Could Calvin be the Closer?

by tampabaysportsfanatic on Nov 16, 2007 6:15 PM EST

The Rays made a nice trade during the season when they sent Cantu to the Reds for Sheckelford and Medlock. I think they needed to get what they could for Cantu and they did. I was intrigued by Medlock's numbers and he looked like he could be a decent bullpen guy. Since the Trade he has only gotten better. The guy had a much lower ERA in Durham than he did in Louisville, and it was pretty much the same amount of innings. Also, Calvin has torn up the Arizona Fall league with an ERA of 1.62 and a 9.5 K/BB ratio. The guy looks like he is for real. Anyone think the Rays may have found their closer fo the future?

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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I don't know

Closer of the future is a tough tag to apply to anybody, especially a guy who posted a 4.55 ERA in AAA as a 24 year-old.

However, I do think he has a future in the majors. His hit rates stayed low, and his strikeout rates were still pretty good in AAA, but his walk rates were atrocious. He has only walked 2 in 16.2 innings in the AFL, which is, I think, a more encouraging sign than the 19 strikeouts to 7 hits.

by raysrule07 on Nov 16, 2007 6:27 PM EST reply actions

Re: I don't know

He did post a 4.55, but he had a 5.63 with the LOU and a 3.45 when he came to Durham. His walks also went from 17 in 16 innings to 8 in 15.2 innings. Could be the Xavier helped him out

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by tampabaysportsfanatic on Nov 16, 2007 7:13 PM EST up reply actions

That's his strikeouts

That went from 17 to 8. His walks did go down as well, but not as much, 14 to 9. Still small sample size, and could just be an adjustment period. My point it that while he seems to have the potential to be a shutdown guy, I wouldn't count on it, he'll probably be a middle reliever, maybe set-up man.

by raysrule07 on Nov 16, 2007 10:36 PM EST up reply actions

Re: That's his strikeouts

Very True. I noticed that he seemed to struggle when he first gets promoted, but gets better the longer is there. I hope what we saw in the AFL is indicative of what he can do.

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by tampabaysportsfanatic on Nov 17, 2007 10:45 AM EST up reply actions

Re: That's his strikeouts

To me that indicates he's good at making adjustments, like a lot of our pitchers -- Shields and Sonnanstine come to mind.

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 17, 2007 11:19 AM EST up reply actions

Depends

Are we adapting a reliever ace system or a traditional approach? If it's the former he'd make an okay 9th inning guy, but for the latter, not sure quite yet.

by R.J. Anderson on Nov 16, 2007 6:56 PM EST reply actions