A's Opening Day Roster: Breaking Down The Pitchers

: Foulke has had a year off, so his arm is fresh, and he retired early anyway, so he's actually nearly three years younger than Embree. His changeup remains excellent and he looked good against the Red Sox. He spots his fastball-changeup combo masterfully.

Cons: Foulke's velocity is terrible, as his fastball usually tops out in the mid-80's. He got lit up in the spring in most of his appearances. His stats went way south in the last two years he pitched, and he dealt with numerous injuries.

My take: As with Embree, Foulke's style leaves him with a very small margin for error and his age and skills have little value to a "rebuilding" team. His signing didn't make much sense to me, but if he gets dealt for young players, the A's will have turned nothing into something.

If Foulke and Embree are A's on August 1st, it will mean one of two things: either a) the A's are in the playoff hunt or b) Billy Beane just wasted a couple million dollars.

 

Santiago Casilla, RHP

Pros: Casilla throws a mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slide, which are both plus pitches when they're on. His arms-and-legs delivery makes the ball jump on the hitter even more.

Cons: Casilla has the usual caveats that come with young Dominican power righties. Primary among these is lack of real strike zone command. One night Casilla is unhittable; the next night everything is in the dirt or right down the middle. Gaining consistency with his command and mechanics is crucial to his development.

My take: You can find bullpen arms almost anywhere if you know where to look. Seriously, trading Street, Embree, and Foulke for prospects and installing Casilla as the closer wouldn't hurt the bullpen too much. It's just an idea, but one Billy Beane should think about if he gets some good offers. Not that Casilla is amazing, but there are worse relievers (ahem, Joe Borowski) who do just fine in the role, so he'll probably be good enough.

 

Andrew Brown, RHP

Pros: Brown is nothing like Casilla physically; he's a big guy (and you can't have a much more American name) who throws straight overhand to Casilla's three-quarters. However, stuff-wise, the two are very similar, and that's a good thing.

Cons: Brown's delivery is long and laborious, and he loses his release point a lot, so the consistency/command issues that Casilla has are also present here. Casilla rates higher because his delivery is more deceptive and his pitches are just slightly better.

My take: Brown is a serviceable 6th-7th inning type guy who might become more if he fixes his mechanics a bit. He's fine where he is for now.

 

Lenny DiNardo, LHP

Pros: DiNardo has started and relieved with success. He throws a ton of different pitches (four-seamer, two-seamer, curve, slider, change, cutter) that he controls well. All his pitches have a lot of movement on them.

Cons: DiNardo has nothing in the way of velocity, as his fastball tops out at 85-86 mph. Hitters can always make contact with his pitches, so they just foul them off again and again until he makes a mistake. Because of this, DiNardo has to work off the plate a lot. When a guy whose calling card is control walks over three batters per nine innings and has a K/BB ratio of just 1.1, that's not a good sign.

My take: DiNardo has no room for error either, but his 4.11 ERA shows that he can at least be the 12th pitcher on a roster. Still, if the A's are a) going to carry just 11 pitchers and b) make one of those guys a Rule 5 pick (Fernando Hernandez), I would've liked to see them put someone with a bit more upside here.

DiNardo does have a decent amount of value in that he can eat innings for your bullpen, which helps if you carry 11 pitchers and one of them is Rich Harden. If DiNardo struggles in April, though, he really should be swapped for someone with something more in the way of stuff.

 

Fernando Hernandez, RHP

Pros: Hernandez has pitched very well up through AA ball, and has excellent breaking stuff. His strong spring backed up the idea that he is ready for the majors.

Cons: Hernandez doesn't throw too hard, maybe 92 tops, which limits his ceiling. I'd like to see Beane pick some higher-upside guys in the Rule 5, because Hernandez, like Tyler Johnson and Jay Marshall before him, is pretty much restricted to setup work at best. Hernandez pitched in a very pitcher-friendly park in AA last year, which could make him look better than he is.

My take: He's worth a look, but with so many good arms on the River Cats and RockHounds, Hernandez isn't worth keeping if he struggles and some of the other prospects do well.

 

Hitter reports will be up later today or tomorrow. 

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