Devon Young

Reid Santos pitched pretty good Sunday in Lehigh Valley, almost getting the win. But, yesterday’s blown doubleheader by Humber and Jones reminds me that, I’m sure are nice guys & very talented, but they’re jut not AAA starting pitchers at this point in their careers. I’ve said this before, but let me say it again a little clearer….

I don’t think I need to explain how ridiculous that looks or bring up the questions it does about the decision makers in the Red Wings coaching staff. Without them, the Red Wings are winning at a .550 pace. That would put them solidly in 2nd place and fighting for the Wild Card. On top of that, nobody else in the entire International League is using a pair of starters that are anywhere near as bad as the Humber & Jones duo. Look…

Yeah. If you look over in the PCL, nobody there really compares to Humber and Jones either. The closest are Jason Hirsh & Alan Johnson in Colorado Springs. Their ERA is 6.18, but at least they’re 13-11. How do you have such a bad ERA and still have a winning record? Well, think about it. They pitch in Colorado, where the air is a bit thinner. Besides that, the announcers during the All-Star game last week mentioned that the PCL has a lot of hitters parks and the IL has more pitching parks. So, that means the 6.18 ERA by Hirsh and Johnson is much better than it sounds, and explains the over .500 record between them.

Anyway, I just had to vent a little. They blew a doubleheader yesterday almost singlehandedly, giving up tons of runs. I can’t wait to see Johan Pino pitch. That should be exciting and it should minimize the innings we’ve been giving to Humber and Jones. I don’t expect Pino to have a great start his first couple times out, as he’ll probably have some extra excitement running through his veins and he’ll need to get used to more talented batters. Everyone should go out to Frontier Field Monday night to see his first start as a Red Wing though. He could be something special.

I think our rotation is startin to shape up and looks alright without them playing a major part in it — Johan Pino, Jeff Manship, Brian Duensing, and Reid Santos. That’s a pretty bunch of starters for AAA….Duensing probably being the worst, and he has experience in the majors. If these 4 pitch, and then somebody spot starts as a 5th man, we’d definitely win more but perhaps the talent would also develop more.