Scott Olsen the Ace

by craig on Dec 17, 2007 8:07 AM EST in News Comment 1 comment

Scott Olsen wants to be the Marlins Opening Day starter and the number one pitcher in the rotation.

In terms of leadership and experience, no one on the young Marlins staff is fully ready to replace Dontrelle Willis. But Scott Olsen makes it clear that he wants the status the D-Train previously held with the organization.
Olsen covets being the ace of the Florida staff, a distinction that Willis held the past few seasons.

When the Marlins take the field for Opening Day against the Mets on March 31, Olsen wants to be on the mound.

"With Dontrelle being gone, someone has to do it," Olsen said. "Whoever it is, obviously, it will be well deserving. But I'm not going to sit here and beat around the bush. I want to start on Opening Day. It's just going to come down to how I pitch in Spring Training, and the shape I show up in, and the shape the other guys show up in. It will come down to the competition to see who gets it."

Scott has the stuff to do it, that has never been in doubt. Last year's slide was easily predicted since in 2005 he only threw 100.2 innings and in 2006 it increased to 187. It is well known that the first time a young pitcher increases the number of innings thrown, more than 30 above the previous year, they aren't as productive the next season.

Of course it didn't help that Olsen received the worst supporting defense behind him of any pitcher in the major leagues who had 300 balls in play last season.

If you click on the link Olsen's name is easy to find, it's at the bottom of the list.

Scott's main problem last year, besides the workload in the previous season, was that when inducing ground balls a few would eventually lead to one of the infielders booting it or if they actually came up with it throwing it into the stands. And after which he would overthrow and try to strike everyone out. With the result of his pitches catching too much of the plate when he actually found the plate.

Scotty O is saying all the right things and he has the talent to make it happen. It is just a matter of him putting it all together.

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