Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday Morning Coffee
A good baseball day for the first Saturday of the season. Weather was terrible on the East Coast, which enabled for viewing on-and-off throughout the day and into the night. We squeezed a late afternoon family walk into the mix, but needed winter hats and accompanying jackets and coats.
Toronto doesn't have much that is extraordinary about their team; in fact most of the projections having them being very ordinary this season. The exception, of course, is their ace Roy Halladay who picked up his 2nd win of the week in Cleveland yesterday. He wasn't great, but pitched well with men on base, keeping the Indians from mounting a serious rally all day.
His counterpart, Cliff Lee, pitched from the stretch all day long, left too many pitches up in the zone and is now 0-2 with an ERA a tick under 10. I'm reminded of just how random an endeavor like pitching can be. This guy has gone from Cy Young to (like his team) being forced to dig out of an early hole right off the bat.
From the MLB game Report:
And so in an attempt to stave off 0-6, Cleveland turns to Anthony Reyes, their 4th or 5th starter depending on which depth chart you're looking at.
Working for a Living
It was a stomach squirming relief appearance by Jonathan Papelbon yesterday in Anaheim. The bottom line however, he got the job done, getting Howie Kendrick (after seven straight foul balls) to hit a fly ball with the bases loaded and a one-run lead in the 9th.
After showcasing his typical mid-90s hit and pinpoint control in his season debut at Fenway on Tuesday, he was off his game yesterday afternoon. To the point, he basically was pitching without his fastball. I mean, he had a fastball; the Fox gun was still clocking him at 94-95, but as Eric Karros kept noting over and over and over again, he didn't have much command of it. Varitek would set up outside and it would tail back in towards the plate. Tek would set-up high and the pitch would still nick the top edge of the strike zone. As a result, he gave up a couple of hits when he was ahead 0-2 and didn't have his typical put-away stuff.
With all that being said, it was as impressed as I can remember being with Papelbon in a single outing. He looked like he was laboring, and indeed his 39 pitches yesterday guarantee he's on the shelf for today's game. So deprived of the effectiveness of the main weapon in his arsenal, he went more to his slider and even mixed in a couple of change-ups in the inning. Varitek did his usual excellent job in the role of battery-mate-as-air-traffic-controller coaxing his closer through the turbulence and into an eventual safe landing. It was a fascinating inning to watch.
Speaking of Scary Closers
Here's how Carlos Marmol pitched to the Brewers' two best hitters with the tying run on base in the 9th. In going down 2-0 in the count to both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, he went slider-slider-slider (for a strikeout) and then slider-curveball-slider-slider for another strikeout. Talk about a guy who can throw any pitch in any count, any situation. The Cubs have found their permanent closer, and if he's anything close to his numbers last year (WHIP under 1), it's another cog that cements their status as the class of the NL Central, if not the entire National League.
Enjoy the holiday for everyone celebrating today.
A good baseball day for the first Saturday of the season. Weather was terrible on the East Coast, which enabled for viewing on-and-off throughout the day and into the night. We squeezed a late afternoon family walk into the mix, but needed winter hats and accompanying jackets and coats.
Toronto doesn't have much that is extraordinary about their team; in fact most of the projections having them being very ordinary this season. The exception, of course, is their ace Roy Halladay who picked up his 2nd win of the week in Cleveland yesterday. He wasn't great, but pitched well with men on base, keeping the Indians from mounting a serious rally all day.
His counterpart, Cliff Lee, pitched from the stretch all day long, left too many pitches up in the zone and is now 0-2 with an ERA a tick under 10. I'm reminded of just how random an endeavor like pitching can be. This guy has gone from Cy Young to (like his team) being forced to dig out of an early hole right off the bat.
From the MLB game Report:
"What the guys are battling right now is what every fan is feeling," manager Eric Wedge said. "When you get off to a start like this, everything's going to be [multiplied] times 10."
Yes, and it probably won't help the Indians much to hear they're the first Tribe team to begin a season 0-5 since the 1985 club that finished 60-102. It definitely won't help them to hear they're in danger of becoming the first Cleveland club to begin 0-6 since the 1914 Cleveland Naps, who finished 51-102.
Cleveland mounted a nice rally in the 9th, even forcing Gaston to remove an ineffective B.J. Ryan in the middle of the frame. Trailing 5-1 entering the inning, they cut it to 5-4 with two outs. But it was all for naught as Mark DeRosa was stranded at 2nd representing what would've been the tying run.And so in an attempt to stave off 0-6, Cleveland turns to Anthony Reyes, their 4th or 5th starter depending on which depth chart you're looking at.
Working for a Living
It was a stomach squirming relief appearance by Jonathan Papelbon yesterday in Anaheim. The bottom line however, he got the job done, getting Howie Kendrick (after seven straight foul balls) to hit a fly ball with the bases loaded and a one-run lead in the 9th.
After showcasing his typical mid-90s hit and pinpoint control in his season debut at Fenway on Tuesday, he was off his game yesterday afternoon. To the point, he basically was pitching without his fastball. I mean, he had a fastball; the Fox gun was still clocking him at 94-95, but as Eric Karros kept noting over and over and over again, he didn't have much command of it. Varitek would set up outside and it would tail back in towards the plate. Tek would set-up high and the pitch would still nick the top edge of the strike zone. As a result, he gave up a couple of hits when he was ahead 0-2 and didn't have his typical put-away stuff.
With all that being said, it was as impressed as I can remember being with Papelbon in a single outing. He looked like he was laboring, and indeed his 39 pitches yesterday guarantee he's on the shelf for today's game. So deprived of the effectiveness of the main weapon in his arsenal, he went more to his slider and even mixed in a couple of change-ups in the inning. Varitek did his usual excellent job in the role of battery-mate-as-air-traffic-controller coaxing his closer through the turbulence and into an eventual safe landing. It was a fascinating inning to watch.
Speaking of Scary Closers
Here's how Carlos Marmol pitched to the Brewers' two best hitters with the tying run on base in the 9th. In going down 2-0 in the count to both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, he went slider-slider-slider (for a strikeout) and then slider-curveball-slider-slider for another strikeout. Talk about a guy who can throw any pitch in any count, any situation. The Cubs have found their permanent closer, and if he's anything close to his numbers last year (WHIP under 1), it's another cog that cements their status as the class of the NL Central, if not the entire National League.
Enjoy the holiday for everyone celebrating today.
