A source is reporting that the Trenton Thunder are expected to activate reliever Anthony Claggett and add him to the active playoff roster.
Additionally, Eric Wordekemper would go to Scranton and take Mark Melancon’s spot on the roster. Melancon may be getting shut down due to too many innings.
Perhaps the most controversial bit of news may be that the Thunder rotation does not appear to be what was initially believed.
Eric Hacker is still scheduled to start Game 1.
But Christian Garcia will now be pitching in Game 2, and George Kontos will get the ball in Game 3. That would mean Jeff Marquez will start Game 4 and Jason Jones would be on the hill for Game 5.
I don’t understand what they’re trying to do with the rotation, to be honest. With the travel day built in, you have a scenario in which you could have skipped the relatively unknown Garcia — who was supposed to pitch Game 5 — and start Hacker again. You’ve also created a scenario in which Jason Jones, who in the absolute worst case is your second best pitcher, may not pitch in the series.
Something probably worth pointing out is that in 2008, Jones has thrown 166 innings, which is nearly 30 more than the career high of 138.2 he set in 2006. I wonder if there’s some sort of workload issue going on here.
In any event, we’ll see how things play out, but if that’s what the rotation truly looks like, the Thunder may have eliminated a somewhat significant advantage of having the possibility of having two starts from Eric Hacker.
So if this rotation is right, here’s what the pitching matchups tentatively look like. Keep in mind, I’m just guessing at the Akron rotation…amazing how difficult important information can be to obtain sometimes.
Game 1: TRE Eric Hacker vs. AKR Kevin Dixon
Game 2: TRE Christian Garcia vs. AKR J.D. Martin
Game 3: AKR Ryan Edell vs. TRE George Kontos
Game 4: AKR Frank Herrmann vs. TRE Jeff Marquez
Game 5: AKR TBD vs. TRE Jason Jones
Game 2 is huge. I would guess that if Garcia struggles early, Jones would pick him up and Hacker would get the nod in Game 5. JJ last pitched on the 5th, so pitching on the 10th would have him on normal rest.
Additionally, if my math is correct, and my report cards back in high school would frequently say it wasn’t, the Thunder will still need to make a move to accomodate Humberto Sanchez.
Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com
September 9, 2008 at 1:50 am |
Hacker
Garcia
Kontos
Marquez
Jones
September 9, 2008 at 2:29 am |
I accidentally switched Garcia and Kontos when I initially posted this.
Either way…the rotation should either be:
Kontos
Garcia
Hacker
Marquez
Jones
or
Hacker
Marquez
Jones
Kontos
Garcia
Ideally, it’s option B. I think there are way more advantages to doing it that way then there are with the way it’s laid out now. Maybe even switch Kontos and Marquez.
September 9, 2008 at 9:32 am |
Isn’t it a big loss for Scranton to lose both Melancon and Patterson? Why don’t they send Sanchez up instead of Wordekemper since he hasn’t thrown as well since returning to the team?
On a different note that AAA championship series will be better to watch than any Yankees games for the rest of the season. Wish Hughes lined up against Price, that would be a great matchup and a preview of the next 10 years of division play hopefully.
September 9, 2008 at 1:49 pm |
Maybe pitching the “unknown” Garcia is the plan…hitters haven’t seen him and he can surprise hitters with his stuff. Apparently, he has better stuff than Kontos, Hacker, and Jones combined. 3 plus pitches.
September 9, 2008 at 3:37 pm |
Mike – excellent point on Jones. Hasn’t he been banged around a lot over the last month?
B/c of injuries, Garcia hasn’t pitched many innings in 2008. Dunno how many he’ll get with the Arizona Fall League.
This way, the Yankees are sure he’ll get one AA playoff start. Yankees obviously think a lot of Garcia – that’s why he’s going to Arizona this winter
September 9, 2008 at 4:05 pm |
Hey Mike,
You almost got me in trouble today!!! lol Last week in one of your blogs you spoke of the “lovely Erin”, frim the Thunder ticket office. So today when I called for my tix, Erin answered. I said, ‘is this the lovely Erin? She said yes and from the sound of her voice thought I was so sort of weirdo! lol I told her that you wrote “lovely Erin” on your blog and she started to crack up……LOL LOL
September 9, 2008 at 7:59 pm |
Is there any way to know if this is a Tony Franklin decision or an organizational decision? Either way, it’s confusing to me that they’d risk waiting for game 5 to put JJ out there…
September 10, 2008 at 2:24 am |
Garcia has the highest ceiling of the five pitchers; of course he needs to start. Even in the playoffs, minor league baseball is about development first, winning second. It must be hard on the home team fans, but those are the ground rules.
September 10, 2008 at 4:20 am |
A little late here, but I’ve got an alternative and convoluted theory on JJ’s slot.
My thinking is now that Trenton could go back to Hacker with the extra day, they’re holding JJ back so that if the Scranton series goes 5 they can send him up to pitch rather than rely on Zambrano after the shelling he took in his last start there. But for now they’ll keep Zambrano in case they need a long or mop up guy beforehand and to avoid embarrassing him. I can’t believe Scranton’s comfortable throwing Zambrano out there for a deciding game. Also dovetails better with boreifs point.
But the innings pitched argument passes the Occam’s razor test. And boreifs point about development first is equally salient. Just look at Staten Island tonight – a rehabbing Albaladejo got them knocked right out. Good to see Bleich do well though.