WARDELL STARLING

3/14/83; '02 4th; Odessa (TX) JC
R/R; 6-4, 200

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2003 R

4-1-0

48.0

2.44

9.75

1.25

.247

3.94

2004 A

11-8-0

140.0

132

114

3.28

7.33

1.31

.253

4.11

2005 A+

10-10-0

153.1

168

102

3.23

5.99

1.45

.279

5.22

2006 AA

6-5-0

86.2

2.80

4.36

1.25

.249

2.80

2006 A+

4-4-0

73.2

2.08

5.50

0.95

.202

3.18

2007 AA

3-8-1

84.2

3.40

5.42

1.51

.293

6.48

2008 DNP

After rebounding in 2006 from a disappointing 2005 season, Starling fell to pieces in 2007. He was one of the more athletic players available in the 2002 draft, although he was considered very raw. When he and the Pirates were unable to come to terms, he attended junior college to give them a chance to sign him as a draft-and-follow. They did so after he had a big year hitting and pitching. He batted .420 with 12 HRs in 193 ABs, and went 10-3 with a league-leading 2.22 ERA and 94 Ks in 85.1 IP. The Bucs signed him as a pitcher, as his fastball occasionally reached 97. He struggled a little for Bradenton in his first season, particularly with gopher balls, and he had one awful outing that inflated his ERA. Overall, though, he pitched very well and at times was dominant, consistently throwing 92-94. The Pirates jumped him to Hickory in 2004 and he was the most successful of the four starting pitchers who tried to make that jump. He struggled at times with both walks and gopher balls, and didn't have a good K rate, but given that he was considered fairly raw and was skipping a level, his performance was encouraging.

Starling didn't make good progress in 2005, as Carolina League hitters hit him hard and he still had trouble with HRs (18). He also had a low K rate. Like most of the RHPs the Pirates have drafted in recent years, his velocity seems to have dropped from what it was when he was drafted. In 2005 he was reportedly throwing mainly 90-91, although his breaking ball was regarded as good. His primary problem was erratic command. The Pirates did not add him to the 40-man roster, leaving him eligible for the Rule 5 draft, but he was not selected. Back at Lynchburg in 2006, he showed considerable improvement. He cut roughly 80 points off his opponents' OBP and allowed only three HRs. His K rate, however, actually dropped. He was promoted to AA at mid-season and pitched nearly as well, allowing a few more baserunners but watching his K rate drop still further. At both locations he had a tendency to dominate for 4-5 innings and then run into trouble. In the Hawaii Winter League, he got hammered as a starter but pitched very well in relief, so he may be better off in the bullpen.

In 2007, the wheels came off completely. His K rate remained low, his control got weaker and he got hit hard. Just the same, his peripheral numbers weren't nearly as bad as his ERA. He at least managed to keep the ball in the park, allowing only five HRs. He continued the same pattern he'd had before of pitching well enough, albeit for shorter periods, and then coming unglued all at once. After 11 starts the team moved him to the bullpen. The move didn't work, as his ERA was actually worse in relief, 6.90 to 6.26. It did help his velocity, which by 2007 was all the way down to the mid-80s as a starter. I saw him start a game and then pitch in relief just a couple days later (he got ejected from the start before he threw many pitches); he was mainly in the mid-80s in the start but up in the low 90s in the relief appearance. The Pirates probably should have considered converting him to the outfield; he went 7-for-19 with four extra-base hits in 2006, although he was 0-for-6 in 2007. He was slated to return to the Altoona bullpen for 2008, although the Pirates thought about releasing him, but he opened the season on the disabled list and never appeared anywhere. I haven't been able to find out whether he's still in the organization.

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