Originally Posted by
smootness
If Perez can get his walk rate down, he could be an option. But I see him as a 4 or 5 at best, and Folty's ceiling is an ace. It just makes no sense to put Folty in the bullpen for the sake of Williams Perez.
Perez's LOB% is abnormally high right now. He has gotten himself into trouble in most of his starts and has done a good job battling out of it for the most part. But that's a risky game and is likely to start biting him soon. I'm all for giving him chances as long as he's effective, I'm just making a prediction that I don't think he's a long-term option in the rotation.
Banuelos has been very good this year, but he has trouble pitching deep into games. Unless his velocity comes back to where it was pre-TJ, I think he's more likely a bullpen option than a starter.
I feel like people are putting Folty in the pen because his stuff would certainly be nasty there. But he easily has the most potential of our young arms as a starter as well, so we have to give him every opportunity to have success there first. And again, he has shown serious flashes this year of great stuff as a starter. He's been able to pitch effectively late into games several times, and an 8.3 K/9 rate with a BB/9 rate under 3 will do just fine. He's been hit pretty hard in several starts, but I think he can figure that out and make adjustments.