The Chris Paddack Dilemma: Is He a Viable Starting Rotation Option for 2024?

[Fatbat]

Just now, wabene said:

I don't think anybody is rationalizing anything, everybody thinks we need more pitching. We did just lose 40% of our starting staff. 

and then added 20%. The FO is gonna replace gray and then we get to see if the young guys develop to deliver more production. Next man up …. Again and Again.

[tony&rodney]

9 hours ago, darin617 said:

So what does that mean? That he pitches 17 games and gets hurt again or the Twins release him or trade him? Your 17 games for 100 innings is almost 6 innings a start.  

Very odd comment that doesn't explain why he only pitches that much in 2024.

Paddack is coming back from his second TJ surgery and he has a contract for 2025 with the Twins. He hasn't pitched much at all for years. Pitching as a starting pitcher is a very physical endeavor. He will be monitored closely, for sure.

In a perfect world Paddack makes around 15-20 starts (I randomly chose 17) before he goes to the bullpen to protect his arm for 2025. He will be restricted in the number of innings he throws in total. The general consensus would be from 100-120 innings. If Paddack did not have a contract for 2025, the innings might go up by an  insignificant amount. Teams no longer abuse athletes with overuse .... word gets around.

[Steve Lein]

On 12/4/2023 at 7:41 AM, Doctor Gast said:

I have to admit I was skeptical of Paddack coming off TJ. IMO the 1st outing of a  pitcher coming off TJ shows a lot about his progress. Paddack has proved to me that he can be inserted into the rotation. Though his innings need to be limited & vamped slowly which a Paddack/ rookie Varland piggy-back duo would make a terrific idea. 

Although he has some interesting articles, I'm not a big fan of Law because a lot of his  ideas are way off. This is one of them.

I was skeptical too. But because I watched him, his appearances in the minors washed away that concern pretty quickly, as he was pounding the strike zone and getting a lot of swings and misses.

I don't expect the amount of innings Gray provided for sure, but more than Maeda, maybe up to as many as Michael Pineda after his similar return, is a perfectly reasonable expectation, and quite a boon at that.

I'm a big fan of Law, but if you haven't figured it out by now, his shtick is going against the consensus. He gets some things right, but just like everyone else, gets a lot wrong. He swore on his life that Jose Berrios would never make it as a starter, so I always take him with a grain of salt.

I also think this is one of his bad takes, because he appears to be saying Paddack won't do anything, which is ludicrous.

[Steve Lein]

21 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

 Another question might be ... Did we all take Maeda for granted?

Yes, I think many did. I have said it elsewhere that he would have been my priority over Gray to bring back this season, mainly due to the cost of services. In fact, he probably would have been bullet #1 on my offseason blueprint.