If that were all there was to it (getting guys to chase), then Craig Anderson would have been the best pitcher in the system at one point because he destroyed hitters who couldn’t recognize a change-up. Except that his skillset otherwise sucked and he hit the wall in double-A.

Pineda is probably closer to putting it all together than Ramirez, but the reason we talk about him is because his stuff is actually pretty good for being a command-based pitcher.

I thought most scouts considered Ramirez to have a #2-#1 starter ceiling and Pineda to have one almost as high – has this been knocked down because of Ramirez’s inconsistency and Pineda’s injuries or am I overestimating the general pre-season consensus about these two?

I’ve personally been late on the Ramirez bandwagon. Everyone was telling me he was putting it together last season, which it really ended up looking like, but he’s been terribly inconsistent this year. He’s gone through long stretches of giving up too many hits, not striking out anyone, having his command go all wonky on him, etc. This week, I think, was the first time when everything, and I mean everything, was working for him, but previous inconsistencies make me not want to get too excited too soon. I’ve heard, and probably made Rafael Soriano comps now and then, but although he has been pitching for longer, presumably, he’s still raw as heck and that makes me more conservative in how I look at him. On talent, he could be a #2, on present ability and what he’s put together so far, he’s a #3 or #4.

re: Pineda, yeah, he drops a bit due to the injuries. However, I heard an interview with Dave Wallace yesterday on the Lumberblog where he said that Pineda deserves to be right there in the discussion with the best arms of the system and he added that Pineda is throwing in Peoria right now, which runs contrary to what I had previously heard. Pineda doesn’t have as much raw ability, but he’s a hell of a lot more polished in general. I’m a little concerned that his delivery may have been what gave him trouble earlier and his breaking pitch isn’t as good as his change, but otherwise he throws good heat with plus command and knows how to use a change.

No potential front-line starters at all? Have we really given up on Aumont yet?

Can’t we hold on to some glimmer of hope that he will be able to transition back into starting?

We can, but mechanically he’s not exactly sound, he had arm trouble while starting last season, and if you had some difficulty figuring how Morrow could be expected to throw ~200 innings with the limitations of his college experience, you’re going to have a hell of a time with our boy Phillippe.

Carraway has been on my radar ever since his second appearance or so. He seems to me to be in the same mold as Cheyne Hann, and both of them are a lite-version of Shawn Kelley, but could be effective arms in the bullpen

That sounds about fair. Kelley, however, benefited from the “push them ’til they fail” philosophy implemented by Bavasi and co., where Hann and a few others have just been languishing about. Hensley is the big one that we got, with Moore as a close second, but otherwise the new administration has not been too keen on promotions yet. I’m on the books as wanting to see Hann/Flores and others move up, but we’ll see how they actually play it.

Can’t we hold on to some glimmer of hope that he will be able to transition back into starting?

Lonnie

The curveball was good for one season and then never again, the change stopped making progress, and the fastball is now merely average. He never really had the head for it either, which is something that I tend to grade rather harshly.

We have him, he’s on the 40-man for some reason, I’ve never been interested in him, and he’s injured now. A brief history of Gaby Hernandez’ time as a Seattle Mariner.

Speaking of Starting Pitchers what the heck happened to Gaby Hernandez. I’ve seen his line of 3-7 with an Era 5.64 WHIP 1.51 in 81.1 IP BB/K 27/58 … What is going on wasn’t this guy at one time suppose to be some sort of prospect and do you seem him working out his issues?

From what i was told he has a plus curve ball and average change to go along with a fastball that has some movement and sits around 94 … Seems like a guy with the tools … or did i just get bad info?