Sunday Soliloquy
Needing a break from my current Paul Auster addiction and full from my lamb rice plate, I spent a lazy Sunday afternoon on the balcony with my best friend, MLB.tv. Starting at Fenway and ending in the 5th inning at Chase Field, let's hit the games.
Mets 15, Diamondbacks 2 (4 game sweep)
Russ Ortiz is a terrible pitcher. I never liked watching him even during his winning years as a Giant. All he does is nibble. He's probably replaced Steve Trachsel atop my list of most unwatchable pitchers. Comparing the similar contracts that he and AJ Burnett have signed, it's not even an argument that Burnett has been more helpful to his team despite not having pitched. When you don't pitch, you cant lose. Ortiz lost this game in the first inning.
Walk.
Steal.
Bunt Single.
E4, 1-0.
F9.
K, Steal.
Double, 3-0.
Pedro gets warm.
Game over.
Joe Garagiola: "The last you want to do is give Pedro a 3 run lead. It's like waking up on Christmas and finding no presents under the tree." I have no idea what he's saying. But Pedro does win his first since April, despite being unable to consistently throw a curve for a strike.
Mariners 6, Angels 2 (3 game sweep)
I managed to get the M's getting +102 against Weaver this morning. Peon Felix has now acquired the rank of squire. He managed to throw a complete game 4-hitter on 94 pitches, facing a total of 30 batters. He was at 67 thru 7 and 84 thru 8. He threw a total of 21 balls, averaging 2.3 per inning. Hitters 3-7 went hitless in 22 AB's. Pretty remarkable for a 20 year-old. In his last start, he beat Francisco Liriano. Speaking of whom...
Twins 4, Orioles 0
Liriano has allowed 9 hits in his last 20 innings, spanning 3 starts, with two 1-hitters. He's now 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA for the year, with 56K in 51.1IP. The scouts were right: he does have better stuff than Johan, better than Kazmir. If he avoids injury and figures out how to pitch like Johan did, my over/under with #1 look much brighter.
A's 6, Yankees 5 (3 game sweep)
Zito walked a bunch of guys, but settled down after the 1st. Farnsworth loses again. Shocking. Another underdog pick at +123 pans out.
Dodgers 6, Rockies 5
The Dodgers rally for two in the 9th as Fuentes blows his second save of the year. Overall, the Rox pen has been rock solid. Their ERAs and WHIPs, respectively, entering play tonight:
Brian Fuentes 1.46, 1.01
Ramon Ramirez 2.28, 0.80
Ray King 2.76, 1.47
Jose Mesa 2.86, 1.27
Luckily for Mesa, using Vizquel as target practice does not hurt his WHIP.
Houston 14, Braves 4
Horacio Ramirez took a liner off his forehead. Let's hope he's alright. Bobby Cox hung Reitsma out to dry in the 6th. I don't see how he'll have a significant role in the pen for the Braves the rest of the year.
Rays 8, Royals 2
If Rocco Baldelli makes his return in Kansas City and no one sees it, does it make a sound?
Red Sox 5, Rangers 4
Rangers 13, Red Sox 6
What does it say about the club's confidence in Matt Clement, another unwatchable pitcher, that they skip his regular turn in the rotation for a rookie called up from Double-A? At least Pauley's ERA was lower coming into the game. Big Papi saved the Red Sox from a sweep of a doubleheader, hitting a 3-run bomb with two outs in the 9th. But some of the credit must go to whoever's calling the pitches for Rangers, whether it's the pitching coach, Buck, Barajas or Otsuka. Completely asinine.
Otsuka managed to get ahead in the count 0-2 by throwing his good slider in to Papi. He barely missed with the next two sliders, basically in the same location. On 2-2, he threw another good slider inside at the shins of which Papi barely managed to get apiece. What doe they decide to throw on the nex pitch? A fastball towards the outer half belt high that gets smoked to right. For the love of God, why???
There are two pitches that you can't throw to Papi. First, he crushes any pitch that's thigh high, inner half. Second, and this is especially true at Fenway, he crushes any mediocre fastball on the outer half as he's willing to drive it the other way over or off the wall. See, e.g., Jarrod Washburn, Game 3, 2004 ALDS.
During the AB, I kept saying to myself, "Damn, that slider is a good pitch, I don't think Papi can hit it." If I can see it, why can't they? Otsuka had done a good job of keeping that ball down enough and in enough that if Papi managed to keep the ball fair, it'd be a weak ground ball to the right side. Otsuka hadn't hung one yet. Furthermore, it's his best pitch. His fastball tops out at around 90. You can't get Papi out on that pitch; it's a meatball to him. Your best case scenario with that pitch against him is a flyball to the warning track in left center. Your most likely scenario is a deep flyball that hits the wall. Your worst case scenario? It's this!
