More Reason To Be Optimistic About Wolf

So far in 2009, Wolf has been much better than most everybody could have dreamed, and (along with Billingsley) has helped provide some stability to an otherwise rickety rotation.

I wasn't always so thrilled with Wolf, though I did say he had upside...

That said, because he still possesses the ability to strike batters out, and because he's left-handed, Wolf has the most significant upside of the 3.

...and that he would be the best choice if he were willing to take a short deal.

Wolf would be the choice if he were willing to take a one-year deal with team options. He has the most potential to be something other than a #5 starter, and if he goes down to injury, Eric Stults could be a solid temporary replacement. However, giving him a multi-year deal is out of the question for me.

Looking back on it now, I think most of my anger with Wolf stemmed from him being rumored to want more than 3-years and 30 million dollars. Still, the fact of the matter is that I wasn't happy with Wolf's signing, and this mainly stemmed from his substandard performance and health problems.

Back in February, my biggest concern revolved around his mechanical problems.

In these pictures, Wolf shows evidence of an inverted W, hyperabduction, and forced scap loading. These itself don't cause injury, but the timing issues they create put undo stress on both the elbow and shoulder. After looking at these, it's no surprise to me that he's had an injury riddled career. Is there a chance he can get away with it for another year and put up close to 200 innings like in 2008? Sure, anything is possible, but it is playing with fire.

So what didn't I anticipate? Him being willing to fix his flaws.

A small adjustment has turned around Randy Wolf's career.

He was struggling through a 6-10 record with a 4.74 ERA to start the 2008 season with the Padres, who traded him to the Astros on July 22.

"What happens is, before surgery, pitchers will alter their mechanics," Wolf said. "They'll start developing bad habits and that messes with location when they come back."

Wolf said he was guilty of changing his delivery before undergoing Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on July 1, 2005. Wolf also had surgery on the labrum in his left shoulder. With the Astros, he realized he was dragging his arm behind his body while throwing in the outfield.

"It's huge," Wolf said. "When I was with the Padres, I was awful. I didn't have a good idea where the ball was going. This year, I feel good. About 90 percent of the time, the ball goes to the area I want it to go."

I obviously didn't watch his games in 2008, so I was completely in the dark about any changes to his delivery, but consider me impressed by his open mindedness. Most pitchers aren't even willing to admit the slightest flaw in their methodology, but Wolf seemed more interested in preventing future injuries. He still scap loads (which is bad), but his timing issues seem much better now, and at least the ball is in the throwing position at footstrike, instead of having late forearm turnover like before.

Assuming he doesn't revert back to bad habits, this information has to change my opinion on the deal. He's still an injury risk, in my opinion, but this makes him far less likely to go down that road. If another benefit is his claimed improved control (statistics back his claim up), then it gives his current career resurgence more credibility, because it validates an increase in his skills that hadn't been there prior to 2009. In the end, he's still pitching above his head, but instead of expecting a 4.30 ERA like in the season preview, I think even something below 4.00 could be a realistic goal now.