Brandon McCarthy = Jason Schmidt (?)

By foxsports
Published

Okay, so the headline's click-baity:

Could Brandon McCarthy turn into next Jason Schmidt for Dodgers?

But columnists don't generally write their own headlines, so we should cut Steve Dilbeck some slack on that one.

Dilbeck did finish his column this way:

Former Dodgers GM Ned Colletti once signed a sore shouldered pitcher to four years and $47 million. Jason Schmidt made 10 starts in two seasons and called it a career. He, of course, had a rotator cuff injury, so it's hopefully a different kind of animal.

At least Schmidt had been a three-time All-Star and Cy Young runner-up. There was evidence of greatness. He'™d thrown over 135 innings nine different times and 200 innings five times.

Not so with McCarthy. Their greatest similarity is a risky contract.

Well, yes: These are different animals. Schmidt, as Dilbeck mentions, tore his rotator cuff. McCarthy, as Dilbeck mentions earlier, has suffered from a chronic shoulder injury but seems to have a handle on that, recently at least. Dilbeck also quotes our friend Jeff Sullivan, referencing xFIP and the like. Granted, Dilbeck does sneer at such metrics, but at least the information's there if you want it.

Schmidt got just as much money as McCarthy, and won three games. I'm willing to bet that McCarthy does quite a lot better. Which is why the comparison is a real stretch.