Thursday, May 20, 2004
Pelfrey throws 124 pitches
Posted by Matthew NameeWichita State ran its record to 40-13 tonight against Evansville, and sophomore ace Mike Pelfrey ran his record to 10-1. Pelfrey wasn't at the top of his game tonight, though. In 7 2/3 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 11 hits. On the bright side, he struck out 7 while walking none, giving him a 104-19 K-BB ratio in 99 innings this year.
The scary thing is, Pelfrey threw 124 pitches. This past Friday, he threw a 112-pitch complete game. I'm a huge fan of Gene Stephenson (the WSU head coach) and Brent Kemnitz (the great Shockers pitching coach), but what are they doing? Pelfrey's 20 years old, and the Shockers were up 8-2 going into the Evansville half of the 7th. Why not take Pelfrey out after 6 solid innings? And, barring that, why leave him in to pitch the 8th?
Mike Pelfrey has a chance to be as good as Jered Weaver come next year. In his sophomore year last season, Weaver had 9.72 K/9 1.35 W/9, and a 1.96 ERA. Pelfrey as a sophomore now has 9.45 K/9, 1.73 W/9, and a 1.73 ERA. I just hope Stephenson and Kemnitz are smart about their ace's workload.
Matthew Namee cofounded The Hardball Times in 2004, when he was working as the assistant to baseball author and Red Sox executive Bill James. Matthew still lives in Kansas, where he is currently pursuing a law degree. He can be reached at mfnamee [at] gmail [dot] com.