Florida Marlins' Sean West Makes Strides Despite Bad Outing

The Marlins inserted Sean West in the rotation during the middle of the season, and like rookie pitchers, West experienced the highs and lows in learning on the job. West started off well, but then he struggled to the point the Marlins sent him down in the minors. He came back in August, and overall, he did well enough to help keep Marlins afloat in the wild-card race. Prior to Sunday afternoon's start, he won four of his last five decisions. The Marlins rookie earned the trust of Fredi Gonzalez to pitch him in September. Sunday was not his day, to say the least. West displayed no command of his pitches, and it resulted to him giving up three walks, five hits and five runs in his start against the Reds. West took the loss after the Reds gained a split in their 8-1 victory over the Marlins. We should have expected this. Not every rookie pitchers are as polished as Braves phenom Tommy Hanson. West still needs to work on developing many pitches that can make him effective. His...