Sorry for the brief hiatus. A few issues got in the way including my computer crashing.

Anyway, I’ll come back by making the case to leave Paulino in the rotation long term. The 7th ranked prospect in the Astros system according to Baseball America, Paulino was limited greatly after doing all sorts of damage to his pitching arm. Paulino was incredible in 2007, posting a 3.62 ERA while striking out virtually a batter per inning. That was when Paulino was a 23 year old in AA. Now, 2 years later, Paulino does not have the luxery of time. At 25 years old he is going to have to prove himself soon, and what better way to do that than to post six shutout innings after being called up the day of? Now, one start is not going to determine his long term potential, and the Reds are hardly a team full of great hitters. Regardless, in a rotation that features a bunch of question marks, both in terms of health and ability, Paulino gave an effort that the Astros desperately need.

Brian Moehler gave an unbelievable effort last year that was desperately needed. That said, this is a 37 year old pitcher who hadn’t had a year nearly as productive as 2008. There is no reason to believe that this guy suddenly found himself at the end of his career. It was the definition of a fluke. There is no way he is deserving of his contract nor a spot in the rotation. The current injury does not help his case, either.

Ed Wade and Co. have promised to produce some youth for the first time in a very long time. He and Bobby Heck did a great job starting that process with the 2008 draft. At the same time, that process should also include the players we have at higher levels already in the system. The team did not add Bud Norris, Chris Johnson, or Tommy Manzella to the roster to start the year, and there are absolutely justifications for that including age, time needed in the minors to work on things, or simply being beat out by a superior talent. For Paulino there really isn’t much more to prove. He dominated in AA before being hurt, and in his short stint in AAA was incredible as well before being called up to spot-start with the big club (where he of course was great as well). Paulino has clearly worked on his secondary pitches, a nice improvement on what was mostly a big fastball with nothing to counter it a few years back. It’s time to give him a chance to earn his spot on the team. Even if Felipe Paulino bombs it’s not too big of a deal. There is absolutely no way that Paulino can perform that much worse than Brian Moehler that the Astros miss the playoffs as a result. I see a lot more potential in the 25 year old arm than I do in a fading 37 year old one, both short term and long term.

By: Adam Herman on Apr 20th, 2009
Tagged as: Astros News

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