Adam Rubin @AdamRubinESPN Close Terry Collins said Matt den Dekker likely starting in CF tomorrow. Jordany Valdespin maybe Friday. His crash course in OF rained out this am
And TC adds another "Wait, this doesn't really make sense..." name to the CF competition.
Guessing Baxter and Loewen are impressing absolutely no one with their glovework out there, since they're likely on the roster either way. May have been a coincidence, but with Baxter in there today, 5 of their 6 hits were to CF.
I'm getting the feeling, though, it may be nice to pick up chess and pay more attention to the gardening this summer
Based off a 2-1 loss where no regulars played the field, or your overall feeling?
I think it's overall. Not that I won't pay attention to the blue or orange. I think the plan to get us back to at least respectability is going to take a bit. Desperately hoping I'm wrong..
"I threw some good ones out there," Santana said about his changeup. "When I'm able to set everything up, and throw my fastballs and mix my changeups, sometimes that happens. I'm pretty sure he was trying to hit a ball and I threw the right pitch and he swung and missed. It's good to see those swings sometimes."
I know in the end we all realized we actually agreed with each other, so this is meant as more informational than a "Ha! See!" type of thing, but the bolded above is a little bit of what makes the velocity important.
There are guys who survive with low velocity (although hardly what you would call dominating pitchers), but Santana has a certain style of pitching that he developed (and dominated with) when he had an overpowering fastball at his disposal. Simply pointing to someone else who may pitch completely differently, and only use their fastball as a "keep you honest" type of offering or not throw a straight fastball at all, as an example of velocity not being as important wouldn't be fair.
Its good to see Santana has been able to show consistently "enough" velocity to get him at least back to 2010 levels, it would seem. I know we've beaten this point to death on here, but a lot of the pre-camp stuff about "Who cares about his velocity if he can take the ball" and such, I didn't agree with, and luckily we haven't had to cross that bridge.
Essentially: "Why not Valdespin, as the other options are unappealing or hurt."
Which is pretty much true. Still, I'd be SHOCKED if this carried over. Are Loewen and Baxter that bad in CF? Why did nobody know this until now?
Fun note: BJ Upton had 3 games of OF experience before being handed a job there in 2007 in the majors upon returning from injury. The 3 games came on his rehab assignment. He was also a terribly error prone middle infielder prior to the switch.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum
