MLB Thread Number 3, 2007

Re Batista and the other two stooges, I think Bavasi felt one or two would work out; a kind of grand dice roll when the personnel he wanted shot up in cost and were quickly snapped up anyway. And Batista has looked pretty good at times. But last night he was hammered in a way that was reminiscent of Weaver's recent 1/3 inning outing against KC.

Today it's Ramirez; we'll see if his record of pitching decently at home holds up against the Yankees. Their minions will be out in force again; it's kind of a Lord of the Rings moment, a ballpark half-filled with goblins and ogres decked out in Yanker paraphernalia. (No, that's not a typo. What a bunch of loud-mouthed saps. I swear, they make RedSox fans look genteel.)

 

Lilly loses what should have been a no-hitter with nobody out in the 8th. Phils' only previous hit was a routine grounder the 2nd baseman broke the wrong way on.

 

Lilly learns what it means to be a Cub: You get no breaks.

 

The Phils' bullpen is being the Phils' bullpen, though. Cubs'll be OK in this one.

/phanboy

 

Nice outing for Alf.

 

Brewers can't be feeling all that great about their weekend in NY. They lost 2 of 3 with the only win coming against Pelfrey, who's probably ticketed for AAA. Mets have lost 13 games and Pelfrey has five of them.

And yes, Carlos Gomez can play. Great speed and supposedly the best outfield arm in the organization. He's the reason the Mets will be willing to part with Milledge if they need to make a midseason deal for pitching.

 

I'm expecting both Gomez and Milledge to get a trial run before June and the lesser of the two gets shipped off to bring in another arm.

I would guess Pelfrey will head to New Orleans when El Duque is ready to return.

Perez has really pitched well for the most part, a little inconsistent, but he's been solid for a No. 4 starter.

 

Jeremy Guthrie, hurling a shutout after eight innings in Fenway, and he's only at 85 pitches. This is the most unpredictable outcome of the day. Or maybe the season? I have him on one of my fantasy teams just because I was desperate. I planned to demote him before the game today, but someone had already scooped up the guy I wanted (Vasquez, just called up to pitch against the punchless Twins tonite), so I let Guthrie go hoping I'd get five innings.

But a near shutout? Amazing.

 

I don't think he is very pleased with Chris Ray (EDIT - or Danys Baez) right now.

 

BYH ... what is better material to mine and grab a compendium of offerings from for your greatest hits package?

The Peyton Manning gas, or the ARod idiocy, or the Beckett diarrhea?

Perhaps soccer is a better sport for you.

What's your take on Ronaldinho so I can get my action down?

 

Pelfrey got shipped out today to make room for Gomez. Maybe that means El Duque will be ready to make his next start.

All the Mets starters, except for Pelfrey, have been good to outstanding, but you can't expect Maine to keep pitching like a Cy Young candidate, Perez will probably continue to have his ups and downs, and health is always an issue with pitchers as old as Glavine and El Duque. They're going to need a boost to the staff sometime around July or August. Maybe Pedro will be that guy. If not, I'm sure Minaya would rather deal Milledge and keep Gomez, but he'll do whatever he has to do if there's a frontline starter available. He didn't go get one last year at the deadline, and it probably cost the Mets the pennant.