posted on Sunday, July 09, 2006 2:23 AM
by
Jim
Midseason Review: Brandon McCarthy
| W-L | ERA | IP | H
| R
| ER | BB | K
| SV | SvOp |
3-4
| 4.25 | 48.2 | 45 | 23
| 23
| 15
| 31 | 0 | 1 |
Something nice: Sometimes he's really good. If he has his changeup working (by which I mean he keeps it down), he can work three or four innings easily, and that's a unique skill in this bullpen.
Must improve: The times where he's really bad. That's when he leaves everything up, and hitters have no problem taking any pitch he throws out of the yard.
HighlightsApril 10
The Sox spoil the Tigers' home opener, and McCarthy is a big reason why. He's a one-man bridge to Bobby Jenks with two scoreless innings, allowing only one real hit (Pods should've had the other one). Either way, they were both soft.
June 6Another excellent outing against the Tigers. This time, he pitches two hitless innings as the Sox offense pulls its head out of its ass and finally executes, and he comes away with the win. He allowed only a leadoff walk, and he erased it with a beautiful throw to second on a sacrifice bunt attempt.
July 9Brandon pitches a masterful 4 1/3 innings against the Red Sox, only allowing a hit and a walk, and no scoring situations. His effort kept Cliff Politte out of the game as long as possible, and allowed the White Sox to win it.
LowlightsApril 24The first of a couple unlucky losses on the season. Brandon made his pitches, but Seattle did just enough to win this game in the 10th inning. He'd have a similar issue against Houston a couple months later.
May 1A disasterous outing by McCarthy turns a laugher into a game that should've never been as close as it was. He paid the price for walking Jhonny Peralta with Travis Hafner on deck, because Hafner predictably hit a slam.
June 1
This is where some of that rookie pitch selection comes into play. He had Ronnie Belliard on the ropes with fastballs, as Belliard barely got a piece of them. Instead of pounding away with heaters, McCarthy throws a grooved changeup that speeds up Belliard's bat, and Belliard hits a two-run homer to spoil a Sox comeback and lead.
Grades
Arm: B-
His numbers are in between the ones he posted in his first and second stint last year, but he looks more like the September Brandon. He attacks hitters, but sometimes he wages war with a dull knife, if you know what I mean.
Head: CThis feels like an unfair grade on some levels. This is just his first time pitching out of a bullpen, and sometimes he's slow to realize what pitches aren't working for him on a given night. Or he flirts with trying to get a mediocre pitch up to speed in a tight spot, and it backfires. He'll come around.
Awards
Fireman of the Week,
June 11-17Fireman of the Week,
May 7-13Gas Can of the Week,
April 23-29Fireman of the Week,
April 9-15Fireman of the Week,
April 2-8