MVN - Most Valuable Network

Jamey Wright: The New Pedro Astacio?

Richard Durrett of the Dallas Morning News has an update on Jamey Wright’s start tonight for the Rangers, as he went 3 1/3 innings and gave up two runs on four hits to San Diego. He also punched out three and walked one. Wright held the Padres scoreless through his first three innings before running into trouble in the 4th inning.

I just realized what this entire Jamey Wright situation reminds me of: Pedro Astacio. Both are mediocre veteran starters coming into camp on NRIs vying for the back of the rotation, although Astacio has had the better career. I have to wonder if Wright isn’t just catching some lightning in a bottle right now, and won’t revert to his regular below average pitching level very soon, just like Astacio did.

Remember when Pedro pitched three brilliant games to begin that ‘05 campaign? Peter Gammons praised Astacio for his “nasty fastball that runs across the inside corner against lefties.” Additionally, Buck Showalter said that Astacio was “perfect” for the Temple because he had pitched three seasons in Coors Field. Then the wheels fell off, and he ended up with a 2-8 record and a 6.04 ERA before John Hart dumped him. In any case, I certainly hope the fact that Wright has pitched six years for the Rockies isn’t playing a factor in the organization’s decision here.

As I write this, Ron Mahay closed out the Padres in the 9th, and the Rangers have won 4-3.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pm and is filed under The Off-Season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.