Brandon McDonald: Possible Starter? Webmaster?
April 6, 2008“The LeBron Card”
April 7, 2008
– Ryan Garko’s five-game hit streak came to an end, but he did walk twice and had a RBI. He’s batting .333/.440/.571 thus far, and will likely slide back to the fifth slot upon Victor Martinez’s return.
– Jhonny Peralta got his average to an even .200 yesterday, going 2-for-4. It’s just too bad that he also managed to leave five guys stranded. Three of them, with two outs.
– Travis Hafner’s struggles have been discussed several times (already) on this site. Thankfully, the slugger is aware of his issues.
“I need to do a better job controlling the strike zone,” Hafner said before Sunday’s series finale against the A’s. “I’m just swinging at some pitches out of the zone that I normally don’t swing at. That’s kind of getting me behind in the count.”
Pronk went 1-for-4 (with a walk) yesterday, and is hitting at a .261 clip thus far. I still have faith that he’ll get his stuff together soon. When that time does come, the Hafner-Martinez-Garko string will be pretty lethal, especially given V-Mart’s switch hitting.
And finally…
– I’m not sure how often Eric Wedge plans on doing this, but if we can avoid the David Dellucci-Jason Michaels-Andy Marte string at 6-7-8 as much as possible in the future, I’d be very grateful. They combined to go 2-for-10 yesterday, leaving five guys on base.
Look, I’m not opposed to giving Double-D some playing time. Just not at the expense of Franklin Gutierrez, and definitely not on days that you’re giving Marte a shot at third.
Carmona takes the hill today, locking up against the Angels and Joe Saunders. Saunders four-hit the Twins in his first appearance, tossing a strong eight innings to notch the win. This could definitely be a low-scoring affair once again, so let’s hope Fausto gets some run support.
(photo courtesy MLB.com)
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6 Comments
Yeah, I didn’t quite understand Wedge’s logic on that starting line-up. Especially since the Dellucci/Michaels combo had been HITLESS to that point. Good idea to put BOTH of them in then huh? So Miachaels gets A hit in the game. didn’t score, neither drove in a run. Good call on that one Eric.
Lee looked decent yesterday, what impressed me most was the walk total. He is 20x more effective when he isn’t issuing the free pass.
“He is 20x more effective when he isn’t issuing the free pass.”
Aren’t all pitchers? It’s been the big problem with Sabathia as well. If Lee’s walk total stays low, just imagine the lack of BBs we’ll have all season. Byrd throws nothing but strikes, Westbrook isn’t exactly a wild pitcher… Also a reason why Lee was able to get past the six inning mark. Very sound game by the staff all-around.
I seem to remember Dennis Martinez pitching around walks all the time. I think he didn’t even concentrate if there wasn’t some sort of jam.
You can do that when you’re the Presidénte
I think Hafner has lost his patience at the plate. Is this a hitting coach thing? I remember him going deeper into counts two years ago.
It seems that whenever the pitching is on, the hitting is off. And vice-versa.
It’s because Hafner can’t see the ball. He needs glasses. I am sure of this.