Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Thoughts on Opening Day

Notes from yesterday:

Brad Lidge blew his first save. I'd advise selling high, but I'd be a season too late. Dan Wheeler is the favorite to step-in.

Speaking of the Astros, they scored two runs against the Pirates. Why? Craig Biggio hit first, and he was followed by Adam Everett. Then late in the game, Orlando Palmeiro got a pinch-hit opportunity, and Jason Lane remained on the bench.

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Erik Bedard look nasty in the first couple of innings. The TV graphic reported a radar reading of 98 MPH. Much to my surprise, he ended-up being Carl Pavano with some strikeouts. I guess nastiness for an inning is only good for relievers.

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So Joe Torre is going to use Mariano in one-inning stints. Maybe that is why he pitched him in a non-save situation yesterday? There would be no Torre HoF talk if he did not have Mariano Rivera, whose usage patterns would have broken down every other pitcher in the major leagues.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re: Torre and Rivera.

It was the Home Opener, the lead was 4 runs, and The Yankees had an off day the following day.

An unbiased observer would not have a problem with this.

Florida's Closer Julio pitched with a 7 run lead, Clevland's Closer Borowski pitched with a 9 run lead, Met's Closer Wagner pitched with a 5 run lead, and Seattle's closer Putz pitched with a 4 run lead.

Why no comments on them?

Anonymous said...

"No comments on the others" is because their managers didn't say those closers would be limited to one inning. Those closers aren't the age or the importance of Mariano Rivera. Those closers are not as critical to their teams. Those closers are not being monitored for injury risk or overuse.

An unbiased observer would not have a problem with our esteemed blogger's comment.

Anonymous said...

Unbiased? I am a Yankees fan. If Torre won't rest Rivera in non-Save situations, then I am doubtful he can stop himself from using him in the 8th.

He quit Bernie this year. Expecting him to quit Mariano is too much to expect.

Anonymous said...

When Rivera started warming up, the save was still in tact. Usually if the closer has gone through all the trouble of warming up, they will still be brought into the game even if the save still isn't in tact.