posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:23 AM
by
Jim
Midseason Review: Jose Contreras
| W-L | ERA | IP | H
| R
| ER | BB | K
| SV | SvOp |
9-0
| 3.38
| 109.1 | 97
| 42
| 41
| 32
| 77 | 0 | 0 |
Something nice: Remember Parker Lewis Can't Lose? Well, that's the story here. Even when he pitches like crap, he manages to avoid snapping his now-17-game winning streak. Then again, he's had some nice starts spoiled by bad defense, so karma does owe some things to him. .
Must improve: Don Cooper might've fixed the one thing wrong with him when he told Jose to stop throwing three-quarters. That arm slot should be called the Not-So-Great Compromise, as it flattened out his pitches and allowed teams like the Pirates to hit him hard. He looked better in his last start, and we'll see if that's what was ailing him -- aside from the sciatica.
Three best games April 12Little
did we know what threat the Tigers would pose at the break, but they
didn't do much against Conteras. Craig Monroe's solo homer would be
all Detroit could muster.
April 29Contreras outduels Kelvim Escobar and the Angels bullpen, shutting down Anaheim for 8 1/3 innings and ending the month of April with a 1.45 ERA.
June 12
Conteras strikes out a career-high 11 batters as he dominates the Rangers. He allowed three runs, but two of them were courtesy of Scott Podsednik. Podsednik would also soil his next start against the Reds, when he'd strike out 13 hitters.
Three worst gamesJune 1Contreras' first poor outing of the season; the Sox kept giving him big leads, and he kept giving them right back. Pound-for-pound, his worst start of the year.
June 29This was three-quarters Jose at his worst, and I was fortunate enough to see it in person. The Pirates had no problems hitting him, but Jim Thome's pinch-hit homer prevented him from getting the loss.
July 9
Yes, this was actually his third worst start. That's how good he's been. He lost control after Jason Varitek's weaker-than-it-first-appeared comebacker and the let the Red Sox score two more runs. Jermaine Dye bailed him out in the ninth.
Grades
Arm: A-
He gets an A- for his over-the-top delivery, an A for dropping down, and a D+ for three-quarters. We'll allow him to drop the lowest score. Let's hope he chooses to do so.
Head: B+This was an A before the DL stint, and like everything else, we'll see if he can rebound to match his previous high levels of achievement. The breakdown against Boston didn't scare me, because it seemed like he might've tweaked something and it threw off his mechanics. When he returned to the mound, he was fine, even when Red Sox reached base.
Defense: B+Here's an interesting development -- last year, baserunners were 28-for-30 in stolen base attempts. This year, they're 7-for-11. Factor that in with an improved groundball-to-flyball ratio, and he could be back to his old self in no time.
Awards
Pitcher of the Weak,
June 18-24Pitcher of the Week,
June 4-10Pitcher of the Weak,
May 28-June 3Pitcher of the Week,
April 23-29