What's Eating Scott Kazmir?

by R.J. Anderson on May 15, 2009 4:09 PM EDT

SwStr%	2007	2008	2009
Shields	10.6	9.6	9.1
Kazmir	12.1	11.8	6.2
Garza	8.7*	7.6	6.8
Sonny	9.2*	7.3	7
Niemann		6.7*	5.7

Smallish sample sizes are noted with asterisks

I'm not entirely sure whether the smallish bumps really matter much (Shields, Garza, and Sonnanstine) but Kazmir is ridiculously lower. Here's an incomplete list of pitchers getting more whiffs than Kaz so far:

Glen Perkins

Chan Ho Park

Scott Feldman

Kyle Lohse

Jason Marquis

Nick Blackburn

Jeff Karsens

Joe Saunders

Bartolo Colon

Andy Pettitte

Trevor Cahill

Zach Duke

Add this with the velocity issues, and Kazmir's red flag just got more vibrant. I don't know if he's hurt and I won't speculate as such, but this is bad, and I don't know if there's anything good to come from it.

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I dont think its whats eating Scott Kazmir

But whats Scott Kazmir eating? ZING
But in all seriousness, he looks absolutely terrible in pretty much every category you could imagine. Its not like 1 or 2 things are killing him while hes still pitching well. He just looks like a below average pitcher right now. But thats ok cus Sonny and Neimann are pickin up the slack. Oh wait…

by BJ the Bossman on May 15, 2009 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

Uh, funyons?

I could be wrong though

by staplemaniac on May 15, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Well it's either due to:

A) Injury.
B) Previous injuries.
C) Pitch selection.
D) Desire.
E) Mechanics
or
F) Ticket sales.

Personally I think something is wrong with his shoulder. Causing all of the above to come into play.

Sign lady must die.

by EminenceFront on May 15, 2009 4:35 PM EDT reply actions

SELL SELL SELL

by R.J. Anderson on May 15, 2009 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I just hope

he puts together a decent month here so we could get something nice in return for him. Though it would make it harder to part with the good ol pot head, it would be nice to get a catcher who can A) hit above the Mendoza line, B) not be fat, and C) not have boogers on his gloves. Man am I glad I bought that Navi jersey.

by BJ the Bossman on May 15, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

We can't get rid of him fast enough.

If we put him on the DL, we won’t get as much for him. If we keep him active, he’ll cost us wins but potentially make him look like this year’s CC Sabathia. AKA a guy who “just needs a change of scenery”.

Sign lady must die.

by EminenceFront on May 15, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Though I agree with you

Lets not forget how nasty Kaz can be. Im not by any means saying he is the same pitcher, but if he can string together 3 or 4 good starts in a row, imagine what that would do to his trade value. By the way, why have we never thought of packaging Percy in this Kaz deal (if we do indeed trade him) and make said team take his contract? sounds pretty sensible to me and Bill Bavasi.

by BJ the Bossman on May 15, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions

This isn't MLB the show.

You can’t just lump Percy in on the deal. It takes two sides. I would venture to say that there isn’t a team out there who would take Kaz and Percy in one deal with fair returning value.

As far as Kaz rolling 3-4 good starts, it’s just not going to happen. He’s not consistent enough even when healthy and there is nothing really showing that its gonna happen right now.

Sign lady must die.

by EminenceFront on May 15, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Im not saying this is MLB the show

You can absolutely lump shitty players with shitty contracts into a deal if the other team wants that player that badly. Mike Lowell with Josh Beckett? Sox didnt want Lowell but took him to get Beckett. And they gave a pretty sizeable amout. Im not saying that Kaz is Beckett by any means but there are plenty of shitty GMs that Friedman can work over to get a great value here and I think he could get rid of Percy/Wheeler in this deal. As for Kaz not putting together a couple of good starts, I absolutely think he can. If he goes 5 innings everytime but only allows 0,1, or 2 runs and Ks a bunch of guys that is considered a good start. And I think he is fully capable of doing that.

by BJ the Bossman on May 15, 2009 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Kaz is not good enough to lump shitty players on top of.

His value will come solely off his name and that’s not enough to unload a 30 year old washing machine of a closer.

Sign lady must die.

by EminenceFront on May 15, 2009 5:04 PM EDT up reply actions

So youre telling me

that a team with money that needs a 3,4, or 5 arm in the rotation wouldnt take 4 million extra dollars just to DFA Percy? Im sorry my man but I disagree with you there. I think there are a couple teams that would do that. But hey at least we can agree that wed like to see Kaz traded here soon and that we get something nice in return. Lets get that streak goin tonight Kid K.

by BJ the Bossman on May 15, 2009 5:08 PM EDT up reply actions

His K/9 rate since 2006:

10.2
10.4
9.8
7.1

K/BB ratio:

3.1
2.7
2.4
1.4

FB velocity:

91.9
92.1
91.7
89.8

Please find some kind of reason to put him on the DL so you can find what’s the matter with him. He’s dropped 2 mph since last year – something’s wrong.

What's on my mind

by Jason Collette on May 16, 2009 9:54 AM EDT reply actions