Sea Dogs Pitching

The Sea Dogs lost to New Hampshire 4-1 tonight, running into a hot pitcher who was making his AA debut. Zach Jackson, a 2004 college grad who was just called up from Dunedin, gave up just one run in 8 innings for the win. The lefty, who John Sickels rates the #6 prospect in the Blue Jays system, had gone 8-1, 2.88 with a 1.04 WHIP and 48/6 K/BB ratio in 59.1 innings - numbers that were certainly deserving of a call up. Kason Gabbard, fresh off some doubts from the Sea Blog, pitched pretty well, giving up three runs on nine hits, with 6 k's in six innings pitched.

This came on the heels of Tuesday's 3-1 victory. It was a 12 inning game, so he didn't figure into the decision, but Jon Papelbon gave up just one run on one hit (a home run, naturally) in 8 innings pitched. Papelbon has now made nine starts on the year and thrown 55.2 IP with a 2.10 ERA, 0.84 WHIP, 7.8 K/9 IP and 3.2 K/BB ratio. His only "bad" stat is the 7 home runs that he's allowed. If he keeps it up (and stays in Portland for the season), he's got an excellent chance to make his mark on the Sea Dogs record book, particularly in the ERA department, where the team record is 2.62 (Michael Tejera, 1999).

Jon Lester has nearly matched Papelbon's performance; 52.1 IP, 3.44 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 2.9 K/BB. Lester began the season struggling a little more with his command and was a little more hittable than Papelbon, but he's really come on recently and I believe that he's got just as much potential as his rotation-mate.

David Pauley (49.2 IP, 3.08 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, 2.9 K/BB) is a sinker/slider guy, not as overpowering as Papelbon and Lester, but doing well nonetheless. Scouting reports on him indicated that control could be a problem, but that hasn't been the case thus far this year, as he's only allowed 2.5 walks/9 IP. As stated before, I think Pauley's upside is a #3 or #4 guy in the majors, but that's not a bad thing at all, and he's going to keep the Sea Dogs in the game pretty much every time he toes the rubber.

Kason Gabbard (50.1 IP, 4.47 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 4.3 K/9, 1.0 K/BB) has been the least successful of the guys currently in the rotation. He's giving up a lot of base runners and not overpowering, only striking out 4.3 per game and issuing the same number of walks as K's. He has flashes of being a very good pitcher, and I think if he can cut down on the walks and miss a few more bats, he'll become a lefty version of Pauley.

Chris Smith (18.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 6.3 K/9, 4.3 K/BB) recently returned from the DL and proceeded to start posting the kinds of numbers he had in Portland last season before his injury. Smith's a power guy (I expect his K's to go up) with excellent control, and he fits the same mold as Papelbon and Lester.

Charlie Zink (23 IP, 6.65 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 1.9 K/BB) I discussed here recently. He's a knuckleballer, so he'll be inconsistent. He struggled in AA last season, and didn't fare well in Pawtucket while he was there, and his ERA is high in AA. However, his peripherals are all favorable to Gabbard's thus far (in about half the innings, it should be noted), and I think that there is still promise there. If he returns healthy, I think he'll be an asset to the Sea Dogs.

This really is a formidable AA pitching staff. Three guys have K/BB ratios of 2.9 or higher, which is outstanding. Papelbon, Lester and Smith are all very dominant guys who should rack up the wins when their teammates start swinging the bats more consistantly. Pauley is really the 4th best pitcher on this team, but he's as good as many of the "aces" the Sea Dogs have featured in recent years. He'll gather his share of W's, too. Gabbard and Zink are both less consistent but will have their days when they pitch very well. Like Pauley, these guys are far better than the typical #5 Eastern League starter. The bottom line is that you know that you have a chance to win every night with this rotation, and that's a very good feeling.