I like the guy's future... but not this season.
On Friday, June 12, P.J. Walters got the recall. May I ask why?
Walters was first called up when the club purchased his contract on April 18, but after a few rough outings, was sent down to make room for the versatile Brad Thompson. Walters made only one start, but had logged five appearances as a Major Leaguer before being sent back down.
His one start began very well, but had fallen apart toward the end against the Chicago Cubs. That one start resulted in four innings of work with three earned runs against him, but he did show promise and the club kept him around for the meantime.
In only four innings, Walters had K’d seven Cubs and only walked one. Considering P.J. is a very young and inexperienced pitcher, many of the coaches were worried about Walters’ control. In that start, control did not appear to be an issue.
However, in his next six innings of his MLB career, Walters did in fact run into some control problems with four walks. After his first start, he was moved into that long reliever position. In his 6.1 innings of relief, he had given up seven runs and the team sent him down.
You would think that things would get better down there, right? Wrong.
Well…ok…I’ll give him that much. He did get a LITTLE better. So far this season, Walters has a 4.14 ERA in 50 innings and is currently rockin’ a 2-5 record in Triple-A.
So I again ask why? Why does he get the call up on Friday? Is he the best pitcher we have at Memphis? I listen to most of the Redbird games in the internet, and Walters is not the top pitcher down there.
Fourteen rookies have made their way to the Cardinals’ active roster this season (not a good thing). Walters is one of them and he is now on his second stint.
SO, not only are bringing a mediocre AAA pitcher up… We are bringing up another rookie that is simply not ready. Walters is 24 years old and was drafted in 2006. The 11th rounder only has two full years of Minor League ball under his belt, and this is was the first season that he started out in Memphis.
In his 172 total innings pitched at the AAA level, batters are hitting just under .260 against him. His ERA is a plump 4.68 with the Redbirds.
Who would I have brought up? Not Walters.
How about…
Clayton Mortensen
6-3, 3.38, 74 IP, 24 years old
Josh Kinney
1-1, 3.24, 25 IP, 30 years old
Evan MacLane
2-4, 2.92, 52 IP, 26 years old
Royce Ring
2-0, 1.93, 23 IP, 30 years old
Matthew Scherer
0-0, 2.05, 31 IP, 27 years old
I would say that all of those guys are just as good as…
P.J. Walters
2-5, 4.14, 50 IP, 24 years old
You could say that most of those guys are prospects and may not be ready for the Majors (same with Walters). If that is the case, check out Ring or Kinney. Both are past prospect-status and have MLB experience.
Royce Ring has the most experience, and has had some decent success. He has 66 innings under his belt with the Mets, Braves, and Padres. Before last season, he had a 2.93 ERA. However, last year he hit a bit of a rough patch as a reliever. He did have four holds in 22 innings, but also had an ERA just above eight.
Josh Kinney has actually already been with the Big League club this year, but was sent down after only 2.2 innings of work. Walks were his biggest problem with his enormous ERA. He had four total walks in those 2.2 innings. However, he had a pretty damn good start to his career before he needed his Tommy John Surgery. Kinney made a huge impact on that 2006 World Series team with an accumulation over 6 innings of three hit ball (no runs). That ’06 season was definitely his best. Josh threw over 25 innings with a 3.24 ERA and 22 strikeouts. Kinney’s career ERA is 55 points under the Cardinals’ earned run average this season. The most impressive stat is his opponents average. Throughout his career, opponents have hit Kinney at a .177 clip. Woah.
All considering, IF I was John Mozeliak, I would have never brought up Walters again. Walters may be able to contend for a rotation spot next year if he improves over the offseason, but this is not his season to be promoted. I would have likely sided with Josh Kinney just because I think Mortensen needs some more time in AAA.
Justin Hulsey
Cardinals Front Office
