Who is this guy?

We've hit the point in the season where injuries (read below) and ineffectiveness (ditto) open doors to pitchers that no one has ever heard of. Today's example is Derrick Turnbow. That's him getting a talking to from pitching coach Mike "Big Brother" Maddux. A failed prospect in the Angels organization, he bounced over to Milwaukee. Upon Mike Adams's ineffectiveness, he was given the keys to the closer coupe, and is 2 for 2 so far. So who is he?

The 27 year old Turnbow grew up in Nashville as a Cardinals fan. When waived by the Angels in October of 2004, the Brewers snatched him up. A right-handed pitcher who has been known to throw in the upper-90's, manager Ned Yost believes that he has the stuff to make it as a major league closer. After all, he's racked up 3 saves in his minor league career.

Wait, huh, what? Okay, so he wasn't a minor league closer. He must have had impressive numbers over the past couple of seasons. Well, not exactly. Take a look at these lines...

2003: Salt Lake (AAA): 55 IP, 5.73 ERA, 63 K, 22, BB, 68 hits allowed.
2004: Salt Lake (AAA): 74.2 IP, 5.06 ERA, 56 K, 42, BB, 75 hits allowed.

As you see, the strikeout totals are solid (if he's throwing in the upper 90's, they should be), but the ERA is very high (even for a hitters park in SLC). Also, his walk rate is rising and strikeout rate is falling. Not good. If closers can be compared through the ages, this is definitely off of the Mitch Williams branch of the closer tree. Not the Eck, Quiz, or Fingers branch. And not off the good part of the Williams branch (like the '89 or '93 seasons).

So what should we expect from Mr. Turnbow? My guess is that we'll see Mike MacDougal circa 2003 again. Some effectiveness. Some wildness. And a different Brewers closer by June 2006.