Baseball is back. The country was treated to a slate of games yesterday in which the rest of the league was allowed to play. This followed an “Opening Night” that featured “THE ONLY TEAMS THAT MAHTTA.” Call me nonplussed.
Yesterday the games felt real again. No spring training. No made-for-TV-event (well, a little, I guess). These games counted. Fantasy baseball stats would begin to accumulate. And the Crew was on…
Where to start? Mr. Gallardo was solid, if not spectacular. That was the essence of a quality start. 109 pitches. 62 strikes. 7 innings of 4 run (3 earned), 7 hit, 2 walk ball. He struck out 5, threw one wild pitch, and served one up on a platter to Mr. Stewart. “WE CAN BUILD ON THIS!” I’ll take it, if only because we’re going to win more of those than we lose. Also, Mr. Gallardo was only off his usual early-season performance by a smidge, where he’s been straight cash the past two Aprils (3-1, 38.2 IP, 31 H, 12 ER, 2.79 ERA, 3/1 K/BB). So, no major concerns there.
But the offense. Ohhhhhh the offense. The top four of the order (Weeks, Gomez, He-Brewer, and Fielder) went 9-17 with a walk, 2 doubles and a HR. Fantastic. Batters five through nine (Edmonds, McGehee, Zaun – ZAUN? – Escobar, P/PH)? 3-20! Gah! I know it’s opening day. I know Mr. Jimenez has filthy stuff. But that’s unacceptable. And it was the difference in the game.
Will it continue? Yes. Yes it will. We suffered through uneven performances with the order last year. We’ll get more of the same this season. Mr. Escobar is not going to give us an .825 OBP. Mr. Zaun won’t get to .775. The key will be our RF and 3B production. Can Mr. Edmonds stay healthy? Will he remember how to rake? Who is his HGH contact and how can I help facilitate the transfers? Does he need clean urine (I’d ask around)? As for 3B, I’m counting down the days until Mr. Gamel comes back…
(photo via espn.com)
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