Jamie Walker

by dkdc on May 14, 2008 11:42 AM EDT

I'm surprised at the lack of support Walker is getting around here. Yes, he's been miserable for the last month, but that's a pretty short amount of time compared to his long career as a very good major league reliever.

Jamie Walker is going through a bad stretch, and he goes through a bad stretch every year, just like every other pitcher.

I think he'll be fine. I cherrypicked a small sample from every year of Jamie's career that Baseball-Reference has data for:

Start	End	IP	H	BB	SO	HR	ERA
4/11/2008	5/13/2008	7.1	14	2	4	3	7.36
9/4/2007	9/24/2007	8.1	6	3	5	3	6.48
9/10/2006	9/29/2006	8.0	13	1	7	4	7.88
8/6/2005	9/9/2005	9.1	13	2	7	3	7.71
6/29/2004	7/28/2004	9.0	14	2	7	2	8.00
5/19/2003	6/6/2003	7.1	11	1	3	1	8.59
6/15/2002	8/3/2002	7.2	10	2	4	4	9.39

If a pitcher is "done" after 7 poor innings, then Jamie Walker has been "done" many times in his career.

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I'm not ready to give up on Jamie yet

Still, I’d rather not pitch him in high leverage situations until he’s straightened things out. The problem is that his role on the team is exactly to pitch in high leverage situations versus lefties. Is he worth filling a roster spot if he can’t do that? Again, I’m not ready to cast him away yet, as relievers do go through stretches like this, but we should at least begin thinking about other options.

by silverstadium on May 14, 2008 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

I don't want to give up on him

But I think we need to reduce his roll until he can start getting dudes out again. I do think its probable that he will recover; what I don’t like is that lump in my throat that develops every time they put him in a tight situation.

Have him put in a few good showings at mop-up duty, and ease him back into the tougher spots. Make him feel like he has something to prove.

"Whether your name is Gehrig or Ripken, DiMaggio or Robinson, or that of some youngster who picks up his bat or puts on his glove, you are challenged by the game of baseball to do your very best day in and day out. That's all I've ever tried to do."

by spike2131 on May 14, 2008 1:03 PM EDT reply actions

But how do you know when he's ready again...

He’s pretty much a lefty specialist. I would think you would want to put him out there in situations where he’s most likely to succeed; which is going to be against mostly lefties. Do you really want to send him out there i mop up duty to just get a batter or two out?

He’s had a few bad outings, but I think you have to keep marching him out there at least for now.

"Hey Yankees... you can take your apology and your trophy and shove 'em straight up your ass!" --Tanner Boyle

by BirdFanInPhilly on May 14, 2008 1:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m not really sold on the value of a lefty specialist roll anyway. Which makes it especially important that the one we have gets results. And I think it hurts the whole team when Dave uses the “he’s our lefty specialist” rational for putting out there against a David Ortiz in a tight game when he’s obviously been struggling. I can only stomach that for so long.

by spike2131 on May 14, 2008 1:54 PM EDT up reply actions