Due to financial constraints, the team had to delve into their minor league system a bit more as well as the Rule V draft and the newcomers have played well in their opportunities thus far. As well, after viewing the success of Lebel and others as a starter despite the low stamina, the team has shifted Saltines to the rotation and he’s been very good adjusting to being a starting pitcher in the rotation.
SP Alfredo Montalvo:
He started out the season in the bullpen but was promoted after Ono started to struggle and has pitched well overall outside of his last start in SF. He has had a quality start in 6 of 8 starts thus far into the season. While home has been much kinder to him as he’s gone 1-1, 1.59 ERA, 0.51 WHIP; the majority of his appearances have been on the road where he’s gone 3-3 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Thus far, he’s earned a 0.8 WAR and will continue in the rotation for the unforeseen future. Montalvo was picked up in the Rule V draft and took to the additional training (PP) and developed nicely in Spring Training. With four solid pitches including a very good fastball, the team hopes Montalvo will become a mainstay in the Irvine rotation in the upcoming years.
P Millard Curtis:
Curtis was given a one game tryout against the Rocks (I know, tough competition) as a starting pitcher and was one of the few pitchers in the month of April that the Rocks actually beat up! As such, he was moved to the bullpen where he has remained since. He did get a couple starts last season against Baffin where he was fine and the team expected him to take on the 5th starter role this season before Montalvo was acquired and took over that spot. This season, Curtis has served as more of a long man in the bullpen and he’s given up a run in 8 of his 10 relief appearances which doesn’t sound that great. He hasn’t been terrible, but he’s been largely successful in his relief stint going 3-0 with 1 save and quite a few holds. Most of his appearances consist of 2.2 innings or more thus far (6 of his appearances). For the season he has a 4.34 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 8.4 K/9 with a 0.6 WAR. If someone in the IRV rotation goes down or struggles badly, the consideration to move to the rotation would be between Curtis and Ono.
IF Don Hooper:
Who in the world is Don Hooper? Hooper was brought up as an early season injury replacement for Ronnie Brown and has managed to perform way above expectations as he’s held onto his utility role quite unexpectedly. He’s got a plus glove at SS and 3B. He’s only seen action in 17 games with 5 starts. Eight of those games were just defensive substitutions where he’s not received an at bat. In his limited action, he’s hit .333/.385/.833 with 3 doubles, 3 homers, 11 RBIs, and 4 runs scored. He lives for the late innings where he’s done most of his damage thus far and has hit .500 with a homer as a pinch-hitter. He may well level out as the season progresses, but thus far he’s been a very pleasant surprise.
SP Real Saltines:
While not new to the team, he’s very new to his new role as a starting pitcher. There was a mistake with one of his starts where he pitched two days in a row but not counting that start Saltines has been rock solid in his four main starts going 6 innings in each with a 2-1 record, 2.08 ERA, and a 1.08 WHIP. Interestingly, while he has been effective in striking out batters as a reliever, he’s mostly let his fielders do the work for him thus far averaging only 3.5 K/9 as a starter when his career average is above 8.0 K/9. Will be interesting to see if that is par for the course of if he builds up his K rate in upcoming starts.
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