Ever wonder why I rip on Radke?

[Lynch]

This is straight from ESPN. I've been complaining about Radke is the worst staff "ace" in history for the first two innnings of games, for quite a long time. These are his stats for just the first inning, just this season:


"RHP Brad Radke has had his troubles in the first inning this season. Radke's first-inning ERA is 12.46 and opponents are batting .400 against him in the first."



Steak, I know you think I'm awfully hard on him, but for fark's sake, look at those numbers. You can't make that up. Someone has to actually be that damn bad to have numbers like that. Yes, he settles down once the third inning comes around, and for the most part, is a pitcher that can usually get you to the 7th inning (at least) when he's out there, but why don't we put say, Jesse Crane in for the first inning of every single one of Radke's games and not let Radke come out until at least the second inning (if not the 3rd).

I'd like to know how many homers he's given up in the first 2 innings throughout his entire career. I'd lay you 10:1 odds that Radke has given up more long balls in the first two innings through his career than he has in the rest of the game through his career.

[DiamondGirl]

Radke himself has said lately that maybe Gardy should begin his (Radke's) starts with Nathan in the first, Rincon in the 2nd and Radke can finish the remainder of the game! He knows he has troubles in the first two innings but he is still a solid starter for us. He gets strike one on his hitters nearly 78% of the time.

[Saber]

Radke is an ace?

[realmofotalk]

Kind of reminds me of Kaz Ishii, who's a walking gas can in the first 3 innings.

[awefullspellare]

Do you think that starting him in the 3rd would totally fix those problems or would he struggle in the 3rd?

[Porter]

if you start him in the 3rd inning, its still essentially his 1st inning so it wouldnt make a difference. Jamie Moyer is very similar, he gives up runs early then settles down.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlbpa/player...&type=Pitching

This goes from pitch count but notice his 30 pitches in his carrer (per start)

1-15 = 6.82 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, .301 OPP BA
16-30 = 5.36 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, .271 OPP BA

after that he for the most part settles down.

Now see Jamie Moyer's
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlbpa/player...&type=Pitching

Pitch 1-15 = 5.88 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, .272 OPP BA
Pitch 16-30 = 4.09, 1.24 WHIP, .252 OPP BA

after that it goes into the 2s and 3s

[Steak]

Lynch: I am not going to disagree with you. Brad is not pitching like he did last year. His first inning problems has gotten real old. He is a lot better than that. His start against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night was really bad. It was just not up to his standards or the Twins standards at best. I have been sort of dissapointed with Brad this year. He has to pitch a lot better than he is doing right now. Brad has to find a way to solve his first inning problems.

Saber: Brad used to be an ace when the Twins were really bad. Sadly, this franchise wasted his great years. It's good thing though he can win games over the years at least so it wasn't that bad.

[Lynch]

if you start him in the 3rd inning, its still essentially his 1st inning so it wouldnt make a difference.

It's a joke more than anything.

[Lynch]

Lynch: I am not going to disagree with you. Brad is not pitching like he did last year.

Brad has been this way for the past 4 or 5 years. Most notably the past 3. Last year was no exception. If you went back and looked at posts of mine from another place in da intraweb, you'd remember me commenting about his crappy starts constantly. "obligatory first (or second) inning home run"..... that should ring a bell.

The worst part about it a few years ago, he wasn't getting any run support so if he gave up that 2 run, first inning home run and then pitched flawless for the next 7 innings, he'd still end up with a loss cuz our bats may as well have been wiffle bats.

[Lynch]

Radke is an ace?

Radke was the Twins' "ace" for years. I say it in jest now actually because he's the first guy in the rotation, ahead of last years' best pitcher in baseball and Cy Young winner, Johan Cyantana, who is currently in the #2 slot.



Friggin' Gardenmoron.... still has a job and I don't know why.

[Steak]

Friggin' Gardenmoron.... still has a job and I don't know why.

Gardy can drive me crazy with some of his moves, but this year he has done a very good job as his team continue to play hard with all the injuries and the fact that the Sux just keep winning. Twins are right within striking distance of She-ca-go and they have a cushion lead in the wild-card race. Gardenhire has done a great job getting the most out of his team as usual. As far as postseason goes, well he has a lot to prove. I am very happy with the job he has done this year. This year, he is earning his money.

[mntwinsfan]

why not put radke in the bullpen? Hell he cant hurt us there he may be more effective there. I just don't understand how a guy can continue to give up homeruns everygame like he does.

Oh who is this williams guy minnesota is playing at 3rd? Never heard of the guy. If I am correct was he 2-4 today?

[Steak]

There is no way Brad is going to the pen. It's a great idea, but no way they would do that unless it's desperate measures. I just hope he gets it together soon. I am starting to think when he pitches, the Twins are going to lose.

Glenn Williams was called up few days ago. I did not know about him till I saw him play in the weekend. I don't think he played today, but he played Friday and Saturday. He did pretty good against the Dodgers.

[mntwinsfan]

I heard williams can hit the ball. Something was said he was an Altanta player did well for them and got sent down, don't know why that happened. Cuddyer has done nothng all year, I think that is why Williams got the call to I hope motivate Cuddyer!

Radke is just not right this year. Seems like he is lucky to get the wins he has he has a terrible era. I hope he fixes things quick he is needed if we are going to catch and pass chicago.

[Fishercat]

A terrible ERA? A 4.13 ERA is terrible? I bet all those pitchers below him (including all but one Red Sox starter) would love that.

This season, he is what most teams would expect out of a #2 starter. In the AL,
24th in ERA
20th in QS
11th in WHIP

Don't get me wrong, he has fallen below expectations and odds are he has been only the 4th best SP on the Twins (who have a fabulous pitching staff) and arguably behind Crain on the overall P list. However, I'm not sure all the anger is warranted. His first inning struggles, well, that sucks, but the highest scoring inning is the 1st since teams can set their order.

I'm still not sure how established Radke's first innings struggles are over the past few years. There's no denying he is worst in the first than his other sectors of innings, but the BA in the splits (for 2002-2005) is a 10 point range (sans 7-9th inning, where is it really high), but I think that the power difference could be attributed to batting order issues along with actual struggle. Just take the Sox lineup. The pitcher will almost be worse if you isolate an inning where they always face the team's best hitters (Damon, Renteria, Ortiz, Ramirez) and compare it to a sector of innings where they also face easier outs (typically Bellhorn, Mueller, Millar).

Please don't take this as a major disagreement, but it seems that some control pitchers will struggle early since they do not have their flow yet. Porter (I think) said Moyer as an example. Halladay, to a lesser extent, is similar.

I think moving Radke into the pen would just hurt him more, since you are essentially making his first inning his most important inning.