Is It Time To End The Carlos Frias Experiment?

I wish it were time to end the Carlos Frias experiment. He had a nice run, and he’s not terrible. Yet there is no reason to continue to trot him out there. Oh wait, except for the problem that the Dodgers are stuck with him. It almost slipped my mind that they have nobody else that could fill in that isn’t ten times more terrible. Scott Baker is dreadful. Joe Wieland? Somebody gouge my eyes out before I ever have to watch that bum pitch again. This is the depth of the Friedman administration.

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It’s pathetic, because Frias isn’t very good. He throws hard, but when you throw 99 mph heaters and still can’t strike guys out that means you are a thrower and not a pitcher. Looking at Frias’s numbers it’s shocking how little he strikes guys out. I am surprised he is still here considering how much the stat guys love the strikeout.

Taking a closer look at Frias’s numbers you get to thinking just how barren the Dodger’s cupboard really is. The 25-year old right hander is 4-4 with a 4.14 ERA in nine starts. He has pitched 54.1 innings and struck out only 32. That comes out to a 5.3 strikeout per nine rate. That is amazingly low for a guy who throws 98.

The problem with Frias is he’s easy to guess. He primarily only throws fastballs. He normally throws a two-seamer, four-seamer, or cutter. Occasionally he mixes in a curve or a change, but that’s rare. He throws off-speed pitches less than 9 % of the time.

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So he’s always hit hard. His line drive percentage this year is 22.1%, and when he throws a pitch within the strike zone, opposing hitters are making contact 91% of the time. Hitters are consistently putting the ball in play, and when they are they’re hitting it hard.

Frias is allowing way too many base runners as well. He’s allowed 10.8 hits per nine innings pitched. He does keep the ball in the park. He’s only allowed three home runs this year, and doesn’t walk a lot of guys. That’s good. There is some potential there.

Unfortunately he’s just too easy to predict. Major League hitters are generally great fastball hitters. So when you have a guy on the mound that throws nothing but fastballs, it is not surprising that legions of dead read hitters are going to pummel him. This is why we’ve seen him get lit up like a Christmas tree at times before.

Frias will be tested again tonight. The Giants have some of the best contact hitters in Baseball in their lineup. The Dominican rookie will face the Giants and veteran Tim Hudson this afternoon at 4:15 PM in the second game of the three game series at Dodger Stadium.