Mets 15, Diamondbacks 2 (4 game sweep)
Russ Ortiz is a terrible pitcher. I never liked watching him even during his winning years as a Giant. All he does is nibble. He's probably replaced Steve Trachsel atop my list of most unwatchable pitchers. Comparing the similar contracts that he and AJ Burnett have signed, it's not even an argument that Burnett has been more helpful to his team despite not having pitched. When you don't pitch, you cant lose. Ortiz lost this game in the first inning.
Walk.
Steal.
Bunt Single.
E4, 1-0.
F9.
K, Steal.
Double, 3-0.
Pedro gets warm.
Game over.
Joe Garagiola: "The last you want to do is give Pedro a 3 run lead. It's like waking up on Christmas and finding no presents under the tree." I have no idea what he's saying. But Pedro does win his first since April, despite being unable to consistently throw a curve for a strike.
Mariners 6, Angels 2 (3 game sweep)
I managed to get the M's getting +102 against Weaver this morning. Peon Felix has now acquired the rank of squire. He managed to throw a complete game 4-hitter on 94 pitches, facing a total of 30 batters. He was at 67 thru 7 and 84 thru 8. He threw a total of 21 balls, averaging 2.3 per inning. Hitters 3-7 went hitless in 22 AB's. Pretty remarkable for a 20 year-old. In his last start, he beat Francisco Liriano. Speaking of whom...
Twins 4, Orioles 0
Liriano has allowed 9 hits in his last 20 innings, spanning 3 starts, with two 1-hitters. He's now 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA for the year, with 56K in 51.1IP. The scouts were right: he does have better stuff than Johan, better than Kazmir. If he avoids injury and figures out how to pitch like Johan did, my over/under with #1 look much brighter.
A's 6, Yankees 5 (3 game sweep)
Zito walked a bunch of guys, but settled down after the 1st. Farnsworth loses again. Shocking. Another underdog pick at +123 pans out.
Dodgers 6, Rockies 5
The Dodgers rally for two in the 9th as Fuentes blows his second save of the year. Overall, the Rox pen has been rock solid. Their ERAs and WHIPs, respectively, entering play tonight:
Brian Fuentes 1.46, 1.01
Ramon Ramirez 2.28, 0.80
Ray King 2.76, 1.47
Jose Mesa 2.86, 1.27
Luckily for Mesa, using Vizquel as target practice does not hurt his WHIP.
Houston 14, Braves 4
Horacio Ramirez took a liner off his forehead. Let's hope he's alright. Bobby Cox hung Reitsma out to dry in the 6th. I don't see how he'll have a significant role in the pen for the Braves the rest of the year.
Rays 8, Royals 2
If Rocco Baldelli makes his return in Kansas City and no one sees it, does it make a sound?
Red Sox 5, Rangers 4
Rangers 13, Red Sox 6
What does it say about the club's confidence in Matt Clement, another unwatchable pitcher, that they skip his regular turn in the rotation for a rookie called up from Double-A? At least Pauley's ERA was lower coming into the game. Big Papi saved the Red Sox from a sweep of a doubleheader, hitting a 3-run bomb with two outs in the 9th. But some of the credit must go to whoever's calling the pitches for Rangers, whether it's the pitching coach, Buck, Barajas or Otsuka. Completely asinine.
Otsuka managed to get ahead in the count 0-2 by throwing his good slider in to Papi. He barely missed with the next two sliders, basically in the same location. On 2-2, he threw another good slider inside at the shins of which Papi barely managed to get apiece. What doe they decide to throw on the nex pitch? A fastball towards the outer half belt high that gets smoked to right. For the love of God, why???
There are two pitches that you can't throw to Papi. First, he crushes any pitch that's thigh high, inner half. Second, and this is especially true at Fenway, he crushes any mediocre fastball on the outer half as he's willing to drive it the other way over or off the wall. See, e.g., Jarrod Washburn, Game 3, 2004 ALDS.
During the AB, I kept saying to myself, "Damn, that slider is a good pitch, I don't think Papi can hit it." If I can see it, why can't they? Otsuka had done a good job of keeping that ball down enough and in enough that if Papi managed to keep the ball fair, it'd be a weak ground ball to the right side. Otsuka hadn't hung one yet. Furthermore, it's his best pitch. His fastball tops out at around 90. You can't get Papi out on that pitch; it's a meatball to him. Your best case scenario with that pitch against him is a flyball to the warning track in left center. Your most likely scenario is a deep flyball that hits the wall. Your worst case scenario? It's this!
posted by number 2 at 6/11/2006 11:39:00 PM
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