Ricky Romero Bandwagon

[pickoff22]

Only results you should look at in this sample are strikeouts and walks. Maybe flyballs. Never look at ERA. That's what I mean by results.

 

Nope. I look at the actual pitches. Movement, execution etc. And with a guy whose head hasn't been in the right place I look at attitude and composure. I look at the quality of the swings and misses. You can't say all I'm gonna look at is stat XYZ but ignore absolutely everything about ABC.

[pickoff22]

That's a great way to come to absolutely meaningless conclusions even when you have no bias.

 

Ugh. Some of you are hopeless. You're right, scouts NEVER watch a player play and judge them by the quality of their pitches. Teams pay NO attention to that.

[DuckDuckGose]

Incorrect (well the part about results, sure 5 walks in 7 innings isn't good).

 

His stuff has had much more life to it. He isn't walking guy after guy like he used to (and the one time he did he escaped unharmed). Hasn't appeared as rattled as he used to. And the swings and missed he is getting are much more impressive then last two years. I assume you haven't watched the actual innings he's been involved in, but if you do and compare it against the past couple years it's encouraging.

 

The results have been promising enough to warrant hope - that's the point I'm making.

 

His stuff never looked bad he just cant consistently throw it in the zone. Without a significant change in Romero's ability to command the zone the results will continue to be sub par. Perhaps he would fair better out of the BP.

[pickoff22]

His stuff never looked bad he just cant consistently throw it in the zone. Without a significant change in Romero's ability to command the zone the results will continue to be sub par. Perhaps he would fair better out of the BP.

 

Agree with the middle part. During his struggles his stuff did not have the same look to it though especially in terms of batters reactions. Of course part of the reason it didn't look as effective was simply because batters weren't biting at his changeup or any pitch out of the zone since....well....they knew it was gonna be out of the zone.

 

Anyways this has gone off the rail a bit. My main point still stands - there's a reason why some people hope he can return to a mlb level starter. And this ST he has given us a lot more reason to hope for that than in a long long time.

[Sammy225]

Velocity is important. "Quality of pitches" what does that even mean? Locating? That shows up in stats? Swing and miss? Shows as well? Movement? Shows as well.

 

What about how level the brim of your cap is? Does that show up in stats too?

[pickoff22]

Velocity is important. "Quality of pitches" what does that even mean? Locating? That shows up in stats? Swing and miss? Shows as well? Movement? Shows as well.

 

Yeah you got it. His velocity is above where it was last year at this point. He's got more Ks/9 than last couple years so far (swing and miss, movement, location all can play a factor in this).

[pickoff22]

Scouts do. And they get it wrong a lot. (See: Toronto scouting Chapman). Fans sitting at home watching their favourite team and making judgement calls on a pitcher's stuff? Forget about it.

 

So you're admitting you got it wrong?

 

Again, no one has shown me any reason why I shouldn't have some reason to be hopeful that Ricky is in part "back". All I've really heard negative about him is that he has walked 5 batters in ST so far. I see plenty of other things in his performance so far that look better then they did in the past, therefore there's no reason to be hopeful.

[pickoff22]

What about the wild pitches? OR bouncing it halfway to home *which he did in his most recent start). BTS also never admitted to being wrong in anything wtf

 

He said "Fans sitting at home watching their favourite team and making judgement calls on a pitcher's stuff? Forget about it." He's a fan. Get it? If he's saying I should put nothing in what I've seen then why on earth would he trust what he has seen? Obviously I know he never admitted anything but he said it indirectly.....I was saying that in jest, relax.

 

Again, none of you has given me any reason not to be hopeful. That's been my point all along.

[pickoff22]

What about the wild pitches? OR bouncing it halfway to home *which he did in his most recent start). BTS also never admitted to being wrong in anything wtf

 

Oh and if you're going to look at a wild pitch or a pitch that bounced to the plate, you still get to look at all the other stuff too right? Or I'm only allowed to look at the negative when judging a player's performance and comparing it to last year?

[pickoff22]

It was satirical as in if you're looking at the pitches you have to look at that too, and you shouldn't be coming to any conclusion that he looked good.

 

Actually, that's the exact point - I need to look at the big picture. And so far, he looks better than he did last year. So yeah, I'm VERY comfortable with that conclusion (which again, has been the main point all along)......

[pickoff22]

I haven't offered any opinion about Romero's stuff.

 

Fair enough. But you certainly haven't offered any worthwhile discussion when it comes to whether or not there's any reason to be more hopeful that Romero could return to the bigs than before ST.

[pickoff22]

But why look at last year? He was downright awful, being better than last year means nothing.

 

Gezuz this is getting painful. My whole point has always been that there's plenty more reason to be hopeful then there was last year at this time. So yeah, you kinda have to compare the two years. Especially when this year he's been far from awful and the discrepancy is as large as it is.

[pickoff22]

Have you seen him pitch? I've heard him pitch by the boys at SN590, but I haven't seen him pitch, I'm wondering how you have, are you in FLA?

 

Not in Florida no. But have seen him when televised yes.

[pickoff22]

Is his velocity up? I'm asking honestly. Granted, you can't really trust many of these readings, especially year-to-year (different guns, different sources) ... but what was he throwing last year at this time? Source?

 

What about quality of competition? He's been facing a lot of minor leaguers so far this year ... was he facing more MLBers last year, starting games off?

 

And for the record, you mention "the last couple of years" ... in 2012, he K'ed 10 in 11 innings during the spring. Only walked 2.

