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2008 The Astros took a flier on Chan Ho Park after the Mets released him in June and were rewarded with 18 home runs in 84 innings at Triple-A Round Rock. He's done. 2007 It`s been a strange career already, but, between losing parts of two seasons to a back injury and parts of a third to a hamstring, this year`s life-threatening intestinal problems only made it plain that lightning can strike repeatedly in the same place. Currently a free agent, it`s hard to guess who would want to take a flier on a fifth starter so ill-starred, and his reputation as a headhunter doesn`t help. As recently as five years ago, Park was an unexceptional workhorse starter with extreme fly-ball tendencies who looked like a potential ace to some due to the forgiving nature of Dodger Stadium. When life stripped away that veneer, it did so with a vengeance. 2006 Park`s cratering in Texas--with the health problems, huge contract, and a difficult ballpark,--wasn`t all that surprising. In San Diego, a lot of that pressure should be off, and Park isn`t a bad bet to rebound. He`s still got the back-breaking curve, and he`s pitching in the right park to restore some confidence and resurrect the man he was with the Dodgers. 2005 The real inspiration for the A-Rod trade, Park was once again copious quantities of both awful and absent. Texas has paid him $34 million thus far, and in return received this pitching line:
| G | GS | IP | H | BB | K | ERA | | 48 | 48 | 271 | 293 | 136 | 200 | 5.91 |
On the bright side, his control did improve in 2004, and there are only two more years left on his deal, during which the Rangers will pay him $29 million. Deep breaths, Ranger fans. Deep breaths.2003 Last off-season, we and many others pointed out the obvious danger in the Chan Ho Park signing: that the aptly named Park seemed to be a product of Dodger Stadium, and he wasn’t a good bet to continue his success away from Chavez Ravine. The nightmare Park scenario was even worse: the hitter-friendly Ballpark at Arlington could act as an anti-Chavez, hurting Park just as much as Dodger Stadium had helped him. Guess what, boys and girls? Nightmares can come true. Park’s road ERA in ’02 was just about the same as it was the three previous years: 4.66 with the Rangers vs. 4.72 with the Dodgers. But his Arlington home ERA of 6.84 was more than double his 3.19 Dodger Stadium ERA. His peripherals and his second half performance show a small silver lining, though. He’ll be better this year. Not $65 million better, but better. 2002 The pitching prize of the free-agent market. There are whispers of Park being "mentally soft" and "not ready to be a "front-of-the-rotation starter." Well, that may or may not be the case, but Park has been a successful pitcher, learned a fair amount of English, and seems to be a solid, confident guy. The real problem is his significant home/road split: since 1997, he's posted a 4.66 ERA away from Chavez Ravine. The Rangers, spending $65 million on Park over the next five years, might be quite disappointed. 2001 Unlike Dreifort, Chan Ho Park has some years in his record that support his reputation. He's a better pitcher when he gets ahead with his fastball and sets up his excellent curveball, which helps him keep the ball in the park. His hit rates have been all over the place; see the Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood comments for more on the significance of this.
Base-stealers are just 39-for-84 against Park since 1996 (courtesy STATS, Inc.), despite his pitching to Todd Hundley and Mike Piazza He allowed just three stolen bases in 2000, which is Terry Mulholland territory. 2000 It’s not every day a pitcher gets the chance to give up 11 runs in an inning. The performance better known as “Fernando Tatis’ two-grand-slam-inning” was more notable, to me, for the fact that Park was still pitching after giving up seven runs and loading the bases. In Davey we...oh, never mind.... Park eventually regained control of his curve and pitched much better in the second half. He should revert to his 1997-98 form in 2000. 1998 Wow. The WFG system likes him. So do I, but probably not that much. Excitable when playing and a lot of fun to watch. His breaking pitch looked a lot sharper to me towards the end of the year. If he can get that working, he’s a Cy Young candidate for the next five years. 1997 Still two years away from finding his control. A patient team will kill guys like this, while the Cubs will simply go down quietly, swinging at pitches near their Adam’s apple. 1996 He's a wild and crazy guy, and a terror for his own catcher. He was handled carefully last season and then turned loose on the Arizona Fall League, where he was dominating and named the #5 prospect. The fast gun had him throwing 99 mph in one game, and his major task was to work on his changeup and tighten his curve, and he's definitely improved. Park has an excellent chance to win the #5 spot in the rotation from Pedro Astacio this spring.
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