After missing the entire Seattle series and a Ben Sheets masterpiece on Monday, I was really looking forward to some baseball this evening. So it turned out, this may perhaps be the ugliest Major League Baseball game that I have ever witnessed live. A task that I thought would be difficult to beat after some of the losses that the devilish Tampa Bay Rays made possible with the worst bullpen in the modern area. Alas, 5 errors, an ejection of a player that did not seem to be that animated in the first place (he must have used that certain magic word...think Bull Durham -- also, I wonder what that would sound like in Spanish?), a quality start by Dave Bush, and a Greg Norton pinch-hit walk! This will certainly be one of the more memorable games for me.
I am a Dave Bush hater because he always shows signs of brilliance, making him so tempting in fantasy leagues over the last three years, but more often than brilliant he is bombed with extra base hits. To see him beat the Braves and the Blue Jays in his last two starts, while looking so good really tempts me to pick him up while he is hot, but even with his excellent performances (8IP, 2H, 1ER vs. TOR and 7IP, 4H and 1ER vs. ATL) his ERA is still 4.94 and he still shows a keen ability to lose games. I have no idea what it is with this guy, but his 1.23 WHIP does not equate to the 4.94 ERA this year. I will be watching his next start, but it seems as though Bush is the type of pitcher that can look great for a few innings and then have it all fall apart quickly (If so, why not put him in their beleaguered bullpen?).
Finally, Charlie Morton looked pretty good this evening. If it weren't for the 4 errors behind him in the field, and what should have been a fifth on a poorly played ball by Brandon Jones that was ruled a RBI double, Morton could have matched Bush all night. I see that Morton has a very good looking sinking fastball that was 90-94. He commands the strike zone very well with that pitch and will get a lot of outs on the ground as a result. He also has a curveball and a slider that setup strikeouts for Morton. He appears to be around the zone with everything throwing something like 70% of his pitches for strikes this evening. Also, being able to work around 4 errors in the first three innings of the game absolutely showed me something. If the team starts firing on all cylinders, rookies Jo Jo Reyes, Jair Jurrjens and Morton will be key parts to getting to that point once again.
I am a Dave Bush hater because he always shows signs of brilliance, making him so tempting in fantasy leagues over the last three years, but more often than brilliant he is bombed with extra base hits. To see him beat the Braves and the Blue Jays in his last two starts, while looking so good really tempts me to pick him up while he is hot, but even with his excellent performances (8IP, 2H, 1ER vs. TOR and 7IP, 4H and 1ER vs. ATL) his ERA is still 4.94 and he still shows a keen ability to lose games. I have no idea what it is with this guy, but his 1.23 WHIP does not equate to the 4.94 ERA this year. I will be watching his next start, but it seems as though Bush is the type of pitcher that can look great for a few innings and then have it all fall apart quickly (If so, why not put him in their beleaguered bullpen?).
Finally, Charlie Morton looked pretty good this evening. If it weren't for the 4 errors behind him in the field, and what should have been a fifth on a poorly played ball by Brandon Jones that was ruled a RBI double, Morton could have matched Bush all night. I see that Morton has a very good looking sinking fastball that was 90-94. He commands the strike zone very well with that pitch and will get a lot of outs on the ground as a result. He also has a curveball and a slider that setup strikeouts for Morton. He appears to be around the zone with everything throwing something like 70% of his pitches for strikes this evening. Also, being able to work around 4 errors in the first three innings of the game absolutely showed me something. If the team starts firing on all cylinders, rookies Jo Jo Reyes, Jair Jurrjens and Morton will be key parts to getting to that point once again.
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