 

 

No source but definitely read somewhere it's up and hitting 92,3,4. So I suppose I'm relying on whoever reported that.

 

And 2012 ST no one was worried about him. I was looking at last years ST and the last two years of overall performance.

[pickoff22]

C'mon man.....lol.

 

huh? that means I haven't seen him throw at all?

[pickoff22]

I'm on his wagon out of hope, but seriously? Just say you hope he gets his s*** together and be done with it.

 

Dude WTF have I been saying all along! That I have more hope now then I did before ST!

 

And I will 100% stand by the fact that he looks better now then he did last year. I've seen zero argument proving otherwise or even coming close to. I feel like one of those times when I'm in a disagreement with my wife and she knows she's wrong but won't admit it

[pickoff22]

That was 1.2 innings pitched?

 

haha, it wasn't all 7 I'll give you that. Though I believe the only time he wasn't on a televised game was when he pitched a full 4 innings (though I could be mistaken). Either way, it's not like I saw him throw one pitch.

[pickoff22]

Is this a real post? You claim that Romero "looks" better based on your superscout intuitions after seeing him for two innings on TV, and expect that somebody is going to throw down conclusive evidence that he does not, in fact, "look better". The burden of proof is definitely on you here.

 

nope, never said anything about being a "superscout"

 

And you seem to be trying to discredit the fact that there's more reason to be hopeful than there was pre-ST, so yup, you do have a burden of proof as well.

 

And I suppose you could look at his stats and the observations from people who have watched him pitch as proof, though technically you would have to have an anchor to compare it to in terms of your expectations going into ST. For me, I didn't expect his name to come up as an option as a fifth starter. And I sure didn't expect people to be speaking positively about him. I expected the same from him as last ST and so far, he's far exceeded that. So the above mentioned things are "proof" that he looks better than expected based on my expectations.

 

I feel like you need a big hug.

[pickoff22]

Let him be.........what's wrong with hope?! I'm aiming for Romero to kick ass........get on the wagon you uphill f***ing gardening wanker!!!

 

haha, it's expected of Toronto fans. And I get it our teams have been a constant disappointment so it's normal to be cranky and pessimistic. But when people let the pessimism cloud their judgment or at least disallows them from being positive about anything it's frustrating. I've been guilty of it at times.

[DuckDuckGose]

Dude WTF have I been saying all along! That I have more hope now then I did before ST!

 

And I will 100% stand by the fact that he looks better now then he did last year. I've seen zero argument proving otherwise or even coming close to. I feel like one of those times when I'm in a disagreement with my wife and she knows she's wrong but won't admit it

 

Funny enough he hasnt been better. Through his first 3 March starts in 2013 7IP, 6BB, 6SO, 1.21 avg GO/FO vs 2014 7IP, 5BB, 6SO, 1.80 avg GO/FO.

[NorthOf49]

Ricky's walked five guys in seven innings... am I missing something?! What is there to see here?

[pickoff22]

So basically a 1.29 ERA after 7 innings and AA running his mouth like an idiot.

 

Hmmmm...nope.....not exactly what I said.....but I see how you roll

[pickoff22]

Well said mate, as per usual I'll have to tell you BTS is a beloved Jays fan who's been raped of his virginity by Elliot Friedman, it's okay, all in all, he's still quite cute. Seriously, there's nothing wrong for rooting for any damn player, if it works! It works.....these are the facts.

 

haha, fair enough. I know his type. And I get it. It's one of the frustrating part of being a season ticket holder is hearing people's conversations around me about players or the team and they are clearly biased over the team's lack of success over so many years. I'm all for intelligent baseball conversations but not when someone will only try to point out or pry out the negatives

[pickoff22]

Time to go and enjoy a nice bourbon based beverage. Then watch the raptors. I will be cheering for them.

 

I see the good in each and every one of you even if I think you're talking out of your ass - afterall, I'm an optimist. This was fun (and killed the last couple hours of my workday).

[pickoff22]

He'll argue the pro's, although not many lately, but he has a great baseball mind. That, I can assure you.

 

I could see specks of that. Actually anytime someone appears to be a fan of the Rays I kinda assume they know a thing or two about baseball. Sorta an odd assumption of mine, guess I figure you must support such a well run team in terms of scouting/development/coaching etc that you must know something about the game, otherwise why on earth are you in Canada cheering for the Rays!

 

Ok now it's bourbon time!

[GD]

And I know what I've seen when it comes to the pitches he has thrown irregardless of who's at bat.

 

Genuinely shocked you haven't been torn to shreds for the double negative. This board has come a long way.

[wilko]

I can't believe this argument went on as long as it did. If Romero makes the rotation after ST I'll broadcast my suicide live for you all to see.

[John_Havok]

I can't believe this argument went on as long as it did. If Romero makes the rotation after ST I'll broadcast my suicide live for you all to see.

 

Bit more extreme than hurl's promise to jog around the RC naked if Tim Collins ever gets a major league save... But I admire your passion.

[Slot Machine]

I don't see anything wrong with having some hope that Romero will have a decent season, it has happened before. ie. Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez

 

Its seems for some hope equals having an expectation.

[Chappy]

I don't see anything wrong with having some hope that Romero will have a decent season, it has happened before. ie. Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez

 

Its seems for some hope equals having an expectation.

 

Ervin Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez never had as horrific a drop off as Romero. He couldn't pitch a clean inning last season if his life depended on it.