The Arizona Diamondbacks have lost the Brandon McCarthy gamble
Aug 22, 2013, 3:10 PM | Updated: 3:11 pm
Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and in the case of Brandon McCarthy, the Diamondbacks have clearly lost.
The free agent pitcher may have looked good on the rack last year, but when you took him home and tried him on, he resembled a cheap suit — one you paid way too much money for and unfortunately can’t take back to the store for a refund or even store credit.
In one of the biggest, if not the biggest games of the year Wednesday in Cincinnati, McCarthy flopped. He couldn’t get out of the third inning, put his team in a 7-0 hole and completely exhausted Arizona’s bullpen, which used seven pitchers to clean up his mess.
Thus far for $15.5 million — $6.5 million paid this year and $9 million next year (which I’m dreading already) — the Diamondbacks have gotten a whopping two wins in 15 starts and two months on the disabled list. Overall he is a miserable 2-8 with a career high 5.44 ERA. He has failed to get through six innings in six of those 15 starts and failed to complete five innings three times.
Sorry, that’s not good enough, not even close. McCarthy’s been a major disappointment and cause for concern for next season. The right-hander came to Arizona with a career record of 37-39 with a 4.02 ERA, which is nothing to write home about and more in line with a dime a dozen pitcher in this league. But he was 8-6 with a 3.24 ERA for Oakland in 18 starts last year before being hit in the head, so there were some signs that he was getting his career on track.
It’s just not happening here. There is little confidence when he takes the mound. He is now 0-4 with a 6.98 ERA in August and you have to wonder if phenom Archie Bradley was pitching those games would Arizona have given themselves a better chance at the playoffs?
Look, Pittsburgh spent a million on Francisco Liriano this year with the chance to make $3.75 million in incentives. Over the previous two seasons, he went 9-10 with an ERA of 5.09 and 6-12 with an ERA of 5.34. This season, his first in Pittsburgh, he is 14-5 with a 2.53 ERA.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. With Brandon McCarthy, the D-backs have clearly lost.
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