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  • June 22, 2008 11:29 AM ET

Who would you rather have as the ace of your team for the next 10 years, Scott Kazmir or Edinson Volquez.

Ellsbury Rocks (74-113-11) vs Nickb23- It's a Girl! (125-38-14)
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I would want to have Kazmir as my ace for three reasons.

1. Kazmir is far more proven than Volquez. The 24 year old Kazmir has made 106 career starts and has a 3.46 ERA in those starts pretty good. Also he ahs gotten better almost every year since making hi debut. A 5.67 ERA became a 3.77 ERA the nxt year which then became 3.24. That 3.24 ERA raised to 3.48 last year but he also recored 237 K's. Now this year he has an ERA under 2. Volquez on the other hand is 25 in July and before this year never had a ERA under 4.5

2. Kazmir is a southpaw which good ones are tougher to find than very good righties. Last year of the top five leaders in ERA there was not one southpaw. To further exent there were only 6 lefties in the top 25 ERAs last year including Kazmir.

3. So far this year the focus has been on Volquez but Kazmir has some pretty similiar stats. Volquez is 10-2 with a 1.71 ERA and 110 K's in 15 starts while Kazmir is 6-2 with a 1.76 ERA and 61 K's in 9 starts and losses to the Red Sox and Angels two top teams in the AL.

Since tehir numbers are very similiar and Kazmir is more proven and a southpaw i would take him to be my ace for the next decade.


Ah, what the hell.

Kazmir is more proven but he at one time had a 5.67 ERA. Volquez is no flash in the pan, he has been touted as a great pitcher for a while. He just had trouble in Texas (who hasn't). The thing is they put him on a smart plan last year. They started him back in A ball and let him progress back to the majors. His K rate, consistency , ERA and WHIP give no reason to believe this guy isn't for real. Especially in that hitters park in Cincy.

The reason I take him is he doesn't already have the wear and tear on his arm that Kazmir does. Pitching is less about age and more about the strain put on the pitchers arm. Scott has already missed starts in 2 of the last 3 years due to injury.

Lefty, righty, who cares, I want the best pitcher. MLB hitters hit .260 vs. righties this year and .263 against lefties this year. From that stat I have the win but it doesn't matter a good starter is what matters. Lefty or righty I just want to win.

The stats for Scott are a little misleading as he started the year late. His last 2 starts he has come down to earth a little more. He didn't even pitch 5 innings his last start, which makes him 7 for 9 and Volquez 15 for 16.


Kazmir is more proven but he at one time had a 5.67 ERA.- Yeah he had that ERA the first year he pitched so its not a big deal. Especially when you consider Volquez had a 14.21 ERA his first year ad a 7.29 ERA his second year.

His K rate, consistency , ERA and WHIP give no reason to believe this guy isn't for real.- The same thing could be said after Dontrelle Willis rookie year in 2003 when he had a 3.3 ERA, 1.2 WHIP, and had 8 K's 9 IP. Since then Willis had 1 decent, 1 great, and two awful years and is curently pitching in A ball. How do you know the same wont happe for Volquez. At least Kazmir has done good for four straight years.

The reason I take him is he doesn't already have the wear and tear on his arm that Kazmir does.- Including minor leauges Scott ony has 30 more starts in his career. Thats not much more wear on his arm then Edinson and for young guys wear isnt as big of adeal. It startsto amtter when they get over 32 and their would only be 2 years of that for these guys.

Lefty, righty, who cares, I want the best pitcher.- Im just saying when the stats are so close i want whats harder to find and that is a good lEfty SP.


John Danks (2.80 ERA), Justin Duscherer (1.99 ERA), Armando Galaragga (3.03 ERA), Chris young (3.12 ERA last year) and of course Edison....what do these guys have in common.

They were all once part of the organization of the Texas Rangers. They do NOT know how to bring up pitching. They never give guys a consistent oppurtunity in the bigs. Kazmir was brought up correctly from the start, Edinson wasn't. Now that the Reds have done things right, he is proving his potential.

Dontrelle is a decent comparision except the thing that got him by more than anything was the awkard delivery. You say I am just saying this to win. No I have always said it, even have a TD about him. Edinson has filthy stuff, like Kazmir. Dontrelle had good stuff and a unseen delivery. Ask Hideo, teams figure those out.

To reiterate my point Volquez has given the Reds 5+ in 15 of 16 games and Kazmir is already at 7 of 9. That is an important factor in keeping your pen fresh. Which is the aces job. Also Kazmir has shown a injury tendency and Volquez hasn't.

3 years ago you would have took Mark Prior and his injury prone consistnecy and I would have took Dan Haren and is unproven healthy talent.


So all of those guys came up with the Rangers like Volquez and also al of them like Volquez are having their first year of god pitching. It could be just as much them getting lucky in their first year as the rangers can develop good talent.

Thats a good point about Dontrelle but what about guys like
Mark Fidrych- 19-6 with a 2.86 ERAin first full season 10-10 rest of his career.

Wally Bunker- goes 19-5 with a 2.56 ERA in first year then struggels and finishes with a 60-52 career record.

What Im saying is that Volquez is having this great year but before this year he had three bad years in limited time in the majors. Also, he never was rated higher than 56 in baseball americas Top 100 prospects since He came into the leauge.

Kazmir on the other hand is on pace for a fourth good season and third excellent one. Also he was three times in the top 15 of prospects according to Baseball America in 03,04,and 05.

Kazmir also has a lower Whip by .15 which is a pretty big margian. Also he is averaging 6.2 innings a start just like Volquez is so he helps the pen keep rested just as much.

Nice TD nick


That is a LOT of luck for alot of good young arms. The fact is I am a Rangers fan and KNOW they don't develop pitching properly (hopefully Nolan will help). They bring 'em up and then send 'em down for some rundown nobody. They never gave these guys a chance to have 3 or 4+ starts in a row.

I agree their is always a fluke but he is doing some great things in a hitters park. He has never had injury history and has always had great stuff. You had to dig to 1964 and 1976 for your examples, which tells me the chances of the flop you speak of are MUCH less likely than continued dominance

Baseball America if it is written it is so....or is it.
2000- 2002 Ryan Anderson (SP) top 15 all 3 years
2003 Jesse Foppert(SP), ranked No. 5
2004 Greg Miller(SP), ranked No. 8
2001-2002 Carlos Zambrano, never better than 68
2005- 2006 Cole Hamels, never ranked better than 68

I have a choice between two great pitchers both of which have great similar numbers. One is injury prone but been around longer. The other is new to the bigs but not injury prone

Prior was injury prone and proven, Haren was less experienced and not injury prone. Maybe not the same but eerily similar

Nice TD KG

Comments (4) Add A Comment

June 22, 2008  03:17 PM ET
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The injury factor is one reason why I'd consider Volquez. Kazmir is excellent though. Tough call.

June 23, 2008  11:56 AM ET
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So all of those guys came up with the Rangers like Volquez and also al of them like Volquez are having their first year of god pitching. It could be just as much them getting lucky in their first year as the rangers can develop good talent.

Thats a good point about Dontrelle but what about guys like
Mark Fidrych- 19-6 with a 2.86 ERAin first full season 10-10 rest of his career.

Wally Bunker- goes 19-5 with a 2.56 ERA in first year then struggels and finishes with a 60-52 career record.

What Im saying is that Volquez is having this great year but

June 23, 2008  05:27 PM ET
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Nick is puttin the hammer down! Voting right

 
June 23, 2008  05:32 PM ET
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I'm with gonets! Voting right

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