Ubaldo Jimenez sure has people talking.
Every fifth day you can almost guarantee a public berating of the former ace, whether it’s heard on sports talk radio, TV, social media or in line at the grocery store.
Thank goodness the guy doesn’t have a Twitter account.
The frustration with Ubaldo is understandable. We all know what he “should of, could of, would of” been when the Indians traded for him. We don’t need to go back down that road.
The funny thing is, those who are so quick to lambaste him when he pitches poorly, still find it in their heart to adore him when he occasionally shows those flashes of greatness.
Expectations for him were so high, yet so unfulfilled, that now every start- every pitch by Jimenez is so overanalyzed.
What do you do with former star-studded ace gone horribly awry?
He has no options remaining, which means the Indians can’t just demote him to the minors.
Cut him? You’re kidding, right? He might be a mess right now, but you don’t just release a guy with potential like that- and pay him his full salary owed- no matter how flawed he is.
Sneaking him through waivers won’t work, either. He would get claimed in a heartbeat by another team that thinks they can “fix” him.
What other choice is there, other than to keep sending him to the mound every fifth day?
If you don’t understand, take a look at the other options the Indians have for starting pitching. Don’t forget that Brett Myers’ battle with tendinitis and elbow soreness just landed him on the DL, leaving another hole in the rotation.
My guess is that Carlos Carrasco will fill Myers’ spot. Carrasco was sent down to Triple-A Columbus after MLB handed him an eight game suspension for hitting Kevin Youkilis with a pitch. Once recalled, he would miss roughly two starts while serving the suspension, during which Corey Kluber could fill in.
Kluber went 2-5 with a 5.14 ERA in 12 starts for the Indians last year. He has made two relief appearances this season, striking out five, walking none with a 1.80 ERA in five innings of work.
While Saturday night’s outing may have done wonders for Kluber’s ERA, his four scoreless innings came against the Houston Astros, who lead all of baseball in strikeouts.
Kluber competed for the fifth spot in the rotation this spring, but lost out to Scott Kazmir.
At 27, Kluber is no longer a young prospect and looks more like a back-end starter on a mediocre team, at best.
Trevor Bauer has the potential to be a huge upgrade over Jimenez as the Indians’ number two starter, but in order to reach it he needs more time in Triple-A.
The 22 year-old started four games for the Diamondbacks in 2012 as a Septmber call-up and made a spot-start for the Indians earlier this season when Kazmir was placed on the DL.
In his five major league starts, Bauer is 1-3 with a 5.91 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 19/20, which is one of the main issues he is currently working on in Triple-A.
Bauer is a workhorse. He’s committed, has great stuff and a very high ceiling. Bringing him up before he’s ready could really damage a potentially great career. He’s a long-term solution, not a quick fix. Plus, a number two starter doesn’t walk more batters than he strikes out.
What about Dice-K?
To be blunt, he’s not an option.
Matsuzaka is struggling in Triple-A. So far this season he’s walked 16 in 11 1/3 innings, which is just bad. In three starts with the Clippers, he’s 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA.
Credit the Indians for taking a flyer on Dice-K in the offseason, but after a bad spring and a bad start in Triple-A, it’s looking more and more like he’s just a shell of his former self.
The only other option to replace Jimenez is to insert any of the run-of-the-mill “Quadruple-A” pitchers on the Columbus roster.
At that point, you’re better off just starting Ubaldo on the slight chance he has one of those good games. No offense to David Huff, but if he were any good the Indians wouldn’t have to sign guys like Dice-K, Kazmir and Myers.
Fans may be fed up with Ubaldo, but at this point, do you have a better idea?
