Wanna-be Scout

I hate to say "I told you so," but... fuck it, I knew it was going to happen all along - Eric Gagne gets hurt... again.

The Rangers should be lucky that they were smart enough to keep Akinori Otsuka to take over his rightful spot as the closer of that crappy team. With Otsuka back in the closer's role, I'm becoming curious to the rate of teams using Japanese relievers to be closers. Takashi Saito of the Dodgers converted 24 saves in part-time duty last year, and has already converted 6-7 this season already, on pace for at least 40 at this rate, barring any injuries. Otsuka obviously pitched great for the Rangers last season after being Trevor Hoffman's set-up man previously, converting 32 saves for them. And the Red Sox have now apparently decided to have Hideki Okajima to be the closer every third day, in order to save Papelbon's shoulder from falling off by August.

The one thing that these three men have is that they are not eating their innings with blistering heat, like a Papelbon or Zumaya would. Rarely do their pitches exceed 90 on the radar gun - they beat their batters with location and control. It's pretty nerve-wracking to watch one of these guys come out in the 9th inning, because we want to see someone not even have a chance to put the ball in play with the game on the line. And guys like Papelbon blowing away top hitters like Young, Jeter and Guerrero don't do anything but add to the appeal. But when a guy like Okajima throws five pitches prior to throwing a tantalizing curveball to Jason Giambi which makes his psychotic eyes bulge prior to swinging, I can't help but cover my eyes, but then remove my hand to see that Giambi hits a harmless tapper to Lugo who throws him out at first.

So last night, the Braves fell to the Marlins in what should not have been such a competitive game. The D-Train obviously more concerned about his impending fatherhood pitched a mediocre game that the Braves really could have capitalized on, but the right guys just couldn't get any contact with the bat. I really can't stand it when Bobby goes into certain line-ups, just to play on the numbers based on hand-orientations.

Leaving Kelly Johnson out of the lineup, just because Willis is a lefty? Johnson's batting .520 in his last four games!

Atlanta's biggest problem is the lower part of the order - Langerhans (.063), Wilson (.164), Thorman (.206), and Diaz (.222) are for the most part, almost guaranteed outs as it stands. At any given point, two of those four guys are in the lineup during each game, and combine them with the pitcher, it's almost safe to say that the opposing pitcher only needs to worry about 1-6, barring a Renteria or A. Jones GIDP.

Wait, let me take that back - Atlanta's biggest problem is starting pitching - namely the fourth and fifth starters. I cringe knowing that Davies and Redman steer the tail-end of the rotation, but I honestly believe Davies is far better than how he's performing lately. If I could write a letter to Kyle Davies, it would be like this:

Dear Kyle,
You're a major-league baseball pitcher. You obviously harness a talent that 90% of the people in the country do not posess. Take a few steps back and look at your situation - you're not in the minor leagues, and are at the pinnacle of baseball performance. Pitch like you belong. Stop being scared, have confidence in the skills that obviously brought you to this level. Think less about the negativity, give up less hits to the likes of Aaron Fucking Boone. Throw first-pitch strikes, use the curveball more. Greg Maddux once said "you can nullify the running game if you just keep them off base." And we all know there's only one way to do that. And bases on balls thrown into the dirt four straight times isn't the answer. Pitch like you pitched on your debut at Fenway two years ago. Pitch like you pitched at Shea on my birthday last year. Pitch like you really don't want to get sent back to the minors and be teamed up with Macay McBBride.
X


But I digress - Atlanta's still 12-7, and right up there with the first place Mets whom the media is having a collective orgasm at the thought of them in first again, even if it is just a half-game defecit.