Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Hours after I wrote a piece on how terrible Jonathan Sanchez has been this season and advocating for Jeanmar Gomez to take his spot in the rotation, the Pittsburgh Pirates have decided to go that route.
Two beat writers that cover the Pirates, Michael Sanserino and Rob Biertempfel, reported the move at around 5:30 p.m. Monday evening. Gomez will start for the Pirates on Wednesday.
I am so glad this move has finally been made, but now I would even like it to be taken a step further. Sanchez isn’t a serviceable pitcher anymore. Even in a bullpen role, I just don’t see him being able to perform well enough to be worthy of keeping one of the 25 precious roster spots on the Pirates.
His main issue is his control, and I don’t understand how putting him in the bullpen is going to fix that. The Pirates need to remove Sanchez from the roster, he needs to designated for assignment. I just don’t understand why the Pirates are giving Sanchez, a non-roster invitee, so many chances to succeed. They have no reason to feel obligated to keep him, they have virtually zero reason to be invested in him any longer.
Let’s move on to the more pleasant side of the story, shall we?
Gomez is by no means a great pitcher, but he has to be better than what Sanchez had been giving the Pirates, right? Right? In 13.2 innings in 2013, Gomez has pitched to a 2.63 ERA. He has a career 5.02 ERA, and is 15-16 in 38 starts. His 38 starts all came with the Cleveland Indians.
I, along with everyone else, have no idea what Gomez is going to bring to the Pirates’ rotation, but can it be any worse than what Sanchez was doing? I really don’t think so.
