A's Star Pitchers and Opening Day Starters

by louismg on Mar 28, 2009 9:48 AM PDT Comment 15 comments

With Justin Duchscherer making his time on the disabled list official, and with seemingly every A's pitcher struggling through the last few weeks of Spring Training (including 4 losses I saw in person which had them outscored 47-26), we are poised to start the year with a less than proven hurler taking the mound on Opening Day. Whether it's Braden, Gallagher or Eveland who starts us off, none of those guys are going to instill a level of fear that once was common in Oakland, whether that was in the time of Hudson/Mulder/Zito, or further back, when Dave Stewart and Bob Welch roamed the Coliseum.

But between the glory days of the late 80s and early 90s, and our run earlier this decade, the team saw a serious deficit in the pitching department, one I hope we're not repeating, but has me feeling a bit of deja vu. Take a look at these recent starting pitchers in A's Opening Day history (borrowed from Wikipedia):

1988 - 1995

1988: Dave Stewart
1989: Dave Stewart
1990: Dave Stewart
1991: Dave Stewart
1992: Dave Stewart
1993: Bob Welch
1994: Bobby Witt
1995: Dave Stewart

2001 - 2008

2001: Tim Hudson
2002: Mark Mulder
2003: Tim Hudson
2004: Tim Hudson
2005: Barry Zito
2006: Barry Zito
2007: Dan Haren
2008: Joe Blanton

They look great, don't they? In those sixteen seasons, the A's put up star-quality pitchers (with the possible exception of Witt in 1994), even though they had an average Opening Day record of 9-7 between them, including six straight wins from 1988-1993, and four straight losses from 2005-2008.

But between 1995 and 2001, you had a grab bag of starters on Opening Day, including some of the most mediocre "aces" you'll ever see in Green and Gold. Take a look:

1996 - 2000

1996: Carlos Reyes
1997: Ariel Prieto
1998: Tom Candiotti
1999: Gil Heredia
2000: Kevin Appier

Of those five, only Dr. Gil, as we called him, won his opening day contest, in what was a dark time for the franchise. Of course, this was when I was in college at nearby Cal, and saw my unfair share of losses, and half-price bleacher tickets while Mount Davis was under construction...

So why bring this up? Because even with the changes on the offensive side, the names being tossed about in our proposed rotation, and especially for opening day, have me feeling a lot more like 1996-2000 than it feels like 2001-2008, or anything like 1988-1995. Nico may believe that the A's rotation matches up well with the Angels and other division foes, but ... I have concerns.

Does Dallas Braden make you think of Tim Hudson or Dave Stewart, or is he just a reincarnation of Ariel Prieto? Is Gallagher the next Gil Heredia? And Eveland another Carlos Reyes? Or is this our big three of the future?

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well, joe blanton doesn't really belong

so this is the second year in a row.
but one or more of the current batch will establish themselves as a top pitcher, so it’s probably the last time for 4-6 years.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 28, 2009 10:05 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I would argue Blanton does belong

He may not be elite, but he is part of the Haren/Blanton/Harden class.

More than just ANtics: http://www.louisgray.com/live/

by louismg on Mar 28, 2009 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

In that case

I’d say that this year will look like the previous years, because Dallas Braden is just as capable of putting up a 4-4.50 ERA as Joe Blanton is.

by SeanR on Mar 28, 2009 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't believe Braden is equally capable of that.

If he can do a 4.50 ERA in 170 IP, that would be a good year for him and a bad year for Blanton.

It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver

by WaddellCanseco on Mar 28, 2009 4:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

More like a typical year for Blanton

(minus 20 IP).

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Mar 28, 2009 5:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

His career ERA is 4.24

It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver

by WaddellCanseco on Mar 28, 2009 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

3.77 in Oakland, 4.79 away from the Coliseum

A 4.50 in 2009 wouldn’t be a “bad year” for Blanton; it would be a typical year, just no longer with the benefit of the Coliseum.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Mar 28, 2009 8:34 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see your Home/Road splits and raise you a 4.12 FIP and 107 tRA+

So a 4.50 ERA is a bad year for an above average pitcher in a neutral environment.

It's not the results, it's how you look going about those results -- Tim McCarver

by WaddellCanseco on Mar 29, 2009 9:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I fold

At least that way the laundry gets put away.

I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal

by Nico on Mar 29, 2009 10:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs