Wow we are shocked about the J Pat news, but admittedly relieved and a little pleased. This isn’t just about the big loss to the Orioles the other day. It’s part of Patterson’s continuing pattern of complaining and blaming poor performance on lingering pain, and every other excuse possible. Remember this one?
“I was picking up a ball during BP,” said Patterson, “and I turned to throw the ball in the bucket, and as I was set to release the ball, that’s when the other ball hit me in the face. It spun me around and I saw stars for a little while and walked off the field. It has been a crazy month. I have been sick for almost the whole month. I’m finally on medicine to get that cleared up. I get hit in the face with the ball yesterday, and now my arm’s throbbing and sore. How much more stuff can you deal with?”
Recently, days after Patterson blamed a vicious flu on his bad performance against the Orioles, Tim Redding pitched a phenomenal game under the same conditions.
A bad game never seemed to be Patterson’s fault. In 2007 he was limited to just seven starts. While attending the May 5th game in Chicago last year, we felt like we witnessed a total melt down. John pitched just two innings and gave up four runs on seven hits. He was placed on the 15-day DL the next day due to right elbow soreness. We didn’t know at the time, but that game would be the last time we’d see him pitch in 2007.
The team was pretty patient after last year’s long drawn out search for new treatments. It got old fast. He eventually underwent surgery in September, his second in two years. Throughout his whole major league career, John is just 18-25. He’s played in 88 games in six seasons. Guess he can nurse his bumps and bruises on somebody else’s DL. Releasing Patterson also creates an opening for a young guy like John Lannan.
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March 20th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
It’s a sad end to a very long and drawn out relationship. In the end, clearly many of us were blinded by his flashes of brilliance 3 seasons ago (heck, even at the beginning of the 2006 season!). I just have to look at the fact that he was released — not traded, not waived — as evidence that there was no reason to have any further hope. If Jimbo couldn’t even trade him for a 3rd rate prospect, then you know there wasn’t another GM in baseball willing to take on his relatively small contract either.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Couldn’t agree more, Stephanie. It was never his fault. He was lucky to get a shot at spring training this year, when realistically he probably should have been released months ago. I’m glad we’re starting fresh… but terrified of who we’re starting with! The rotation has a LONG way to go quickly.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:45 am
Wish I knew you were at that May 5 game- we were there too! We could have commiserated over JPat’s crappy outing and the bitter cold