Is it very exciting? No. But heads had to roll...and so, first on the chopping block is Roman Colon. And in his place? Right hander Josh Rupe.
Rupe was with KC this spring and did not impress the powers that be, posting a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings of work. Since going to Omaha, Rupe has thrown five innings and allowed no runs. He's given up two hits, struck out four, and walked one.
Prior to joining the Royals, Rupe was a pitcher in the Texas Rangers' system, logging just over 132 big league innings. Over that stretch, he's posted a 4.95 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. He throws four pitches - fastball, slider, curve, and a change - with the fastball sitting right around 90 MPH.
For his career, he's done well to induce ground balls, with a 53.6 percent rate...however that rate has dropped since since posting a 66.3 percent rate in 2006. In his last two trips to the big leagues he's induced grounders at a rate of less than 50 percent, although 2009 was an extremely small sample size of only 4.2 innings (but he tossed 89.1 innings in 2008 and posted a similar number).
Most disturbing though, is his K/BB rate, which is low at 1.17.
Still though, at least they're trying to shake it up a bit. Will this move pay dividends? Maybe. Maybe not. But it's better than doing nothing, and allowing Colon - who has only managed to get through two innings in five games while posting an 18.00 ERA - to take the mound again in a high pressure situation.
If Rupe can just be a "normal" mediocre reliever and post an ERA close to his career mark, well, let's just say 4.95 is a hell of a lot more tolerable than what Colon's managed thus far.
Let's just hope this is only the first step taken in an effort improve what has so far been a colossally bad bullpen.
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