hawaiian battery ever.

President of the Joey Devine fan club as of 1/15/08. Accepting applications for other positions. "He has no equivalent." -Paul DePodesta on Jeremy Brown

by flipgatey3 on Jan 29, 2008 6:31 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Sacramento's roster

is right here. Check it out.

"Ten times thy self were better than ten Hattebergs" -- Monkeyball, channeling Shakespeare

by iglew on Jan 25, 2008 9:58 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hmn....

The roster for the Sacramento Rivercats is very incomplete.

There is no shortstop, there is only two outfielders, and no backups for any defensive positions. I wonder who is going to get promoted to AAA to fill the gaps.

by Coffee13eans on Jan 26, 2008 12:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs