Baltimore Orioles
Recalled RHP Radhames Liz from Double-A Bowie.
- In his first major league start, Liz showed both his natural talent and his unrefined approach to pitching. Liz has a fastball that can reach 97 MPH with movement, but he relies too heavily on the pitch and can lose command of it. His curveball is promising and can be a plus pitch at times, but his changeup is poor. Liz’s erratic command and lack of a third quality pitch will likely keep him from being a long-term starter. At 24 and with the potential for two plus offerings, the lanky Dominican profiles very well as a reliever.
Florida Marlins
Signed RHP Byung-Hyun Kim for the remainder of the season.
- Kim, to borrow a tired cliche from another sport, “is what he is.” He lacks stamina, losing effectiveness later in games (career line between pitches 76-100: .311/.396/.502) and he gets pasted by lefties (.270/.378/.444). In other words, Kim is woefully miscast as a starting pitcher. But, given the complete lack of alternatives (Ross Wolf? Daniel Barone? Rick Vanden Hurk should be in AA), bringing Kim back for the minimum isn’t a terrible move.
If teams realized Kim’s limitations and used him accordingly, the 28 year-old could resume being a useful big-league reliever, as opposed to an infamous failure.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Placed RHP Salomon Torres on the 15-day disabled list with right medial elbow inflammation; Recalled RHP Romulo Sanchez from Double-A Altoona.
- Torres has been intermittently moody, injured, and mediocre in 2007, hitting too much of the plate while also filing a grievance against the Pirates and claiming the team overextended his first rehab stint to spite him. Torres’ best pitch over the past couple of seasons has been the splitter, but he hasn’t thrown it as well this season, and has consequently seen his GB% slip from 58% in 2006 to 48% in 2007. Torres was worked very hard from 2004-2006, pitching an average of 93.1 innings during that span. With such a heavy workload, it’s possible that Torres simply doesn’t have any tread left on his arm.
Romulo Sanchez seemed like a curious addition to the Pirates 40-man roster last season, as a raw one-pitch thrower who didn’t miss as many bats as his velocity suggested he should. However, Sanchez has made some progress in 2007, reaching AA and posting a 52/17 K/BB ratio in 57.2 IP. Some of the same caveats still apply with the 6-6 righthander- his slider is a fringe pitch and he occasionally pays for his reliance on the fastball (8 HR allowed)- but a 23 year-old with a mid-90’s fastball is worth giving some innings late in a lost season.
San Diego Padres
Placed second baseman Marcus Giles on the 15-day disabled list with a left knee sprain; Recalled infielder Craig Stansberry from Triple-A Portland.
- Giles sprained his knee on a very late takeout slide from Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. The injury is just the latest frustration in a season full of them for Brian’s little brother. Just 29, Marcus has seen his production tail off since 2005, and has bottomed out at .229/.300/.322 in 2007. The run suppressing tendencies of Petco Park have done Giles no favors (.224/.295/.307), but he’s been lousy on the road, too (.240/.311/.355). Giles has experienced fairly bad luck on balls put in play, sporting a .276 BABIP despite a very healthy 23% Line Drive Percentage. It’s reasonable to expect some degree of bounceback in Giles’ performance, something along the lines of what he accomplished in 2006 (.262/.338/.387); his walk and strikeout rates have remained consistent despite the dip in batting average, and his range remains adequate in the field.
San Diego has a $4M club option on Giles for the 2008 season. He’d be worth it, but with Geoff Blum seemingly taking over the job at second, the Padres may opt to let the former Brave go. If he hits the free agent market, Giles could be a nice buy-low canidate.
