i'm sure i'll look like a fool in a few days for saying this, but after having watched todd wellemeyer throw for the first time i like the pickup. i'm not quite ready to declare him the next al reyes, but there are certain similarities. here are reyes' career rate-stats through age 28 (wellemeyer's age), vs wellemeyer's:
| h/9 | w/9 | k/9 | hr/9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| reyes | 7.7 | 4.8 | 8.7 | 1.2 |
| wellemeyer | 9.0 | 6.1 | 8.0 | 1.2 |
not a perfect fit, but there's a vague resemblance: two hard throwers with control problems. reyes halved his walk rate after joining dave duncan and cut his era by more than half; maybe wellemeyer can do something similar.
to repeat my argument from the game thread, i'm not arguing that one decent outing means that wellemeyer should be anointed the new setup man. but i didn't see anything troubling in the inning he threw today. he threw 12 pitches --- 10 were strikes. since joining the cardinals, he has thrown a total of 78 pitches (including today); 59 have been strikes, or 76 percent. he threw hard, and he attacked jason bay in a key spot and made him look terrible. i'm suddenly interested to see what this player can contribute.
as long as i'm talking up relievers: how about a little love for isringhausen? after today's outing, opponents are batting .143 against him this year; he's walked only 5 of the 63 batters he has faced and has yet to give up a home run. he pitched on one leg last year and nearly got booed out of town; this season he's healthy and pitching with a vengeance. a standing O for you, mr izz.