What’s “it,” you ask? Well, I’ve finished the work of scrapping this baseball-only blog to roll it into a single site. I’ve also decided to host said blog/site/whatever you want to call it up at the root directory of yuda.org.
This blog, though, is going to stay where it is. I won’t be updating it often (if ever), though. I just want to make sure that links to past entries don’t break.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you all continue to do so!
]]>No, the real reason that I started this blog is because my fiancée gets tired of me ranting about the Phillies all the time, so whenever she rolls her eyes at me I go upstairs to the computer and type it out instead. The thing is, there are topics other than baseball which I’d like to write about. Music, movies, photography, politics, personal junk, web design, etc… I’m not promising it’ll be interesting, but I’m leaning heavily towards converting this over to a general-use blog with fairly heavy Phillies content. If I do so, I’ll make careful use of the categories feature so those who only want to read about baseball, say, can avoid other topics.
At any rate, if you’ve got an opinion on this, throw it into comments. I’ll take it into consideration.
Oh, as a side note, has anybody else been propositioned by Show Me Tickets to run advertising on your site? It seems odd that they’d target me as a good choice; I don’t have a very large audience. And I’m okay with that.
]]>Period.
]]>At this point, I’m rooting for Hernandez to blow as many games as possible and balloon his ERA up so high that there’s no realistic option other than cutting him. The team can probably recover from a 10-game losing streak in June. As long as it gets rid of the shitty players (and, with a bit of luck, the shitty manager) then I’m all for it.
]]>Since Rob’s column isn’t worth the subscription to me (and as near as I can tell there’s nothing else in there worth paying for), I probably won’t be going to ESPN’s website anymore.
It’s a pity, ESPN used to have excellent sports coverage both on television and on the web. They’ve turned that success into crap. Their theory seems to be that they can continue to add things of little value to actual sports fans, and force said fans to bend over backwards to get to the good content. Maybe it works on some people, but not me.
Au revoir, ESPN. It sure was nice knowin’ ya.
]]>With Shawn Wooten on first base (hitting in the ninth spot after a double switch), Marlon Byrd hit a bouncer up the middle that looked, at first, like it might sneak through the infield for a single.
Instead, Khalil Greene managed to snag it with his glove hand and shovel to Mark Loretta directly from his glove for the force at second. Loretta, in turn, caught the ball with his bare hand, pivoted and fired to first to get Marlon Byrd by half a step.
I hate to celebrate a great play against the Phillies, but this was truly a great play. It might be worth suffering through Baseball Tonight on ESPN this evening just to see the replay.
]]>Bowa should have pinch hit. Also, Padilla clearly needs to work on his bunting.
Update: Padilla gets through the seventh on seven pitches, allowing one single (and a long fly ball to the wall in right that Abreu caught). If he comes back out to start the eighth, I may have to personally drive up to Philadelphia to throttle Larry Bowa after the game.
Update the Second: Telemaco on to pitch the eighth. I won’t be in prison for manslaughter… at least, not tonight.
]]>No, he’s probably not as unhittable as he’s seemed early this season (0.41 ERA coming into today’s game). And, as has been mentioned elsewhere, he’s still on his first time around the leage; it’s possible that hitters will do better the second or third time they see him.
That said, he’s been making big league hitters look bad. Consistently so, and I mean bad. I think he’s quite capable of putting up a solid season with an ERA somewhere between 2.50 and 3.50, leading to a career as a successful starting pitcher.
Let’s take a look at his minor league track record. His strikeout rate has been consistently solid as a pro. He’s always kept his walks down, with a K:BB ratio between 2:1 and 3:1 throughout his minor league career. His home run numbers haven’t been terrible, either. He’s got a couple of good pitches, including a filthy changeup. He’s going to be good. Scratch that, he is good, and will continue as such.
]]>Somebody shoot me.
(The good news is Thome is back in the lineup. I’ll take it.)
]]>Myers is going to need to pitch better tonight to keep his spot in the rotation. His peripherals, though, have mostly been okay, so I’m expecting him to turn this around pretty soon. Still, you’ve got to think that Ryan Madson has a great case to be starting.
Ultimately, I think we’re better off with Madson in the pen since he can have more impact there. Normally, pitchers are more valuable in the rotation, but Madson seems to be taking key innings away from Hernandez, and every time he’s on the mound in a close game it hurts our chances of winning. Also, I like the idea of breaking Madson in with 100 to 120 innings this season, mostly in relief work. Just call me L’il Weaver, I guess.
I give a slight edge in this one to the Cards, due mainly to Myers and his struggles. If he turns things around, look out.
Woody Williams has been awful so far this season, and Millwood’s been decent (and hasn’t been walking anybody much, either). Advantage Phillies.
Jeff Suppan has been, well, Jeff Suppan thus far. He’s no ace, but he’s decent mid-rotation fodder. However, Randy Wolf has been filthy and is on a 21-inning scoreless streak. Look for him to continue pitching well although he may well give up a run. Advantage Phillies.
If we take two out of three in this series, we’re at .500. I’ll take it. If we can come out of May a few games above break-even and not too far behind Florida, then things are looking pretty good.
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