The Crane Pool Forum

Hi, I'm Robert Gsellman, and I know you've been through prediction threads covering hard-to-predict fringe camp invitees, but my veteran status puts me north of the bubble right now. I am pretty likely to break north with the team.

But the bubble is within range. I can see the bubble. I can smell the bubble. And that's because, after a year of questionable productivity, I spent another year returning from surgery, and then I was pretty surprised to see myself deployed as a starter. And that didn't work out.

So it's been quite a while since I was good, but I'm still here and Steven Matz is all gone, all gone, all gone ... . So that counts for something, right?

I'm an athletic righthander, and I probably play some good basketball. My long straight hockey hair puts folks in mind of Crash Davis' warning about being a character before you make it in the show. I've kind of made it, and so I'm only kind of a character. My fellow emergency-starter-turned-season savior-turned-reliever-turned-emergency starter-again Seth Lugo is down, and I'm up, so this may be a time for Robert Gsellman, captain of Gondor, to show his quality.

Will there be quality to show? I've got to know. So tell me, before I make another Springsteen or Tollkein reference.

47 games, in which he will pitch 57 middle innings. 2-3 4.59 1.42 WHIP.

Later

I'm always impressed with Gselly's broad shoulders, it's like he left the hanger in his jersey before putting it on.

That said, he's like the right-handed relief version of Matz: He needs to start getting it done or find another job. I'll err on the side of optimism this one last time: 3-1, 3.70, 1.3 WHiP, 50 innings, 50 whiffs

I'll go with 62 IP and 75 K, but otherwise what JL said. He's proven he can't be a workhorse or a starter, but he still has the ability to be decent if used correctly.

Mostly, I'm hoping that there's never any reason to have him start any games, unless maybe if the double-headers pile up.

I hope he does start games, and he's awesome at it.

12 PPG/8.2 RPG, but with more turnovers and ill-advised passes than you'd like-- he's not a BALLHANDLER, guys.

Oh, also, I'll play the usual JCL role: Used extensively in medium-leverage/multi-inning stuff in April, does well. Gets blown up a bunch in May, though and gets optioned for a bit. Back up in July or August, does a little better, but almost all in mop-up. 5.09 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 50-something innings, 8.8 K/3.5 BB. None of it is terribly surprising.

It's hard to suss out why he's never matched what he was able to do early on. That winter there were a number of prospect guys -- not Rah-Rah NYM fan boyz but independent, national ones -- who were real high on him while insisting he was better than a beginner's luck fluke. But at this point that initial success is now the outlier.

He's always been a bit of of pselluzle, amirite?

Gonna hedge on overall T-oPF and say surprisingly productive in mid-relief role.

(also in camp hope-no-need-for-him-to-get-a-start)