When his back is against the wall, Jamey Wright is always prepared to come out swinging. Or, more specifically, pitching.
For the seventh straight season, Wright has earned his way onto a Major League team out of Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. He'll earn $900,000 this year with a possible $500,000 more in incentives based on appearances.
On the flip side, John Grabow was given his outright release after being told he would not make the team. Wright's spot on the 40-man roster was cleared when Blake Hawksworth was placed on the 60-day DL. He's been hampered by a sore elbow and staph infection, and will need about six weeks to regain his strength once he's ready to throw. In other words, don't expect to see him for awhile.
As for Wright, it's pretty stunning that he's been able to make team after team despite never really having a solid contract to fall back on. He's pitched in the bigs since 1996 when he broke in with the Rockies. Since then, he's pitched for the Brewers, Cardinals, Royals, Rockies again, Giants, Rangers, Royals again, Indians, and Mariners for the last two seasons. Hopefully he's been able to rent and not buy.
On his career, he's appeared in 526 games with 246 starts. He's 85-121 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. Those numbers aren't exactly pretty, but he has turned things around quite well as a reliever the last two seasons in Seattle, with a 3.41/1.24 in 2010, and 3.16/1.33 in 2011. That's more like it.
According to Don Mattingly, Wright will fill the role once played by Jeff Weaver, which is like a long reliever and spot starter. Who knows, maybe even some short innings as well. With the way the Dodgers went through injuries last year, Wright could find himself to be in a very valuable position.
Showing posts with label Hawksworth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hawksworth. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, June 6, 2011
It's Dee Gordon time
The Dodgers activated three men off the Disabled List today in Blake Hawksworth, Juan Uribe, and Marcus Thames. The question then turned to which players would be replaced.
After making some roster moves today, Dodger management made one thing clear: the youth movement is upon us.
Not only were those three men activated, but shortstop and top prospect Dee Gordon has been given the big league call. Designated for assignment were Juan Castro and Jay Gibbons. Sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque were John Ely and Ivan De Jesus.
It's obviously a big day for Gordon, and most likely an unexpected one because there wasn't much talk of calling him up. But his time has come, and with Rafael Furcal sidelined once again, he will get his chance to show what he's got.
In 50 games with Albuquerque this season, he was hitting .315 with a .361 OBP, plus 22 steals in 25 chances. Stealing bases is his forte, as he stole an incredible 73 in '09 with Great Lakes, and 53 the next season with Chattanooga. That's some unbelievable speed.
The down side? He commits errors, and a whole lot of them. In four years of minor league ball (369 games total), he's made 106 errors for a .937 fielding %. I'm no expert, but that's not very good. The slight silver lining is that he's up to .949 this year, his highest mark.
In addition to Gordon's arrival, Jerry Sands will be staying aboard, as Gibbons was the one given the boot. There had been speculation that it would be the other way around in order to keep both men in the organization, but give the Dodgers credit for doing the right thing. Sands is only hitting .210, but after dominating the minors for a few years, he still needs more time to get comfortable and produce.
I was a fan of the Gibbons signing this past offseason, but it clearly hasn't worked out. First he had problems with his eyes in spring training, which delayed the start of his season. When he has played, he's hitting .255 with one homer and five RBIs. So much for being a power bat from the left side. I do like Castro, so hopefully he can hang around and get called back up at some point.
It's about time the Dodgers got some good news on the injury front, as they have just been hit hard all season long. So, it's nice to see Uribe, Hawksworth, and Thames back. Plus with Gordon coming up and Sands staying around, there's finally some reasons to get excited again. It's not like we're talking major contenders here, but maybe more guys not named Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier will give Dodger fans something to cheer about.
After making some roster moves today, Dodger management made one thing clear: the youth movement is upon us.
Not only were those three men activated, but shortstop and top prospect Dee Gordon has been given the big league call. Designated for assignment were Juan Castro and Jay Gibbons. Sent back down to Triple-A Albuquerque were John Ely and Ivan De Jesus.
It's obviously a big day for Gordon, and most likely an unexpected one because there wasn't much talk of calling him up. But his time has come, and with Rafael Furcal sidelined once again, he will get his chance to show what he's got.
