Could Edwin Jackson finally have things straightened out?

As the season drags on, there is a certain element of pitcher who is going to use the last part of the year to salvage his season or, for a new-comer, to get a leg-up on the competition for a rotation spot next March. Both types of pitchers are quite motivated to succeed, perhaps at the expense of a team out of the race. If you are in need of some late season pitching, consider the following names below.

Vicente Padilla (SP, TEX) – Elbow concerns, which may or may not have hindered his control, have plagued Padilla for the bulk of the season. He returned from a rehab assignment last week and struck out eight, walking no one in five innings. He was throwing mid-90s in that start so he could be formidable down the stretch. Consider rostering if you need a strikeout pitcher. Note that Padilla is 64th of 65 pitchers in batting average on balls in play for those AL hurlers who have thrown more than 80 innings this year…so he is also due some luck as well.

Ervin Santana (SP, TEX) – There are few players in the game who have had their career trajectory change as much as Santana has this season. Recall that, according to reports, the Angels did not want to trade Santana for Carl Crawford during last season. This year, however, Santana was so bad that he was farmed out, sans injury. He certainly did not dominate in Triple-A during his demotion, but was quite effective against the Red Sox in a spot start last Friday. He’ll start again this week, but the Angels will have a very short leash. After all, they are fighting for a play-off spot and have little time to have Santana work out his problems in the Majors (see Cliff Lee in Cleveland for another example). For those in need of pitching this year, I’d pass on Santana since a poor start will render him work as long reliever. However, if playing for next year and Santana is floating around the free agent pool, take a chance.

Esteban Loaiza (SP, OAK) – Loaiza is a pitcher who needs to live in the low 90s to be successful. Otherwise, he’s almost batting practice. In his final rehab start, he apparently touched 91 MPH, so the jury is out. He’s suffered through a neck problem this year as well as knee issue (for which he has surgery). If the movement and velocity is there, Loaiza is guy who can go deep into games, give you good strikeout numbers and pitch like a front-line starter. If you are desperate, he’s intriguing.

Edinson Volquez (SP, TEX) – “If it worked for Roy Halladay…” was the approach that Texas used for Edinson Volquez this season. One-third of the “D-V-D” grouping who were going to solve the Rangers’ seemingly annual pitching woes, Volquez was farmed all the way down to A ball early this season in an attempt to both build confidence and refocus him. Volquez was most recently in Triple-A where he an ERA of 1.89 in six starts. Even though John Rheinecker pitched well last week in a spot start, the Rangers want to look at Volquez this week in the Majors. While anyone in the Texas rotation is suspect to begin with, maybe the league will have trouble with this new-and-improved version of Volquez. However…they may have to wait for that to happen as Volquez is apparently being punished for missing a throwing session on Sunday because he overslept.

Edwin Jackson (SP, TB) – For all the Edwin Jackson bashing I did earlier in the year, he has certainly turned it around as of late. In his last 11 starts, he has only given up more than four earned runs twice during that span…and has three games where he didn’t allow an earned run. Jackson is among the AL leaders in pitches per plate appearance. In fact, the top 8 on that list look as follows:

That is a list of some of the best AL pitchers. I suspect that they throw so many pitches (relative to their peers) because hitters foul off more of their offerings. For Jackson, it could be that hitters just take a little more when facing him because he walks so many batters. Also, Jackson has a terrible batting average on balls in play (he is 63rd of 65 pitchers with 80 or more innings…just one spot behind Vicente Padilla, by the way). At any rate, if Jackson ever improves his control just a little…say walking one less batter per outing, he could emerge as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. We’ll see. As far as the rest of this season goes, you would have to have a very high-risk tolerance to put him on your roster.

Questions and comments may be sent to Don at donvisco@sportsgrumblings.com.