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2007 In Old Testament Hebrew, belial means `without worth.` While Matt`s not that bad, it`s time to cue up Peggy Lee and accept that this is all that there is. You could cut him some slack over the back injury that cost him more than two months in 2006, but he wasn`t all that good in 2005, and that wasn`t the first major back injury he`s endured. With pedestrian stuff, he`s in danger of falling into the dreaded Quadruple-A class of pitching talent, perpetually hoping for a fifth starter`s job or garbage time out of the pen. 2006 Belisle`s top prospect label was removed after a serious back injury in 2001. Now he`s yet another spear-carrier in the Reds phalanx of hard-working, blue-collar former high school pitchers with middling stuff (fastball, slider, change). His 2006 role is unsettled, as he could end up in middle relief or be inserted into the rotation, but he`ll end up in Louisville quickly if he doesn`t learn how to mix up his pitches to left-handed hitters. 2005 Getting Belisle for Kent Mercker in a late-season dump trade with the Braves in 2003 was the kind of move teams like the Reds need to make to help themselves. So far the deal only looks good on paper, after Belisle gave up 1.5 baserunners per inning in Louisville. Whether it's the result of struggling at higher levels or the residual effects of his injury, Belisle has grown more and more mediocre every year since missing all of 2001 due to a ruptured disc in his back. He's still got time to turn it around.
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