Making a pitch for Stevens
February 13, 2008 by Jason Guarente
It appears the Barnstormers are ready to close the book on Josh Stevens’ time in Lancaster. The pitcher could be reunited with Butch Hobson, his old manager, with the expansion Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
Is this a smart move for the Barnstormers?
Stevens’ first full season here could be clearly broken into two parts. There was the dazzling first half, which earned the righthander the start in the All-Star Game, and the disappointing second half that dropped him from the league’s elite.
Look at the numbers …
MAY-JUNE
In 11 starts … 6-2 … 2.92 ERA … 77 IP … 86 H … 12 BB … 40 K
JULY-SEPT
In 13 starts … 4-8 … 5.18 ERA … 81 2/3 IP … 110 H … 22 BB … 51 K
Why the dramatic decline? One theory is the league figured out Stevens. He relies heavily on two pitches: an 83-85 mph fastball and a 65-68 mph curve (although his slider is pretty good as well). Some believe once the league saw Stevens multiple times, they were less baffled by his sharp-breaking off-speed pitch. There is evidence to suggest this is true. Stevens allowed more home runs and more hits in his final 14 starts than he did in his first 11.
Another possibility is the grind of a long, miserable season simply wore him down. The Barnstormers didn’t win consistently, as you know, and the team often played subpar defense. Stevens is a pitcher who allows hitters to put the ball in play and needs help behind him. He’s always going to allow a lot of hits, but makes up for that by not walking many.
Stevens also didn’t see eye-to-eye with former manager Frank Klebe, who overworked his first-half ace because he didn’t trust the bullpen. Negativity swallowed up the Barnstormers as a whole and several players performed worse in the second half than the first. That, more than anything, could have contributed to Stevens’ drop-off.
The Barnstormers should consider bringing Stevens back for a few reasons …
WALK RATE: He only allowed 34 walks in 159 innings
(That’s Denny Harriger territory)
DURABILITY: He went at least six innings in 19 of his 24 starts
(Thus saving the bullpen from overuse)
HOME DOMINANCE: He posted a 3.15 ERA in 15 starts at the Clip
(How many pitchers can make that claim?)
BIG PICTURE: Even with his second-half slide, Stevens posted one of the top five seasons by a starting pitcher in the franchise’s three-year history.
Starting pitching is an extremely difficult commodity to find. Stevens was seventh in the league in ERA among pitchers who qualified. If the Barnstormers choose to bring him back, they’d have a stalwart for the middle of their rotation who will eat up innings and likely pitch at an above-average level.
If the Barnstormers trade Stevens to Southern Maryland — as it appears they will — they’ll be sending a good pitcher to a league rival. After all, he is 13-10 with a 3.89 ERA in 27 career Atlantic League starts (including the playoffs). And if Stevens comes back to the mound at the Clip in another uniform, history says he’ll do very well there.
YORK SIGNS THREE: The Revs have signed OF Matt Esquivel, LHP Reid Price and C Kevin Kotch.
Career stats for Matt Esquivel.
At first glance, it appears Esquivel is the big catch here. He has good power numbers and played in Double-A last season. Price is trying to make the jump from the South Coast League and Kotch appears to be a backup.
For more on these players, check out the Hot Corner.
If the Barnstormers want, do they have the right to keep Stevens even if Butch wants him? There is no way in hell we should get rid of a decent pitcher!
Didn’t we hold the rights to Reggie but he ended up on L.I.
I’d hate to see him go. I really enjoyed watching Josh pitch. I made it a point to come to the games the nights he was scheduled. I think I only missed one of his starts in the 2nd half . I think he just got tired. You mentioned the number of times he pitched at least 6 innings. The 158 innings he pitched in 2007 are the most he pitched in his career. Only one other time had he thrown for 150.
Am curious as to what his pitch count was in the 1st half vs the 2nd half. One thing I noticed in the 2nd half was the batters were laying off that change up. I think he was throwing a lot more pitches in the 2nd half because of it. He may not be an ace like Harringer, but I think he’s a lot better pitcher than say a Brian Whitaker. And you certainly need a pitcher of that quality. The team should work things out with him.
The Barnstormers own Stevens’ rights. They can keep him if they wish. Of course, if he wants to pitch elsewhere, they’ll accommodate him. That’s how the Atlantic League works. In fact, that’s how Ambrosini ended up in Lancaster. He was originally supposed to go to Bridgeport.
As for Taylor, the Ducks just ignored the rules and signed him because the Ducks don’t care about the rest of the league. They were out of line and the league forced them to give up Dionys Cesar as compensation.
Stevens is the second-best starting pitcher the Barnstomers have ever had. There’s no doubt about it.
I hope the Stormers can hold onto Josh!!! But I do want to wish him the best of luck with what he decides to do!!!
I like Josh and don’t want him to be unhappy. I hope he gets his wish.
Jason:
What happens to all those deals where we were to get a “player to be named later”???? Does the deal expire at the end of a season or does it carry over? How long does a team have to complete the deal and send over the player being named later. I probably should know the answer to this one, but don’t. I recall a few of those “deals” last year.
Thanks!
Ya’ll know what today is… Spring Training begins !!!! Yippeeee
DUDES… Don’t forget to get your wives something. My wife told me not to get her anything (which I should of known not to trust), so I didn’t. When she woke up this morning I could tell she was looking around for something special but just like she requested, I really didn’t get her anything. Right before I left for work I heard her say ” I thought you knew that this day was special to me”….. OUCH!! We are going to dinner tonight, but I guess it’s the little stuff that matters.
GO STORMERS!!
Those “player to be named later” deals will evaporate into the air. Nothing will come of them. In my three years covering the Atlantic League, I can’t recall a player getting sent to another team to complete a previous deal. Maybe it has happened, but I don’t remember it.
Those trades are basically a way of one team helping out another or one team dumping a player that it didn’t want by trading him instead of releasing him.
Stevens was always, and I hope will continue, to be good to the fans, signing autographs, throwing balls into the stands, taking time to talk to fans when it was not his time to pitch.
He is an all around good guy in my books.
Keep a quality pitcher! They are hard to find. I made it to the Clip some nights just to watch Josh Stevens pitch. I would like to see him return, but if he wants to play with Hobson and the Blue Crabs, make the trade. He did look tired in the second half of the season. A reliable bullpen could alleviate that problem in 2008. I’d rather see him pitching for the Stormers than against them!
I have a strong feeling that there are going to be quite a few new players on the Barnstormer’s roster this year.
Wouldn’t be surprised less than eight players are on the Lancaster roster from last year.
York signs three more:
INF Keoni De Renne, RHP Aaron Myette and RHP Corey Thurman. Myette and Thurman spent time in the big leagues.
More information from Jim Seip.
Where is the news on US ??? Don’t we have any other players signed??
Come on guys give us something here. It’s a beautiful, baseball kinda day and we’re itching for info