The Starting Line: Ryan Dempster - 4/12/09
The Starting Line
by Evan "the Censor" Dickens
Ryan Dempster @ MIL, 4/12/2009
W, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Not much of a secret that the Censor loves Dempster. I was proud to rate him in my offseason top 20 for SP and considered him the most undervalued pitcher in drafts after he slipped into the low 30's of SP rankings in most drafts. Dempster's spectacular 2008, where he sported 17 wins, a sub-3 ERA, a career-low walk rate, and an 8+ K/9 rate, may not all be repeatable, but his strong groundball tendencies and deceptive slider make him a quality pitcher.
Sunday in Milwaukee, the most interesting thing I saw was a strict reliance on his fastball and slider--both good pitches, but Dempster seemed to want nothing to do with a changeup, which is odd for someone who threw a changeup for 17% of his pitches in 2008. He clearly was having some trouble keeping his pitches down, which is his bread and butter, and that led to a lot of easily taken high fastballs, and some unnecessarily scary fly balls--anyone who saw Reed Johnson's incredible robbery of Fielder's grand slam will remember it for a very long time.
When Dempster got into a groove, he was able to use his slider very effectively and he did not mess around with the weaker hitters in the Brewers lineup. But his Kazmir-esque 110 pitches in six innings is excessive, even for a strikeout-heavy pitcher like Dempster. He has a good offense providing run support and what appears, if Sunday is an indication, to be a solid bullpen backing him up, so in reality 17 wins might not be that far off again this year. Fans will hope to see a bit more offspeed reliance and better first innings if Dempster's going to have another ace-type year, but watching him tonight did nothing to make me doubt that his skills are still intact.
Other notes: Lots of impressive starts on Sunday, but none as incredibly dominant as Aaron Harang's complete game three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking none. Welcome back, Aaron...Josh Johnson arrived for real on Sunday. This kid is the real deal and if you drafted him in the 14th round, well done...I mentioned last week that I thought Sunday might be the last start Kyle Lohse would spend on the waiver wire in most leagues, but I didn't expect him to be this good. Be the one to pick him up if you still can...if you hate zeroes, check out David Purcey's line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 4 ER, 10 K?! Purcey threw an incredible 4.7 pitches per batter faced, which is definitely one way to get pulled in the fifth.
~Evan the Censor
by Evan "the Censor" Dickens
Ryan Dempster @ MIL, 4/12/2009
W, 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Not much of a secret that the Censor loves Dempster. I was proud to rate him in my offseason top 20 for SP and considered him the most undervalued pitcher in drafts after he slipped into the low 30's of SP rankings in most drafts. Dempster's spectacular 2008, where he sported 17 wins, a sub-3 ERA, a career-low walk rate, and an 8+ K/9 rate, may not all be repeatable, but his strong groundball tendencies and deceptive slider make him a quality pitcher.
Sunday in Milwaukee, the most interesting thing I saw was a strict reliance on his fastball and slider--both good pitches, but Dempster seemed to want nothing to do with a changeup, which is odd for someone who threw a changeup for 17% of his pitches in 2008. He clearly was having some trouble keeping his pitches down, which is his bread and butter, and that led to a lot of easily taken high fastballs, and some unnecessarily scary fly balls--anyone who saw Reed Johnson's incredible robbery of Fielder's grand slam will remember it for a very long time.
When Dempster got into a groove, he was able to use his slider very effectively and he did not mess around with the weaker hitters in the Brewers lineup. But his Kazmir-esque 110 pitches in six innings is excessive, even for a strikeout-heavy pitcher like Dempster. He has a good offense providing run support and what appears, if Sunday is an indication, to be a solid bullpen backing him up, so in reality 17 wins might not be that far off again this year. Fans will hope to see a bit more offspeed reliance and better first innings if Dempster's going to have another ace-type year, but watching him tonight did nothing to make me doubt that his skills are still intact.
Other notes: Lots of impressive starts on Sunday, but none as incredibly dominant as Aaron Harang's complete game three-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking none. Welcome back, Aaron...Josh Johnson arrived for real on Sunday. This kid is the real deal and if you drafted him in the 14th round, well done...I mentioned last week that I thought Sunday might be the last start Kyle Lohse would spend on the waiver wire in most leagues, but I didn't expect him to be this good. Be the one to pick him up if you still can...if you hate zeroes, check out David Purcey's line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 4 ER, 10 K?! Purcey threw an incredible 4.7 pitches per batter faced, which is definitely one way to get pulled in the fifth.
~Evan the Censor
Labels: Ryan Dempster
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