In 50 games with Albuquerque this season, he was hitting .315 with a .361 OBP, plus 22 steals in 25 chances. Stealing bases is his forte, as he stole an incredible 73 in '09 with Great Lakes, and 53 the next season with Chattanooga. That's some unbelievable speed.
The down side? He commits errors, and a whole lot of them. In four years of minor league ball (369 games total), he's made 106 errors for a .937 fielding %. I'm no expert, but that's not very good. The slight silver lining is that he's up to .949 this year, his highest mark.
In addition to Gordon's arrival, Jerry Sands will be staying aboard, as Gibbons was the one given the boot. There had been speculation that it would be the other way around in order to keep both men in the organization, but give the Dodgers credit for doing the right thing. Sands is only hitting .210, but after dominating the minors for a few years, he still needs more time to get comfortable and produce.
I was a fan of the Gibbons signing this past offseason, but it clearly hasn't worked out. First he had problems with his eyes in spring training, which delayed the start of his season. When he has played, he's hitting .255 with one homer and five RBIs. So much for being a power bat from the left side. I do like Castro, so hopefully he can hang around and get called back up at some point.
It's about time the Dodgers got some good news on the injury front, as they have just been hit hard all season long. So, it's nice to see Uribe, Hawksworth, and Thames back. Plus with Gordon coming up and Sands staying around, there's finally some reasons to get excited again. It's not like we're talking major contenders here, but maybe more guys not named Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier will give Dodger fans something to cheer about.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Theriot traded for Hawksworth
Ryan Theriot was traded today for Cardinals' pitcher Blake Hawksworth. Theriot was a candidate to get non-tendered by the Thursday deadline, but that's obviously not going to happen anymore.
Theriot came over to the Dodgers in the trade deadline deal that brought Ted Lilly to LA and sent Blake DeWitt to the Cubs. Appearing in 54 games playing second base, Theriot hit .242 with a .323 OBP, and gave very little power with five doubles, one homer, and no triples. A solid .309 average in August gave way to a meager .141 in September.
The official signing of Juan Uribe made Theriot expendable, as Uribe fills the void of primary starter at second while also playing other infield positions. The Dodgers needed to get more pop in their lineup, and Uribe's 24 homers last season are more than six season's worth of homers for Theriot at 16.
Hawksworth pitched mostly out of the bullpen in his two years with the Cardinals, making eight starts last season. For his brief career, he's gone 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings. He'll be right in the mix out of the 'pen.
What's promising about Hawksworth is probably equally as concerning: he had a great rookie season in '09. But, he followed that up with a sub-par sophomore season. Two years ago, he went 4-0 in 30 games with a 2.03 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and .209 BAA. Last season those numbers dipped to 4-8 in 45 games, 4.98 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, and .310 BAA.
Since Theriot was not in the future plans, it's worth getting a guy who's shown he can get hitters out. Hawksworth struggled with that last year, but the hope is that he'll bounce back and be one of the key arms late in games.
Theriot came over to the Dodgers in the trade deadline deal that brought Ted Lilly to LA and sent Blake DeWitt to the Cubs. Appearing in 54 games playing second base, Theriot hit .242 with a .323 OBP, and gave very little power with five doubles, one homer, and no triples. A solid .309 average in August gave way to a meager .141 in September.
The official signing of Juan Uribe made Theriot expendable, as Uribe fills the void of primary starter at second while also playing other infield positions. The Dodgers needed to get more pop in their lineup, and Uribe's 24 homers last season are more than six season's worth of homers for Theriot at 16.
Hawksworth pitched mostly out of the bullpen in his two years with the Cardinals, making eight starts last season. For his brief career, he's gone 8-8 with a 4.07 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 81 strikeouts in 130 1/3 innings. He'll be right in the mix out of the 'pen.
What's promising about Hawksworth is probably equally as concerning: he had a great rookie season in '09. But, he followed that up with a sub-par sophomore season. Two years ago, he went 4-0 in 30 games with a 2.03 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and .209 BAA. Last season those numbers dipped to 4-8 in 45 games, 4.98 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, and .310 BAA.
Since Theriot was not in the future plans, it's worth getting a guy who's shown he can get hitters out. Hawksworth struggled with that last year, but the hope is that he'll bounce back and be one of the key arms late in games.
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