IGT 4/22/09: NYM @ STL (Death to Molina, already yet)

[Fman99]

Hey, an RBI! What the hell?!?

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Sutcliffe would be more fun if you were drinking.

Meanwhile, the comeback continues. Tying run on deck, a fact that is not changed by Church's popup.

[Fman99]

Swan Swan H wrote: Hey my posting level is 'Jack Aker.' Fman, whattaya got?

Jack Aker? If I jack, nothing should ache her.

[Fman99]

Swan Swan H wrote: Sutcliffe would be more fun if you were drinking. Meanwhile, the comeback continues. Tying run on deck, a fact that is not changed by Church's popup.

Must be why I'm having fun! Except watching that weak ass Church pop-up.

[Fman99]

Ryan Franklin has a beard that looks like a medieval pubic patch. And that's the game.

Oh we suck. Darnit.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Thus endeth the comeback.

[Zvon]

I'm gonna ignore the fact that we even did the little things horribly, and blame this whole shitty game on the black hats and jerseys.

[Guest themetfairy]

This game sucked.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Death by haberdashery.

[Gwreck]

Wow this was bad.

What happened to our starting pitching?

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Johan had the day off.

Seriously, I'm least worried about Pelfrey. I think he'll be okay as a #3 or #4 if he can get an effective second pitch to go with his fastball. Perez is a head case that I'm convinced will forever be maddeningly inconsistent due to his failure to throw strikes. I'm worried that Maine may not recover from his are problems to regain his prior form. I do however hold out more hope for his coming through to fill the #2 slot than I do Perez. I think Omar over estimated the quality and depth of the starting rotation and funneled so much energy into vastly improving the bullpen that he neglected to upgrade the starting rotation at all. What good is the improved bullpen if the team can seldom hand them a lead to protect?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

IMO, Maine is the real issue. He suffers every bit as much as Perez in terms of being too inefficient and/or ineffective to work late into games, only unlike Perez, he's stopped mixing in the occasional gem.

It's been this way since Petersen was whacked, more or less.

[metirish]

Right now I feel better about L Hernandez going today than I do about the rest of them, after Johan that is.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think none of them are the issue. Two runs wins few games.

[Frayed Knot]

Yes, but the starting pitching has been more consistently lacking than the offense (last night not-withstanding).
3 starters have ERAs over 7.00



Maine last night
1st inning: leadoff walk - 1 run scores
2nd inning: one-out walk - none scored
3rd inning: leadoff walk (pitcher) - 2 runs score
4th inning: one-out walk - 2 runs score
5th inning: 1-2-3 inning
6th inning: leadoff single - leaves w/2 out & bases loaded

It's positively Oliver-esque !!



And, in answer to my own question somewhere in this thread:
No, Piniero did not have any strikeouts the entire game.

[Guest Edgy DC]

They'll all have good stretches and bad stretches, and three of them aren't starting well. It's rare to have all five firing on all cylanders at once.

I know they'll finish better than seven, just like I know Santana, Stokes, and Rodriguez will finish worse than where they are.

We take the notion that some guys will be up while others are down on offense better than we do with pitching, because with eight guys out there on offense every day, it's easier to see it evening out. While I'd love to see Maine/Perez/Pelfrey get straight, what will help to see the balance is more O.

The big problem of the pitching failures to me is the strain it puts on the pen. That's compounded, I think, by the modern propensity to still pull starters after seven innings even if they are dominating. It used to be that a 15-inning game would cook the pen for 2-3 days running. Now, any extra-innng game does.

Putz and Feliciano have gone out there way too often already. Putz has fried his arm from overuse before.