I don’t have a problem with them attempting to give Shadek an opportunity. We will need 4 starters for Omaha and he has certainly done a fine job in his last few outings as a reliever. I have made it known I would have rather us of stuck with Underwood as the 3rd guy and worked through his early season struggles. I just think it’s impossible to say he’s “failed” with 13 IP and today has been his highest PC all season. Maybe we worked out his kinks in midweek bullpen action while still finding a way to win games, but I do believe we should Blakely to the #2 starter and either.
A: Stay with Porter
B: Go back to Underwood
But, I think it’s clear even if Underwood isn’t the #3 he should be coming in relief on Sundays.
My issue with it is that there are better more obvious options that we should have been giving opportunities.
Shadek had 16 career starts before today and was already averaging less than 4 IP per start and had an ERA over 7 in those starts. Obviously a lot of those were at Rutgers and not here and he was solid in his only other start here (against 15-24 Stony Brook), but nothing in his outings has shown me that he should've been an option to start. He had one outing of 4.0 against Northwestern, but all his other appearances have been brief. And in most of them, even the best of them, he's had guys on base and been in murky situations. He was averaging right at a walk/hbp an inning before today. He has control issues similar to Porter. He also doesn't have the mix to be a starter imo. He's basically a 2 pitch pitcher.
I'll give it to you that none of the other option are the "obvious" answer either. However, they are more "obvious" starters imo given their pedigree and mix.
I like Loy a lot (whether it be starter or reliever) and would probably start him because I feel like he's the most proven/reliable option. He doesn't have a history of getting deep into games either, but his career ERA is probably about half of Shadek's and he doesn't walk or hit guys at anywhere near the frequency Shadek does.
I think Underwood or Willcox were both WAY better options than Shadek too. I even would've given Vicens a shot before Shadek. Heck I would've given Angelakos the ball before Shadek.
I agree that we're going to need 4 starters and we really only have 2 that are givens right now. I just think we wasted an opportunity to get one of the actual options out there to start a meaningful game. I'm not going to pretend that just because Cooper was successful in relief today it means that he would've been successful if he started. However, I would've much rather give myself the chance to know that than what we did.
Even if Porter is back next weekend, I'm not sure what we should do in that spot. All today did was clarify what seemingly should've already been known imo - that Shadek isn't the answer in that spot. At least we've got a non-conference series next weekend to try something new.
Again, I like Shadek. I REALLY like Shadek. I just hate him as a starter. I think he's gonna be big for us out of the pen.
