Mike Gonzalez thoughts the Day after

After Mike Gonzalez imploded on the mound during his Camden Yards debut yesterday, there was plenty of hyperbole being blown about by Oriole fans.

“Gonzalez is a bum. The Front Office should never have even targeted him. Typical Orioles.”

Basically what you had was a lot of legitimately upset fans, who had reason to be upset. The home-opener is always a celebration of baseball in-general, the O’s specifically – and the script does not call for blowing a game in the 9th.

While Gonzalez was retched out there, comments like those above are more pathetic than Gonzalez’s performance this first-week. It just shows a basic lack of understanding of the game. Make note of those who have made similar comments this week. I am quite confident when this marathon of a season ends, they will be eating plenty of crow.

The only argument of why Gonzalez should not have been signed, is that the signing cost the O’s their 2010 2nd-round pick. Even that argument makes little sense in my eyes. You are not going to sign a player who has had the success of Gonzalez, because of the value of a 2nd-round pick? I like the potential of Mychal Givens, but he is not even on a full-season roster this year.

Another argument is that Gonzalez was given too much money, and that there were cheaper (equal) alternatives elsewhere. If you can get equal production at a cheaper price, and use those additional funds to bolster Scouting, Player Development – or other areas of the existing roster, I understand that rationale. I do not think there were equal available options for the O’s when they signed Gonzalez. Maybe you had interest in Fernando Rodney, Kiko Calero, or Matt Capps – I would argue that Gonzalez is better. You might argue that any difference is negligible when you factor in the contract. What you can not argue, is that Gonzalez is a lefty, while those other 3 are not.

When the O’s signed Gonzalez, they had not resigned Hendrickson. They had not signed Ohman to the Minor League contract. They were not going to promote Wifredo Perez to the bigs coming off of his injury. With all due respect to Alberto Castillo, you can understand why the O’s would not be willing to have a plan where Castillo was being counted on.

You needed to add a lefty. After seeing the implosion of Johnson down the stretch in 2009, you needed to add a power arm that had the ability to close.

In the American League East, you can not afford to lose games you are supposed to win. Gonzalez was signed to help avoid the O’s losing those games. For the first-week, he has been the cause. However, just because he has had a poor week – that does not equate to a poor signing.

Here is my bet to anyone that wants to take it. If Gonzalez stays healthy, he will finish with a very productive year. By productive, I am saying he finishes with more than a K per IP, and less than a hit per IP. Separate to that, if he remains the Closer – I think he finishes with 30+ saves.

I do not want to argue about the saves, because frankly I eventually want today’s starter David Hernandez to fill that role. At some-point this year, I expect the O’s to feature a bullpen which includes Gonzalez, Johnson, Uehara, Mickolio, and Lebron. At that point, the O’s will have the chance to really take off.

Getting past the bigger-picture, let us get back to yesterday’s appearance by Gonzalez. In the outing on Opening Day in Tampa, I was encouraged by seeing some of Gonzalez’s physical-skills. His outing was poor overall, but after spending most of Spring Training battling a back-injury and having inconsistent velocity and movement, I liked seeing him consistently working at 92-93 and showing some good movement with his secondary pitches. His control was abysmal, and I was shocked by the Mitch Williams-esque mechanics. When he pitched in Game 3, I did not see his velocity, but was bothered by the two walks. No reliever, and certainly no closer, can be successful when you give free-runners to the opposition.

Yesterday, the OPACY radar-gun (which has traditionally been accused of running high) showed Gonzalez consistently at 88-89. As a lefty, you can work at that velocity and be successful. BJ Ryan regularly pitched in that 88-90 range, but appeared to throw harder due a deceptive wind-up. Still, 88-89 is a 4 to 5 mile-drop from what he was showing Monday. On a 20-80 Scouting Scale, that is the difference from a 50 rating to about 65. That is a huge difference.

He appeared unwilling to challenge hitters. He certainly was not attacking hitters. Think about that for a second. Mike Gonzalez is a guy that came into 2010, having pitched 280.2 career innings in the Major Leagues. During those 280 innings, he had allowed 213 hits, with 330 k’s. Those are exceptional numbers, and certainly indicative of a player that attacks.

My first thought is questioning his health. However, I have to take Gonzalez at his word that he is healthy, and has just not performed.

My problem with yesterday, is that the O’s needed to win. A 3 game series against Toronto at-home, is a series you need to win. Certainly easier with the first-game in the win side of the ledger. The fact that it was the home-opener, with a big crowd, and the first thought yesterday should have been winning. Johnson had been dominating in the 8th. If Trembley felt good enough about Johnson’s shoulder to have him pitching on successive days, he should have been willing to have him come back out for the 9th. Instead, Trembley was focused on trying to build Gonzalez’s confidence, and have him earn his 2nd-save.

I can not kill Trembley here, because Gonzalez has to come in and get those 3 outs. He again featured horrible control, and you could see the pressure building with every-pitch. Still, he should not have been in the game to begin with yesterday.

It has been a poor first week for Gonzalez, but if he is healthy the production will come. I told you above to make note of those that are saying otherwise. Feel free to remember my words, and hold me accountable for them by season end.