Enough with the hot air!

Here’s my declaration to Jake Peavy, “shut up and pitch!” Enough is enough and the truth is out, you’re not very good away from Petco Park, the cavern of major league baseball. When the Sox traded for Peavy I had my doubts, then he came out at the end of the 2009 season and dominated in three games including two against the contending Detroit Tigers. My mind was at ease. Not anymore.

You can keep yapping or you can just go out and produce on the mound, which I suggest you start doing. It’s a sad day when Freddy Garcia has out performed Peavy, not that Garcia is a terrible pitcher but he’s nothing more than a fifth starter. The more disturbing numbers are Peavy compared to Clayton Richard, who was traded to San Diego for Peavy along with three other prospects.

In nine starts Richard has posted a 4-2 record with a 2.73 ERA with 41 strikeouts while Peavy has posted a 3-4 record with a bloated 6.04 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 10 starts. You might have a Sox team that is four games better right now with Clayton Richard on the roster, as well as the ability to make moves because of money in the budget, but that’s speculation.

Radio show hosts across Chicagoland seem to be optimistic that Peavy has a proven track record so he will come out of this funk, but I think that argument is getting old. He has a proven track record in the National League where he only had to face eight batters every five days, and in an extreme situation you can walk the batter before the pitcher so you’re only facing seven batters. Those days are over for Peavy, and a trade back to the NL might be what needs to happen. His ERA away from Petco Park when he came to the White Sox was one run higher, now without doing the calculation I would guess it’s close to two runs higher. The patient days are over for Jake Peavy and the White Sox, and he either needs to perform or go elsewhere.