Watching Anthony Reyes in his past two starts,
tonight against the Tigers and in the
NLCS against the Mets, he's reminded me plenty of Brandon McCarthy.
His repertoire was just about the same as Black Mac's -- a four-seam fastball, a curveball, a change-up that got him in trouble. His also throws about the same speed as Brandon, although his velocity looked down tonight. He was in Freddy Garcia range in Game 1, as opposed to when he was touching 94 during
his one-hit loss against the Sox in late June. Perhaps the cold had something to do with it. They both wear their socks the same height, although Reyes' have the kick-ass stripes.
Reyes' results were also similar to McCarthy's outings. Against the Mets, both runs Reyes allowed were solo homers. Against the Tigers tonight, he gave up a home run to Craig Monroe, and the Tigers had 16 flyouts to only three groundouts.
But looking deeper into Reyes' track record, and the similarities to Black Mac are quite astounding. In 2006, even though Reyes started 17 games to McCarthy's two, they pitched nearly the same amount of innings. Their peripherals compare as such:
That's kind of something, isn't it? But go back to what they did in High-A, Double-A and Triple-A ball, and it still looks similar:
| IP
| H/9
| HR/9
| BB/9
| K/9
|
Reyes
| 239.2
| 7.81
| 0.79 | 2.03
| 10.36
|
| McCarthy | 197.1
| 7.20
| 0.95
| 1.87
| 9.99
|
Keep in mind that McCarthy was a year younger than Reyes at each level, and that when you look at the
minor-league park factors comparing the stadiums at Charlotte and Memphis, St. Louis' Triple-A affiliate, Charlotte is a far better ballpark for hitters. That would explain some of the difference in homers allowed, and also in the hit column (less room for outfielders to cover).
Reyes is a popular name in trade rumors, or trade wishes if
message boards are any indication, with Mark Buehrle being the obvious starter to ship in St. Louis' direction. Obviously it's not close to an even trade straight-up, but I can't imagine Reyes and McCarthy being in the same rotation -- especially considering U.S. Cellular Field is a far better offensive park than the new Busch Stadium.
One thing that is worth noting about Reyes is that he's trying to incorporate a two-seam fastball to go along with his four-seamer. It's a work in progress, but I'd like to see McCarthy trying the same thing. He doesn't have to be Jon Garland with it, but it would help to reduce his gopher ball rate.