After sitting out 2010, 36-year-old righthander Braden Looper is attempting to revive his career with yet another NL Central team, the Chicago Cubs.
We last saw Looper luck into a 14-7 record despite a 5.22 ERA (and 5.74 FIP) with Milwaukee in 2009.
It’s beyond unlikely that Looper gets a chance to start for the Cubs in 2011, since they had to send Tom Gorzelanny away just to get to five guaranteed starters, and they’ve still got a bunch of young candidates beyond that. His lack of velocity and distrust of his fastball pretty much signaled the end of Looper’s career as a starter anyway.
The question is, of course: Can Looper become an impact reliever again?
The odds are against it. The last season Looper was a reliever was 2006, and he struck out only 41 batters in 73 innings. If he was doing that at age 31, what’s he going to be like five years later? He did develop a nice splitter as a starter, and it became his go-to pitch in 2009, but anyone expecting the 2004 Braden Looper in 2011 will be severely disappointed.
Then again, sometimes taking a year off will rejuvenate a pitcher–Troy Percival is a recent example. We’ll see if taking 2010 off will get Looper back in fine form, or if he’ll just get a brief spring cameo to simply assure his MLB career is over.
Original Story:
http://fansided.com/baseball/2011/01/...
