It makes more sense now. Paulino has long been thought of as a potential closer. I had not realized that draining Jose Valverde’s hematoma was going to keep him out for 3 weeks while it heals. Then he’ll probably need to go on a quick rehab assignment, so maybe we don’t see Jose again until June.

Given the difference in salaries between Valverde and Paulino, it’d make a whole lot of sense to take this opportunity to see if Paulino can handle being a solid part of the major league bullpen. Although I’d prefer the whole 13-man pitching staff idea that I mentioned in the Jason Smith thread, this move certainly has some merit and could free up quite a bit of money for us down the road.

I think AAA is the worst option for him. Coming out of the bullpen will give Paulino experience against ML hitters, and that’s a lot more important than getting experience as a starter.

It all fits with Cooper’s and Wade’s attitude that “veteran-ness” is a lot more important than talent.

From what Footer says, the 8 runs Moehler gave up in the first two innings were while Moehler was working with just a limited number of pitches…once he mixed in his changeup after the second out of the second inning, he apparently retired 11 in a row.

On Paulino’s strikeout rate, although it isn’t nearly as gaudy as Valverde’s (10-12 K/9, consistently over the years) they’ve both got good and similar K/BB ratios: a 3.25 K/BB ratio for Paulino this year, 3.6ish for Valverde. And although Paulino doesn’t get as many strikeouts (sample size caveat), he’s got a much better groundball rate than Valverde, and does a decent job of not giving up homers.

On whether he should be a starter or a reliever, I’m sure the argument for him being a reliever is that the front office believes his arm may be a bit more fragile with his injury history. As a reliever, I don’t think he’ll be thirsty for innings…how many more times can we run Geary out there to give up a run? Sampson will likely continue to take the bulk of the multi-inning relief work. This will give Coop a good option to go to in the bullpen to nail down the 7th and maybe the 8th inning…if Paulino continues his success, I think Coop won’t have any trouble using him in close and late situations (the offense, however, may have difficulty keeping the game close into the late innings).

And I’ll just finish up with a quote that apparently shows that Paulino understands his job better than Cooper does.

Cooper has wondered if Paulino might hit 100-mph if he’s used in one-inning outings. “I don’t know about that,” Paulino said. “Throwing hard isn’t the most important thing. You have to be smart and throw with command. I cannot be overconfident just because I throw hard. Godwilling, I can do a good job.”