Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Patterson's Not A Wuss

Or so sez Texas' pitching coach (and Patterson's original pitching coach) Mark Connors. (via Lone Star Ball)
Connor caught Patterson on the road, driving through Alabama on his way back home to Texas.

"I said, 'Just be honest with me, tell me where you're at and everything else.' He said, 'Goose, I'm healthy. My arm doesn't hurt.' He said, 'I just need a little more time. My arm strength isn't there yet.' He told me he was throwing 83-85 miles per hour and that's exactly what our reports were on him."

Time is something the Rangers have to offer Patterson. They can let him build up his arm and work his way back at his own pace. They don't feel a need to rush things, like the Nationals did.

"If we can get him back to where he was two years ago, he's a pretty good pitcher," Connor said. "If he can get back to the 88-92 [mph] range, the way he pitches and the command he's got, he can help us.

"When he was with us in Arizona, he was a kid with a big upside. He came out firing bullets, 95-96 miles an hour at that time."

OK, that was then. Now Patterson has earned a reputation as a pitcher who is constantly hurt. So how do you delicately ask someone if a guy has turned into a wuss?

With Goose, you just ask.

"He's got good makeup," Connor said. "I can't really speak for what's gone on with him in the last seven years, but I've never heard that he was soft....

Connor hopes to have him out on a back field sometime today so he can get a sense of where Patterson is at physically.

"It sounds to me like he needs to get on a long-toss program, maybe not every day, mix in some bullpen sessions, and when we feel like the time is right, then get him back on the mound and face some hitters," Connor said.

After that, maybe a rehab stint at Oklahoma City, and then, who knows?

"He could be ready to go by the end of April or sometime in May," Connor said.

If I had to bet, I'd say that what happened is that the Nats asked him to go to the minors to build up the arm strength. He refused, so they cut him instead. Patterson's always seemed very headstrong (going back to his draft-eluding maneuver) and given the history he's had with the team's current management, I can't see him going out of his way to help them out, even if that means accepting a reduced role and less pay in a different city. Sometimes you'll do things for the new boss you like that you just wouldn't do for the leather-pants-wearing prick at your old job.

14 Comments:

  • This comment has been removed by the author.

    By Blogger Nate, at 3/25/2008 10:46 AM  

  • "He's got good makeup," Connor said.

    And complimenting his eyeliner reinforces the "not a wuss" theme how?

    /Sentences That Are Better When Taken Out Of Context

    By Blogger Nate, at 3/25/2008 10:48 AM  

  • good point!

    It's been so long since we've seen him consistently, that I had forgotten just how dreamy his eyelashes were!

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/25/2008 10:51 AM  

  • Mark Connor is Goose? Are they spelling that right?

    The more I think about it, it DOES seem like a money issue, those healthcare expenses won't be getting any cheaper for the Lerners. Better the money should be spent on the sore necks we fans will get looking for the promised "vistas" in the new ballpark.

    By Blogger blovy8, at 3/25/2008 11:19 AM  

  • Matt Chico's whiplash is sure to be expensive to treat, too.

    By Blogger Chris Needham, at 3/25/2008 11:21 AM  

  • Real men would have already built up arm strength!

    Nolan Ryan built up his by throwing 200 MPH fastballs!

    Don Drysdale would carry entire boatlaods of Cuban refugees one-handed from the Vero Beach waters to Miami!

    Walter Johnson used to pound the ground to knock down the oranges for harvesting in an entire grove. And those were the SWEETEST ORANGES you ever did eat!

    By Blogger Harper, at 3/25/2008 11:51 AM  

  • What JP neglected to mention is that any pitch above 83 MPH voids the warranty on his arm. And you just cannot get replacement parts for those Canadian models.

    By Blogger Nate, at 3/25/2008 12:34 PM  

  • "If I had to bet, I'd say that what happened is that the Nats asked him to go to the minors to build up the arm strength. He refused, so they cut him instead."

    I don't think that would be a wise bet, Chris. Could they have asked him if he wanted to go to the minors and simply sent him there if he said yes? He's out of options, right? That would mean he'd have had to pass though waivers to be sent down, which would always hold the risk that some other team might claim him. It was reported prior to Patterson's being cut that the Nationals were shopping him for trade, and Stan Kasten confirmed to Nats320 after the fact that there was no trade interest in Patterson from other teams. But all that means is that no team would offer anything for him, not that they wouldn't grab him for free if given the chance. So by putting him on waivers, they would have essentially been releasing him anyway, for all intents and purposes, since I doubt they were prepared to pull him back if there had been a claim. Also, reports from the locker room immediately after Patterson got the news from Bowden said that he was apparently very surprised by it and it took him a while to regain his composure. So either they never discussed the possibility of sending him down, with him refusing to go, or he's a very good actor. I think it's pretty clear that they just decided he wasn't going to get his stuff back any time soon and it didn't make sense to impact the development of other young arms in the minors by having to clear space for him to pitch every fifth day somewhere down there all or most of the season. Easier just to cut him loose and end the soap opera once and for all.

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 3/25/2008 1:46 PM  

  • Personally, I think they whacked him because he cut his hair and stopped looking like Anikan Skywaker.

    Will he come to town as Darth Vedar? Let's take our chances.

    By Blogger Ray Firsching, at 3/25/2008 2:28 PM  

  • The Rangers come to Nationals Park in mid June this year. I bet if you offered JimBo this wager he would take it within a heartbeat: Patterson on the Rangers 25-man roster while they're in DC, he eats his leather pants. Patterson still in the minors or on the DL at that time, JimBo gets to run over you repeatedly with his Segway. How about you, would you take that bet?

    By Blogger An Briosca Mor, at 3/25/2008 3:19 PM  

  • "If we can get him back to where he was two years ago, he's a pretty good pitcher," Connor said.

    Yea, he went 1-2 and pitched 40 whole innings! Tell me again, why did we cut him? Oh yea, cuz he sucks!

    Wanna bet who gets to 20 big league wins first? Patterson or Chico?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/25/2008 5:36 PM  

  • "I can't really speak for what's gone on with him in the last seven years, but I've never heard that he was soft...."

    So sez Mark "I Don't Get Out Much" Connor.

    That's soft, as in paper-tissue soft. Both Patterson's conditioning and feelings apply.

    The Nats, the Rangers, the DeMatha Junior Varsity, Bush's Weird T-Ball crew, whatever. They can be waiting for Patty "to build up arm strength" all they want, but it ain't gonna happen.

    Patty's got a dead arm. The bushes are filled with has-beens like this guy who never get it back. Get over it.

    Do you think Ted "Please return your used paper clips before asking for a new one" Lerner would have OK'd just cutting this bum if he could have gotten two nickels for this bum?

    Great that he's with the Rangers, though. We're starting to get even for that Bob Short hijacking in 1971...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/25/2008 7:22 PM  

  • Leather pants wearing prick or not, i tend to trust that the Nats know what they're doing more than the Rangers. The Rangers?! C'mon Chris, we're talking about the Rangers here. Not a team that actually knows what it's doing-the Rangers!!!!!!

    /Iversoned

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/25/2008 9:19 PM  

  • Sometimes you'll do things for the new boss you like that you just wouldn't do for the leather-pants-wearing prick at your old job.

    Make that: leather-pants-wearing Segway-riding prick!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/26/2008 9:05 AM  

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