Ubaldo Jimenez turned in yet another unspectacular start for the Baltimore Orioles Sunday, falling to 0-3 on the season with an 8.44 ERA and a hideous 2.06 WHIP. For a man who inked a four-year $50 million dollar contract, and finished the second half of the 2013 season with a 1.82 ERA 1.14 WHIP while allowing only three HRs, this is not the kind of performance the Orioles and fans were hoping for.
BUT…it is the kind of performance that we should have expected. Bear with me here…
Jimenez has quite the track record for slow starts, and he himself admits to struggling in the early goings of the season. His career ERA in March/April is a 5.55, easily the worst of any month. Not making excuses, but the numbers don’t lie.
During the months of March/April
2008 – 5.90 ERA 1.05 SO/BB
2009 – 7.58 ERA 1.12 SO/BB
2010 – 0.79 ERA (All-Star season) 2.21 SO/BB
2011 – 6.75 ERA 2.00 SO/BB
2012 – 4.50 ERA 0.93 SO/BB
2013 – 7.13 ERA 1.46 SO/BB
2014 – 7.31 ERA 1.30 SO/BB
Whether it is adjusting to the swing of the regular season, finding the proper release point, building up the endurance, or being able to repeat the same delivery every time, Ubaldo down right sucks in April.
This is not news to the world of baseball, and nor is it news to the Baltimore Orioles. The book on Jimenez is clear. When he struggles with his control, he is no better than a wet noodle. When he can get the ball across the plate and keep the ball on the ground, he can be almost unhittable.
Walks kill, and we’ve seen first hand the trouble Jimenez has gotten himself into by not throwing enough strikes. Of the 10 walks Ubaldo has surrendered (one intentional), three have come around to score. Add in the secondary consequence of an elevated pitch count, and it is clear why Jimenez sits at 0-3.
A lot of scouts and baseball experts cite Ubaldo’s herky-jerky delivery for his lack of control and ability to repeat his delivery, and I would have to tend to agree. However, Jimenez is not going to go back to the drawing board and reinvent himself just yet. So swallow the fact that his delivery is atrocious, and that he consistently breaks eye contact with the catcher’s mitt during his delivery, and love him for what he is – The Wild Thing.
As much as I believe Ubaldo’s struggle to repeat his erratic delivery is the reason behind his lack of control and early season struggles, there seems to be two other glaring issues:
Ubaldo just isn’t fooling anyone, and he cannot keep the ball on the ground.
According to Brooks Baseball, Jimenez is only making batters whiff 8.78% of the time – 5.97 % with his fastball, 4.55% on his sinker, 7.89% on his slider, and 14.29% on his splitter. Jimenez throws his fastball 33% of the time, the sinker 21.67%, the slider 18.72%, and the splitter 20.69%. Opponents are batting .300 vs. FB, .200 vs. sinker, .500 vs. slider, and .250 vs. splitter.
To sum that all up: Jimenez is not. Fooling. Anyone.
The other issue? Ubaldo has produced 13 ground balls compared to 31 fly balls for a grand total of a 0.42 GB/FB ratio. To put that into perspective, that places Ubaldo 106th in the MLB, with only Yu Darvish (0.41) and Aaron Harang (0.40) behind him. Not exactly the kind of pitching style you want for such a hitter friendly ballpark.
Hold on though! I know I just walked you to the edge of the cliff; now let me back you down.
As dreadful as Ubaldo is in March/April, for whatever reason when the flowers of May and June begin to bloom, so does Jimenez.
Jimenez boasts a career 3.89 ERA in the month of May, and 3.17 ERA in June. There is also a spike in his SO/BB, going from a 1.36 to 1.91 in May and then all the way up to 2.24 in June. Last year alone it was like there was two different Ubaldo Jimenez’s.
The first half of 2013: 7-4, 4.56 ERA, 1.490 WHIP, 13 HRs, 8.6 SO/9, & 1.77 SO/BB
The second half of 2013: 6-5, 1.82 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 3 Hrs, 10.7 SO/9, & 3.70 SO/BB
What does this all mean?
It means that throughout Ubaldo’s career he has been able to make the necessary adjustments in his wind-up, arm slot, and whatever else it is about the month of April he hates to create success later on.
It also means that Birdland can all put their pitchforks and torches down for the time being, and let Jimenez stick around for a few more starts. I know it’s painstakingly awful watching April Jimenez, but if the trends of Ubaldo’s career stay true than May-September Jimenez will be worth every cent Duquette dished out this winter to bring him in.
Here’s hoping, Birdland!
photo: Craig Landefeld