5 Questions for the Weekend
I'll be looking for some signs.
1) How well will Denny Bautista acquit himself tonight? Despite Bautista's impressive performance in spring training, I've been down on the decision to add him to the rotation. He'll be tested sorely tonight against a veteran and patient lineup.
2) Will Mark Teahen field a ball cleanly? He's been completely lost at the hot corner. As I mentioned yesterday, defense was supposed to be his strength. He looks polished at the plate in comparison. I'm hoping that he's just been suffering from extreme week one nerves, and after a few weeks he'll finally relax and play the position naturally. But the team will have to send him back to Omaha if he can't field his position.
3) Will Brian Anderson, test case #1 for Guy Hansen, show us anything with his new and supposedly improved mechanics? Anderson is a longtime veteran in this league, and he's been a league average pitcher. Amazingly, he was completely open to Hansen's suggestions about changing his mechanics. I don't know if that's refreshing or alarming; all I know is that Anderson is coming off of a terrible season, so it probably doesn't hurt to be humble. I'm counting on Anderson to have a solid first half of the season so he can be flipped for at least a Grade B prospect at the deadline.
4) Will Tony Pena continue to play hunches with his lineup? OK, we were all premature condemning Tony for not playing Stairs (hammy) and Pickering (baby). But he still played Graffanino, sending a not-too-subtle message to Gotay that his playing time is subject to the whims and feelings of his flighty manager. Gotay is not a utility player, he's not strong defensively and he's not an experienced bat off the bench. If he's not going to be starting, then it makes absolutely no sense to keep him with the big club.
5) Will I finally breakdown this season and subscribe to MLB Extra Innings? Hmmmm....I doubt it.
Anybody wanna share a MLB.TV subscription? (just kidding. Sorta. Call me)
Bold Proclamations
Record after the weekend: 2-4
Strong pitching performance: Brian Anderson
Worst pitching performance:
Number of Times Caught Stealing: 4
Ejections: None
posted by DL @ 3:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
If you don't mind, please pick Denny Bautista to have the worst pitching performance for every series the rest of the season.
In all seriousness, I don't think Bautista will last, but goodness ... I haven't seen a Royals pitcher dominate a good lineup like THAT in at least ten years.
First, where do you live? If you don't live in the KC broadcast area, then I can't fathom a Royals fan like yourself NOT subscribing to Extra Innings. This is my third season with the package, and I still consider it the best investment I ever made.
I also (stupidly) subscribe to mlb.tv (of course, last night it came in handy because I gave up on the Angels' crappy announcers in the second inning, and was pleased to see that mlb.tv was carrying the Royals broadcast), and I *WOULD* share it with you, if it weren't for the fact that only one person can be logged into the account at a time.
I go through this Extra Inning hand wringing every year, but eventually decide that I'm better off listening to the games than watching them. I live in New York City. I just don't think I'll get enough use out of the TV package to make it worth my while.
I actually prefer listening to the games, so I do other things while the game's on in the background.
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