WHIV 2056.14- All We Can Do Is Watch

[recte44]

It started with the Boise Spuds organization. He was a first round pick with an electric arm and high hopes surrounding him. The young right-hander zipped through the system and was heralded by scouts all around the league. Fans were excited to see him come in to try and close out games.

Some days he did, some days he didn't. Some days he was the second coming of Jason Egan, other days it seemed like the hits, walks and homers just piled up.

And so the Spuds decided to move on. They didn't have to look far to find someone to trade for him, as the Nashville Bluebirds saw what they wanted to see. They chose to see the guy with the 99 mph fastball, the devastating slider, the filthy stuff that was exactly as advertised. They chose to omit the other days. Everyone did. Even the pitcher. He chose to see what he wanted to see.

It only took Nashville a season and a half to see the whole picture. He'd dominate, then self-destruct. No lead felt safe. They had to move on. Time to find another huckleberry.

Not only did they find a taker in the Las Vegas Hustlers, they found a team that saw the good so blindly that they almost immediately extended the pitcher's contract for three years, at $6M annually. The pitcher rewarded Las Vegas initially after the trade, with his outstanding and relatively consistent performance. They saw the good. The fans saw the good. The pitcher saw the good.

But here we are again, doing the same old thing it seems. He blew up three times in the first week. There's been dominant outings. There's been meltdowns. It's the same damn inconsistency that a guy with an arm and arsenal like this should not suffer from.

Still, he does. After all of this time and seemingly endless seasons of disappointment, talks of underachieving, new ideas of how to "fix" him, Josh Dougherty remains the same pitcher he's been all of these years. One who dazzles one day, and can't be trusted the next day.

Through all of it, folks are still squinting and seeing what they want to see. You'll hear things like "He's only 27", or "what if we limit his pitches?", or "maybe he could be a starter?", or "why not turn him into a multi-inning stopper", or "maybe he shouldn't pitch any more than just the ninth", or any other endless suggestions...but at the end of the day Josh Dougherty still has to look at himself in the mirror and decide whether or not he has it inside of him to actually become the pitcher that everyone thinks he can be, hopes he can be, dreams he can be.

All he can do is come to the ballpark, put on the jersey, go through his daily routines, go out to the bullpen, and be ready when his name is called. That's the life of a closer. You're told to "forget about yesterday" and "have a short memory" but there have just been so many outings where he let down his team, his family, a nation of fans....

It's just a game. Tomorrow there will be another game. Josh Dougherty will wake up tomorrow and be given another chance at redemption, just like he always has.

All we can do is watch.

[Jwalk100]

Vegas has done wonders for him.

[Dington]

Loved him as a prospect and hoped he landed in Nashville in the draft in the 2nd round since McNeill already fell to me in the 1st. Had a huge man crush with dreams of Dougherty and Lowry with a dangerous LHP/RHP combo out of the pen. By the time I landed him, I was already weary, but he was cheap, so why not. He was bad and I was happy to unload him.

[RonCo]

Nice piece. He's a fun story.

Seems to be all about the home run for him. If he can keep them down in the 1 per 9 IP range, he's hard to beat.

[JimSlade]

Relievers. Kickers. Little margin for error. That high HR rate seems like it will always be a risk.