98 replies to this topic

[BSLChrisStoner]

I'm looking forward to seeing Wada join the O's staff.

The 31 yr old is described as a cerebral, soft-tosser. Last year the Japanese native was 16-5, with a 1.51 era. In his 184.2 ip, he allowed 7 homers, 40 bb’s, with 168 k’s.

Career Numbers
Wada: 107-61, 3.14 era, 1,444.2 ip, 1,263 hits, 142 hr’s, 395 bb’s, 1,329 k’s

During this Winter, we asked numerous analysts for their thoughts on Wada. Here are some of their responses:

Jim Callis, Baseball America: “Perhaps–and I know that’s not much of an answer. Dan Duquette and Ray Poitevint mined the Far East heavily when they were in Boston, so they have good contacts over there. It’s just so hard to project how foreign major leaguers will translate to MLB. The AL East is an unforgiving division, and Wada will have to be particularly fine with his pitches."

Matthew Pouliot, NBC Sports / Hardball Talk:“That’s pretty close to what I have them projected at. I gave Chen a 4.26 ERA in 171 innings and Wada a 4.42 ERA in 183 1/3 IP. I do feel a bit more secure with the Wada projection, considering that I’ve seen more of his video and he doesn’t come with Chen’s health questions.”

When it appeared that Wada would join Chen in the rotation, we asked analysts if they believed the duo could combine for 350 innings at a 4.50 era.

Brandon Warne, FanGraphs: “The ERA might — and that’s a very uneasy might — be realistic, but that’s just too many innings. That would be 175 innings apiece, which seems unlikely for two hurlers who haven’t seen an inning in the big leagues yet. Very few debuting big leaguers’ — only Jeremy Hellickson comes to mind from 2011 — throw that sort of workload. My best guess would be something more like 300ish innings at a 5.00 ERA. I think Duquette and the O’s would have to be pleased with that, too.”

Satchel Price, SB Nation: “I think that expecting a 4.50 ERA over 350 innings from those two guys would be setting pretty high hopes. There aren’t many pitchers that can reasonably be expected to pitch 175+ innings annually, and asking two guys with zero MLB experience to do so seems like a lot.”

Marc Normandin, SB Nation: “An ERA of 4.50 isn’t that high of a bar to set – the league-average ERA in 2011 was 3.94. I can see them being below-average arms at the back of the rotation, but more stable than some of the others the Orioles have tried out for the same role in their recent history. Either way, though, the O’s didn’t invest a whole lot of money into the duo and aren’t exactly stocked with alternatives, so as long as these two are usable arms, the O’s have done well in this situation.”

Stan McNeal, Sporting News: “Though I know little about either, I think 175 innings and a 4.50 ERA from either would earn Dan Duquette votes for executive of the year honors. These guys will be paid less than $5 million each this year. A free agent starter expected to put up a 4.50 ERA in the A.L. commands upwards of $10 million. I think getting 60 starts combined from the two would be a success.”

There was other commentary on Wada from around the web when he signed:

FanGraphs: http://www.fangraphs...-tsuyoshi-wada/

Dan Moroz from Camden Crazies had article in December: http://www.camdencra...yoshi-wada.html projecting Wada:

Ultimately Moroz projected the following stat line for Wada:
147 innings, 20 homers, 55 bb’s, 111 k’s, 4.50 FIP

[BSLChrisStoner]

MLB.com / Ghiroli: Interview with Wada
http://brittghiroli....otes-from-camp/

[on his role, starting or relieving]

“I haven’t heard anything officially about that yet. But I want to be a starter, so I’m going to do what I have to do to fill that role.”

[on adjusting to four days rest instead of five or more in Japan]

“I thought about that while I was pitching on five days rest, on six days rest in Japan. I knew that it would be on four days rest here so I planned on coming here and having done something. But no matter what I do, I’m going to have to get used to it in the end. So I have that mindset. That I’m going to do what I have to do to get used to it.”

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN / Kubatko: http://www.masnsport...howalter-1.html

Meanwhile, Showalter repeated that he views Japanese left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada as a starter.

