It will be interesting to see how that goes. He has been on a steady downward trend starting in 2006, so I think any hopes they have of him returning to the 2005 level are misplaced, but I wonder if he'll ever even be a serviceable pitcher again. The track record for pitchers who lose the strike zone is not good.
No it doesn't look good for him, and its not like these walks have just all of a sudden appeared his walks have been increasing over the past couple of years, his motion must put a lot of strain on him. Agreed that his CY Young contending days are firmly over.
I think Ankiel is one of those rare exceptional cases although Willis could give it a go, he did pretty well with the bat, in 60 odd AB's in 07 he has a .280 AVG so it might be a possible route if he can't get his pitching back on track, but you have to have real determination to transform yourself like that. On another note, it looks like Albert Pujols is heading to the DL, early indications are that he has strained his left calf while attempting to move out of the batters box in last nights game. I never want to see a player injured but his absence will hinder the Cardinals which in turn will help my Cubs....
oops, picked Pujols for the beat the streak home run game. Cardinals scored 5 in the first without him. LaRue (against his former team) and Ankiel hitting 2 and 3 run shots. up 6-0 after 5.
sure sign Coors Field is no longer the hitters paradise it once was: Rockies-Giants scoreless in 9th. Each team has 6 hits. Giants did start Lincecum, but the Rockies started Ubaldo Jimenez, who's had a dreadful season. Says a lot about the Giants inept lineup too, of course.
Thats annoyed the hell out of me, everytime we play the Braves, Soriano gets hit by a pitch, maybe its because he slammed 3 homers in a single game against them last season.... Was happy to McCann get hit, and wouldn't mind seeing Jones get hit tonight by a Big-Z fast ball. We have the offense without Soriano to still score a lot of runs, Lee,Ramirez,Fukudome,Soto, it should be fine. Murton will probably come up and play left field, think were bringing Hoffpauier up as well to act as the DH in the inter league games, so shouldn't be short of offensive power.
Milton Bradley is having an excellent year, but continues to have severe emotional problems. Yesterday he went up to the pressbox to get at a KC announcer who said something he didn't like, and a few minutes later he was (literally) crying in the clubhouse about how unfair it all is. Sure sounds like a classic case of bipolar disorder, which would be consistent with his many problems in the past. http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10862641
I heard on ESPN 1000 that if he made the right moves, the US would take to him like they did Josh Hamilton, he needs to get help to get him back on track and then people will appreciate the effort he put in to get back to form. Phils certainly are hot right now, Utley is having a MVP year
Just finished watching my Cubbies, we made it 11 straight home wins tonight with a 3-2 win over the Braves. We were 2-1 down going into the 9th, Edmonds homered to tie it up and then in the bottom of the 11th, Reed Johnson was hit with the bases loaded to bring in the winning run.
encarnacion doubled, took third on a throwing error when Pineiro tried to pick him off, and then scored on a suicide squeeze by David Ross. Bronson Arroyo promptly homered the next at bat, meaning Encarnacion might've scored anyway. 2-0 Reds after 5.
Jamie Moyer 5 and 2/3 of no hit ball against the Marlins. Broken up by an infield single by opposing starter Scott Olsen. 6 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk now
first pinch-hitter off the bench for the Rockies: Aaron Cook and he delivers with a single, only the 4th hit off Jair. Unbaldo Jimenez once again pulled early because he throws a ridiculous amount of pitches. That's one wild mofo.
Marcus Thames has homered in five straight games. He'll try to continue the streak this afternoon against Barry Zito and the Giants.
Braves lose 4-3 to Brewers. Crazy game. Braves down 4-1, score 2 in 9th, with a Johnson walk and a Tex 2 run shot. 4-3. McCann singles. Jurrjiens punch runs for him. Infante bunted him to second. Francouer grounded out. Runner at 3rd, 2 out. Brandon Jones intentionally walked because pitcher's spot up next. runners at corners. Braves out of position players except Corky Miller, who's garbage. The reason for this is Escobar got thrown out earlier. Torres goes 3-0 on him before getting 2 strikes. A foul off, and then a little flair to the SS to end it. I would say Cox should've pinch hit with a pitcher, but their pitchers can't hit any better than Miller, really.
