A's Opening Day Roster: Breaking Down The Pitchers

: Gaudin's best pitch is his slider, and he has a good fastball and changeup to complement it. He has ample MLB experience for his age, as he is a five-year veteran at age 25. He is a strong groundball pitcher, as 51.1 percent of balls in play off of him last year were grounders. He also struck out 154 last year.

Cons: Gaudin's control is shakier than most, evidenced by his 100 walks last year, and his command of the strike zone varies from start to start. He isn't very big, so durability is a concern. He threw 199 1/3 innings last year, but tired in the second half and had two offseason surgeries. He showed no ill effects in spring, however.

My take: Gaudin is interesting because he seems older than he is because of his experience. Since he's still young, he's got a chance at eventually solving his control issues. If he can cut his walks by 25 percent, Gaudin would go from a good number four guy to a front-of-the-rotation type starter, although he needs to prove he can stay healthy.

 

Justin Duchscherer, RHP

Pros: Duchscherer is a lot like Blanton in that he throws strikes with a big curve and low-90s fastball. He excelled in a relief role, but has starting experience in both the minor and major leagues. He always wanted to start, and has taken well to being converted from relief work.

Cons: Duchscherer had several injuries last year that shut him down for most of 2007, most notably his hip. As opposed to Gaudin, he's older than you would think because he started his MLB career later than most, so his upside is less than it may appear. Duchscherer is an older version of Blanton, but with similar injury caveats to Gaudin, which makes him less valuable than either of them.

My take: Duchscherer is a bit of an unknown because he hasn't started for three years and is coming off injury problems into a new role. Still, he's just the fourth starter, and his stuff and command seems good enough for the role.

The danger here is that if Harden gets hurt, Blanton needs to be an ace, Gaudin a number two and Duchscherer a number three, and that's asking just a bit too much from all of them.

 

Dana Eveland, LHP

Pros: The only lefty in the rotation. He throws hard for a lefty and has a good slider-curve combo to back it up. He has dominated the minors and put up a 1.29 ERA in spring training this year, so he certainly earned the job.

Cons: Eveland's conditioning issues are nearly impossible to overlook; he is 6'1" and upwards of 250 pounds. He has struggled mightily in previous MLB stints with Milwaukee and Arizona in both starting and relief roles. His changeup isn't very good, which leads many people to think he's better off as a reliever.

Many scouts belief Eveland's weight is the cause of his MLB struggles because it compromises his mechanics. Eveland doesn't have a very repeatable delivery out of the windup, and his mechanics are inconsistent from the stretch.

It seems like every few batters he loses his release point and struggles for a few batters until he finds it again. As a starter, you can't get away with that.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?