"I like him," Showalter said. "He has a good look on his face. I have a lot of respect for his veteran status and things he's accomplished in Japan. You look at his track record and things he's been the best at over there. It's pretty impressive, so I have a lot of respect for that. I'm going to sit down with him (Monday). It's been a hectic day for him - physicals and the meetings we had on this and that, and the first day on the field. I want to leave him alone. He'll have a lighter day tomorrow. We'll sit down and I'll let him know that I've done some homework on his background. And I want him to have some input on what he thinks is best, too, and how he's been handled and treated, too."

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN: Wieters gives scouting report on Wada
http://www.masnsport...ng-reports.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

From today:

MLB.com / Ghiroli: http://brittghiroli....es-blue-jays-4/

"Tsuyoshi Wada (left elbow discomfort) pitched against the Tampa Bay Rays in extended spring earlier, going six innings and allowing two hits, five walks and seven strikeouts. He didn’t allow any runs in the 100-pitch outing and the team is leaning toward Wada starting for Triple-A Norfolk, who will be in Gwinnett, on Thursday. The thinking is it’s a day game and it’s also warm weather down there. Wada could be activated after that."

[Can_of_corn]

Replacing Gregg is the obvious answer, I hope they have the courage to do it. Will be nice to have someone in the pen that can go more then one inning.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Replacing Gregg is the obvious answer, I hope they have the courage to do it. Will be nice to have someone in the pen that can go more then one inning.

Yep, it is the move that makes the most sense. You get the 2nd lefty, you get a guy that should be capable of multiple innings, you get a strike-thrower replacing a guy with limited control.

[BSLChrisStoner]

Warehouse Worthy: The worst pitcher is... (looking at who Wada should replace)
http://warehousewort...pitcher-is.html

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN / Kubatko: Wada update
http://www.masnsport...ada-update.html

[Coker]

Amber Theoharis
Showalter "Lets try honesty... Wada has an elbow issue." Says MRA showed damage not seen in signing physical. #Orioles

Roch Kubatko
MRA on Wada elbow shows problem with ligament. Buck didn't specify. But not good #orioles

Well, so there's that....

[You Play to Win the Game]

The way Buck made it sound in the presser, it sounds like he's headed for Tommy John if I had to bet on it. Very disappointing news. *Speculation*

[BSLChrisStoner]

On 2/26 it was reported that Wada had a sore elbow, but the xrays were fine.

With the xray coming back fine, and Wada telling reporters that day he wanted to throw; I was not concerned. Even with his prior elbow issues.

(SG - among others - was. SG pointed out that Wada had surgery in '07, missed a lot of '09.)

I guess the O's hoped what I had hoped at the time. That Wada said the pain was normal, and hoped the coritzone shot would be enough. Disappointing to get to two months later and hear he is dealing with a ligament issue.

Was there a reason not to do the MRA in late February?

[mweb08]

This is unfortunate. Hopefully it's not too bad, but it's hard to be optimistic. This should give Matusz a long leash.

[NewMarketSean]

How long did we sign him for? Will we ever see him pitch as an Oriole?

[mweb08]

How long did we sign him for? Will we ever see him pitch as an Oriole?

2/8 plus a team option.

[bnickle]

Always had a gut feeling Wada wouldn't give us much but it's a shame it might be because of an injury.

[BSLChrisStoner]

How long did we sign him for? Will we ever see him pitch as an Oriole?

2 yrs, $8M, with a club option for '14.

[Coker]

How long did we sign him for? Will we ever see him pitch as an Oriole?

Two years with a club option for 2014.

Edit: Beaten

[You Play to Win the Game]

2/8 plus a team option.

Does the NPB have guaranteed contracts - in other words, how lucky did he get to get this contract over here and receive $8MM when he may never even do anything at all for it?

[Coker]

Does the NPB have guaranteed contracts - in other words, how lucky did he get to get this contract over here and receive $8MM when he may never even do anything at all for it?

Fairly certain they are guaranteed.