But he’s gotten past the 6th inning only six times. He’s often reaching the 90 pitch mark by the 5th inning. Example: May 10, 4.2 innings, 110 pitches. This in his 7th start of the year. I’ll grant that “strikeout pitchers” are going to throw more pitches. Bedard is one of those cases where the raw numbers are deceiving. He looks good on paper, but actually listen to/watch the games, and he’s extremely frustrating. His ERA is especially deceiving until you realize that he’s leaving many games after allowing 2 or three consecutive baserunners and throwing a ton of pitches in his final inning, and it’s only because the bullpen comes in and manages to get him out of it that his ERA isn’t higher.
Compare Jarrod Washburn: 19 starts, only two of which were fewer than 6 innings. Or Felix Hernandez: 21 starts, only four of which were fewer than 6 innings. Hernandez’s strikeout numbers are comparable to Bedard’s, but he’s getting those K’s with fewer pitches, i.e. getting into the 7th-8th inning with the about same number of pitches Bedard is throwing in 5 innings.
With the exception of Brandon Morrow, our bullpen has been pretty darned good. Outside of some individual rough outings (Batista, most notably), they’ve been consistently good. Nobody expects a complete game every time he takes the mound, but the #2 starter should be able to consistently pitch at least 6-7 innings. If he’s hurt then he needs to quit saying “I’m fine” and going out making the problem worse.
Heh. I should have added that the Indians were playing under the same weather conditions as the M’s, of course, and the M’s hitters didn’t manage to knock the ball all over the place
So much for hittin’ 'em where they ain’t. In the Astros/Cubs game, I just watched Fukodome ground a base hit right into the pitcher’s jersey. I love the pitcher’s transitional expression from deep confusion to just being pissed.
This is late, but it kinda applies because they’re raping my Brewers AGAIN, but…
I knew this was how the pitching was gonna be for us all year, but then we started off so hot I thought maybe it wouldn’t come to pass.
We have 3 good pitchers, and I am counting 2 halves. We are done.
Well, Mariners pulled out a 4-3 win over Toronto in the bottom of the 9th. So after 100 games they’re 52-48, a vast improvement over this point last year when they were something like 38-62.
Well, the best team in baseball, with one of the most formidable offenses around, has been outscored by the Cardinals 16-1 in the first two games of the series so far. And consequently, has also lost three games in a row for the first time all season.
So is this just a brief slump all teams go through during the year, or do the Dodgers have a more serious problem with their bats right now?
Let me know when you find the answer. The Tigers’ offense has been pretty anemic, especially on the road. The pitching, especially the starting pitching, has been amazing, though.
I’m guessing it’s a brief slump. As much as I want to say that the new-look Cards are just too much for the Dodgers, I can’t quite pull that off with a straight face. Hopefully their slump will last two more games. I am just tickled with the Cards, though. The three new additions are on fire, Ankiel is hitting again, and suddenly the lineup looks scary as hell.
Yes, although part of the Dodgers’ problem is that they were facing two very formidable pitchers (Carpenter and Wainwright) (plus they were playing in St. Louis). If they had had Wellemeyer and Lohse on the mound, as they did recently against the Phillies, it might well have been a different story. (Lohse hasn’t been quite up to par since coming back from the DL, though I have hopes for him, and Wellemeyer has just been moved to the bullpen.)
I don’t expect the Cards to be this hot the rest of the season, but they do look like a team I can legitimately hope to go all the way.
I’ve been paying attention and am completely baffled. As is most of the statistical community - their 3rd order record according to Baseball Prospectus is 45-55. Instead they are 51-49. That spread is one of the biggest in baseball (only the Phillies and Giants are outperforming by more in the NL), and indicates that their record is not really supported by their hitting and pitching performances so far.
The Playoff Odds report at BP only has the Astros with an 8.7% chance of making the playoffs. With Berkman on the DL I have to think they’re going to fall out of the race over the next few weeks.
Then again, I’ve been wrong about the Astros many, many times.
**Mister Rik **- enjoy the not-frustrating-at-all Mr. Snell. You’re going to *love *him! (Is he going to strike 17 batters out, or is he going to demand to be demoted to AAA ball? Will he give up 3 straight walks, or will he be brilliant? Who knows.)
Oh yeah. Snell is a major head-case from what I’ve seen of him (as a fan of another NL Central team). Some days he looks like a great pitching talent, sometimes he has no idea what he’s doing. The thought is a good pitching coach could get his head on straight and make him an effective middle-of-the-rotation starter.
Yup. He asked to be demoted to AAA Indianapolis from the probing eye of the discerning Pittsburgh baseball fan base. His first game back he retired 17 straight batters in a 1-0 CG shutout (7 inning game). And he’s been up and down even at this level.
The Phillies have apparently gotten Cliff Lee from the Indians. Huge bonus for them. Meaning no disrespect to the Dodgers, I think the Phillies are clearly the best team in the NL.
