Uh guys? Its going to be hard to win the Wild Card, like I predicted, if you don’t win any games. 0-3 is, I believe, not a great way to start the season but thats just my opinion. I could be wrong I guess. Whats there really to say about yesterday? We didn’t really hit and Jaret Wright certainly didn’t pitch well (2.1 innings, 6 Rs, 4 ERs) and we didn’t field (3 errors). It was a pathetic showing.
Because I can’t bring myself to talk about Nick Markakis not hitting, I’d instead like to talk about a couple things I saw in Jorge Arangure Jr’s (the WaPo beat writer) game story that stood out to me. First, this bit:
It almost was uncanny how the three games exposed each of Baltimore’s weaknesses, which include a lack of depth, a weak back end of the rotation and a deficient bench.
Its the back of the rotation part that sticks out here. Jaret Wright is our THIRD STARTER! Thats not back end of the rotation, thats the front end or at least the middle. Back end to me is your 4th or 5th guy. Jesus are we in trouble if we only go two deep in the rotation.
Then there’s this Jaret Wright quote:
“I thought it was terrible,” Wright said of his 2 1/3 innings, in which he allowed six runs and walked five. “I thought the stuff was okay, but I didn’t know where it was going. I got myself in trouble and couldn’t get out of it.”
Hey Mr. Wright, your stuff isn’t “Okay” if you DON”T KNOW WHERE ITS GOING! It can have all the movement in the world but if you don’t know where its ending up, whats the point (and clearly he didn’t have any idea, hence the 5 walks).
Finally there’s this, and while I like Mr. Arangure alot, I must quibble with his last paragraph:
On the same night Wright floundered, former Orioles ace Rodrigo Lopez, discarded after an 18-loss season last year, won his first start of the year for the Rockies. (He gave up one earned run in seven innings against the Diamondbacks.) Perhaps the Orioles moved too quickly to rid themselves of Lopez, who won at least 14 games three times for Baltimore. Including spring training, Wright has walked 22 in just 20 2/3 innings and has allowed 17 earned runs.
Now thats just me Jorge. No need to kick the man while he’s down. Having said that, one start each is way to early to be making judgements. I, for one, am glad Rodrigo is no longer in town. Lets not forget that Lopez lost 19 games last year with a 5.91 ERA; he wasn’t exactly Jim Palmer.
So yeah, thats all I got. We’ve got the Yankees on Friday, with Loewen against Mussina (here’s hoping Mussina gets the no decision in a Yankees loss; I still love the guy). A victory would be fantastic any time now guys.
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