David Purcey Not Getting It Done
Late last night Robert MacLeod of the Globe & Mail posted this nugget of information:
With the Blue Jays readying to pull the plug in early September on rookies Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski so as to not overtax their young arms unnecessarily, Gaston is not even sure as to the makeup of his starting rotation heading into the final month.
Brian Tallet would be a good guess and Gaston said that David Purcey, who began the season on the big-league roster, could be a September call-up.
To me this is a mistake. Not only because there are far better options at the AAA, but because David Purcey is simply not getting it done at the minor league level. Until he proves he can throw strikes, he has no business being in the big leagues.
Below you will find David Purcey’s stats at AAA Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League this season.
As you can see, Purcey’s ERA is at 5. This is not very good but all things considered, not horrible when you take into account the inflated offensive numbers of the Pacific Coast League. The problem lies in the BB numbers. He is giving up approximately 5.4 BB per 9 innings pitched. This will not put you in Cito’s good graces. Inflated offensive numbers or not, if you can not throw a strike you will not be able to succeed at any level, let alone the big leagues. This gives him a bloated WHIP of 1.60. Certainly not big league material.
Okay, so maybe he struggled when he was originall sent down and his numbers are skewed based on those early struggles? Not so. Below is a game log of the last 3 games he pitched.
Ugggggggggly. This translates into a 10.38 ERA for the month of August, 10BB in 13IP and an opp. batting avg. of .364. I believe David Purcey is better served by staying/rotting in the minors.
Free Fabio Castro! Or Davis Romero! Or Jonah Bayliss! Anyone but David Purcey.
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Callum, you captured my thoughts precisely. I was looking at Purcey’s minor league stats a few days ago, and also noticed his walk totals were high. If I remember correctly, that was a big problem for him with the Blue Jays earlier this season.
If he can’t throw strikes in the PCL, then there’s no way in hell he’s going to magically turn it around in the majors next season. But I have a feeling they’re going to call him back up anyway.
Another problem with a Purcey like pitcher is that he’ll start to dial his stuff down to gain some control. Voila, all of a sudden he’s more hittable. 20 hits allowed over his past 13 innings.
He needs to be moved into the pen. That may change his approach. Otherwise he’s probably a write-off.
From Purcey’s start last night (August 20th): 6.0 IP, 5 BB. Bum.
I hate it when guys with hot stuff just can’t get it together. I saw Purcey throw against the Rays last September and he was brilliant. I think the score was 1-0 and he had something like 11 Ks. One of my favorite games I’ve ever gone to see.