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The Colorado Rockies Should Not Be Starting Yohan Flande Or Gonzalez Germen

By BobDeMuro |
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Jun 29, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher G. Germen (71) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. The Pirates won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Rockies need to make at least a temporary fifth starter decision — and while the decision is up in the air, I can tell you who it absolutely should not be. 

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So we asked you in a poll yesterday about the Colorado Rockies’ options regarding their fifth starter position that’s coming up, mostly likely on July 28, on the road trip to Chicago and St. Louis. As I (ok, as most of us) see it, the options on the table for the fifth starter include Aaron Laffey, John Lannan, Jon Gray, Yohan Flande, and Gonzalez Germen.

Gray probably isn’t ready, Laffey has already been up once and threw well enough, Lannan is a longtime big league veteran who is probably the best bet for this role (we’ve written about him before, if you’re curious), and… OK. Let’s talk about those last two guys on that list: Flande and Germen.

I love Flande and Germen. I’m actually not really sure why, because both of them are kind of the 26th-27th man on most rosters. (Well, on most rosters, both guys would probably be buried in AAA, but on the cellar dwellin’ Colorado Rockies, we find ourselves with both guys hanging out in the bullpen.)

I think I like them both so much — aside from my sarcastic I love Flande comments on Twitter — because you’ve gotta cheer for the underdog. The guy who nobody expects to be anything. And when they throw a few scoreless innings, hey, it’s a damn good feeling to see the forgotten man (men) come up big for a team with payroll committed, well, everywhere except those two guys.

All this nice, esoteric kumbaya mumbo-jumbo aside, though, it’s kind of important to look at facts. And the facts are that Yohan Flande and Gonzalez Germen are not big league starters, even in the short-term, and shouldn’t be considered as serious options for this Colorado Rockies’ fifth starter spot (even if it only goes through a couple turns of the rotation).

So let’s make the rotation case against my two favorite players and focus on one other guy who ought to be starting for the Colorado Rockies…

Next: The Case Against Yohan Flande

Jul 28, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher W. Rosario (20) talks with starting pitcher Y. Flande (58) during the second inning of a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Yohan Flande

Yohan Flande’s numbers with the Colorado Rockies aren’t as absurd as you probably assumed; eight earned runs in 16 innings entering Saturday, with a 1.3 WHIP and a 2:1 K:BB ratio. He’s clearly not in over his head in the big leagues, but he’s absolutely not a starter, either. Flande has started 178 minor league games, and he’s thrown fairly well, all things considered, but the big leagues are a different game.

Flande’s big league starter splits are alarming; he’s 0-6 with a 5.77 ERA in 10 big league starts, and he’s allowed five home runs and a 1.24 WHIP in 53 innings. As a reliever, though, Flande is just 0-1 with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.182 WHIP over 22 innings. Those aren’t huge sample sizes — and he took a couple tough luck losses in 2014 — but they are telling.

Furthermore, and perhaps more telling, is the regression Flande experiences when hitters see him more than once in a game. Batters slash just .247/.299/.346 against him the first time through the order when he starts games — and an even lower .224/.303/.379 his first time through in relief. By the third time batters get to him as a starter, though, Flande allows four doubles and four home runs in 40 plate appearances, good (bad) enough for a slash line of .400/.450/.857.

Related for Flande are his pitch counts; from pitches 1-25 in his big league career, hitters have slashed .243/.305/.393 and struck out 13 times against eight walks in 120 plate appearances. From pitches 51-75, batters slashed .271/.333/.458, and from pitches 76-100, batters slashed .385/.414/.769. This shouldn’t really be much of a surprise.

As you’d probably guessed (or seen over the last two years), Flande actually has held his own in middle and long relief for the Colorado Rockies — and yet he gets hit around as a starter when he gets into the fifth or sixth inning of games. Let’s not use him as the fifth starter come July 28.

Next: The Case Against Gonzalez Germen

Apr 29, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Cubs relief pitcher G. Germen (71) delivers against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Gonzalez Germen

Gonzalez Germen’s case not to start is actually far more simple than Flande’s, and relies on far fewer numbers and splits. Here’s the only number you need to know about the former Mets and Cubs hurler: he’s started one big league game in his entire career, and that was two weeks ago against the Atlanta Braves when the Colorado Rockies made him their emergency starter with a pre-determined plan of only going three innings.

He did really well in those three innings, but Germen is not a guy the Colorado Rockies ought to throw into the fire and expect to go 5-6 innings every single outing, no matter how stretched out he may be, or how his arm may feel.

Germen might be the guy the Colorado Rockies throw out to the wolves one more time — like they did with Atlanta — as they hope to get through some kind of slop fest with a chance to win a game in one of the final innings. but he is absolutely not a legitimate starting option for the Colorado Rockies the rest of the way.

Next: Here's The Bottom Line

Apr 12, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; New York Mets J. Lannan (32) celebrates with catcher A. Recker (left) after defeating the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is this: Laffey’s nothing special, Gray probably once again isn’t ready, and with Flande and Germen clearly not the right fit for the starting rotation on such short notice, it’d be best to bring up John Lannan and let him do work for the Colorado Rockies.

As I’d written about before, Lannan is having a pretty good season in AAA Albuquerque. No, he isn’t going to make any All-League Teams, but he doesn’t have to be that for the Colorado Rockies to be a successful (temporary) fifth starter.

Lannan has started 148 big league games for the Nationals and Mets. He’s had questionable numbers at various points, but all things considered, he really has been a decent big league starter.

It’s probably time to give him a shot in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies — even if only for one or two turns through the rotation — as opposed to (a) rushing Gray, (b) suffering with Laffey, or (c) trying to fit Flande or Germen into roles that don’t suit their strengths.

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