Just about every team is through their first series, and this is what I’ve noticed.
-Jeremy Reed and Miguel Olivo really don’t look comfortable right now. That’s probably at least partly due to facing Radke, Santana and Silva, but I hope they can relax.
-I would gladly swap any Mariner bullpen pitcher for anyone in Minnesota’s bullpen, save for perhaps Terry Mullholland. The M’s pen looks really weak, especially compared to the Twins.
-Despite what my friend at work thinks, the Padres aren’t likely to keep putting up 12 runs a game. The Padres hitters looked better, though it’s much, much more difficult to look good in PETCO than in Coors.
-You gotta love the Nationals, and you have to worry about the Phillies. Philadelphia was on my list of teams that could collapse, and losing two out of three to Washington in Citizen’s Bank Park can’t help.
-What the hell happened to Javier Vasquez?
-I take a certain twisted pleasure in seeing guys who look noticeably smaller than they did last year. Ivan Rodriguez is the most obvious, having lost 23 pounds. It was amusing to listen to the ESPN guys mention that he did this to become more of a threat on the base paths. Scott Spezio is another. I didn’t get a chance to see the M’s during ST; I was shocked to see how much smaller he is.
-Do the Red Sox own Mariano Rivera?
-The White Sox had 10,000 fans for the second and third games of the season? Seriously? Buehrle looked terrific though, and Garcia was good too.
-As much I enjoy the Sunday Night game before Opening Day, I miss the Reds not opening the season for everyone.
-I don’t bitch about salaries much, but it is worth pointing out that just the difference between the Yankees payroll ($205,938,439) and the next highest team, the Red Sox ($121,311,945) would place 11th on the overall list of salaries. Right behind the Braves ($85,148,582) and well in front of the Dodgers ($81,029,500).
-Chan Ho Park versus Aaron Sele? Can’t top that pitching matchup, can we?
Posted by Frinklin at April 7, 2005 06:48 PMFrinklin, what are your memories of Freddy during day games?
He looked OK yesterday. Wicked hammer, but had trouble finding the zone sometimes.
Ilk
Posted by: Ilk at April 7, 2005 08:11 PMWell, the first thing to be learned about Freddy is this: He'll never be as good a pitcher as you think he should be. No matter what the occasion, there will be days where it's obvious to everyone -even the more blatant homer announcers- that Garcia doesn't want to be out there and doesn't seem to care what happens.
His curve is a thing of beauty sometimes, but he'll overthrow it and it will hang.
Historically he's better in Day games. His day ERA is 3.00 and his night ERA is 4.81. His K/BB are more even though, so it could be mostly park factors. SAFECO supposedly a bitch to hit in during day games when the roof is open.
Posted by: frinklin at April 10, 2005 12:37 PM