July 24, 2009, at 12:00 pm
A couple of days ago, Jason caught wind of top Rockies pitching prospect Jhoulys Chacin being pulled from his start after only one inning. He surmised that it might have something to do with a potential trade for a starting pitcher. Not quite. Here’s the news story via Purple Row.
According to Troy Renck and Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post, Rockies top pitching prospect Jhoulys Chacin has been promoted from AA Tulsa to the Rockies to fill in the Rockies’ ailing bullpen.
While not expressly linked, the move may very well be in reaction the announcement yesterday that reliever Manuel Corpas, will be undergoing arthroscopic elbow surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow.
Chacin, who was posting a 3.14 ERA in 18 starts, is expected to be a future starting pitcher for Colorado, and has developed major-league command of a sinker and changeup to the point where the front office deemed him ready to hit the Majors. His solid work in AA combined with his strong showing in Spring Training made him a prime candidate for making the jump to Coors.
In 106 2/3 innings pitching this season, Chacin is sporting a 54% GB% as well as a 2.21 K/BB ratio.
This isn’t exactly a new theory; See Yankees, New York. Both Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes have been used in the bullpen despite having futures as high level starting pitchers.
The one thing that I do think is very interesting is that the Rockies and their fans seem to have taken to ground ball percentage as a way to evaluate what a pitcher’s success in Coors Field will be. It’s not rocket science, as balls that don’t get hit in the air can’t fly out of the park. However, it’s another example of advanced stats being used to make the world a better place.
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