Any Goodwill Left for Radke? May 24th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Radke has been the definition of consistency for the Twins since he entered the rotation in 1995. From 1996 through 2005 Radke pitched at least 200 innings every year except 2002 (118.1). Excluding his rookie year he’s never finished with an ERA that didn’t begin with 3 or 4. That kind of consistency definitely earns you a level of goodwill from your team and your fans. It’s largely the reason the Twins have stuck by him through his 2 months of struggles so far.
After ten starts and with no signs of improvement, I’m left wondering how much longer this built up goodwill can last. In 2005 Radke walked just 23 batters for a BB/IP rate of 0.115. This year he’s walked 14 batters for a BB/IP of 0.251. Walks aren’t his only problem. So far, he’s on pace to give up 314 hits if he matches last year’s inning total. That’s 100 more hits than he gave up last year. His ERA sits at an ugly 7.44, and that’s not the result of 1 or 2 really bad outings. That ERA pretty much sums up what most of his starts have been like this year.
| IP | R | ER | Game ERA | Running ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APR 05 | 6.0 | 4 | 4 | 6.00 | 6.00 |
| APR 11 | 7.0 | 4 | 4 | 5.14 | 5.54 |
| APR 16 | 6.0 | 6 | 6 | 9.00 | 6.63 |
| APR 22 | 5.0 | 6 | 6 | 10.80 | 7.50 |
| APR 28 | 2.1 | 6 | 6 | 23.14 | 8.89 |
| MAY 03 | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1.29 | 7.29 |
| MAY 08 | 5.0 | 6 | 6 | 10.80 | 7.75 |
| MAY 13 | 5.2 | 4 | 4 | 6.35 | 7.57 |
| MAY 18 | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 4.50 | 7.20 |
| MAY 24 | 5.2 | 6 | 6 | 9.53 | 7.44 |
Those are a lot of pretty bad starts. Only one stands out as a good start, and that came against Kansas City, a team that’s threatening to be the worst team ever. Radke isn’t improving and it leaves me wondering if he’s still having issues with the arm that forced him to shut things down early last season.
He clearly doesn’t have the command that’s made him successful for the past 10 years, and while I appreciate the fact that he’s stayed with the Twins and pitched well for so long, I don’t like the fact that the Twins need an offensive miracle to win games when he takes the mound.
The Wednesday matchup of Brad Radke and C.C. Sabathia left the Twins with virtually no chance to win, before the game even started. That’s not acceptable, and Radke is starting to run out of goodwill he had banked up.
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2 Comments
Kris wrote: May 25th, 2006 at 9:40 am
Even if it's a lost season, it's not right to send out a guy that's no longer capable of starting at the ML level. The Twins certainly have other guys—guys that actually fit into the future of the franchise—who could gain valuable experience.
Nothing good can come out of leaving an inneffective Radke out there all year, except I guess that Radke can retire by his own doing.
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Nick wrote: May 25th, 2006 at 2:30 am
With the likelyhood that the Twins making a serious playoff push very slim, I don't know if the Twins will ever take Radke out of the rotation this season. Instead, he will finish out the season with the highest ERA among all AL starters and retire less than 5 minutes of the season's conclusion. It's too bad that Radke's lack of success comes this season and not in the mid 90s when a 6+ ERA would have lead the Twins anyway.