Apr 21, 2008

Totally random thoughts

- Hank seems to be losing his temper. He wants Joba to start now and criticizes Mike Mussina. Honestly, he's not far off base but he shouldn't worry, Joba will be a starter (in time) but there's something called 'inning caps' in place for his protection. On Moose, I find myself agreeing with Hank in that he should learn something from Jamie Moyer. Look at today's game for proof. Steve Trachsel is basically a poor-man's Mike Mussina yet had a very effective start against a great offense. And he did it by doing the opposite of how Moose has been going about pitching this season: using his fastball sparingly. Mussina still thinks his 85-88 mph fastball is an out-pitch, as evidenced by his five consecutive fastball at-bat against Manny the other night (who homered). Watching Trachsel work his magic, using a lot of change-ups and curves, it's evident Moose needs to follow suit to be an effective pitcher: he has to become a junk-baller, and he still has good enough off-speed stuff and command to do it. The fastball should be used exclusively as a show-me or get-ahead pitch.

- Any 'Lost' fans out there? I just finished season 3 and [spoiler alert] couldn't believe how idiotic Charlie was. Ok, before we even get to that, how the fuck did Mikhail pull off his stunt? He had a spear embedded in his chest but managed to put on goggles, swim outside the underwater station right to the window where Charlie was and detonate a grenade. Anyway, the window imploded and Charlie drowned. But Jesus, did he not see the gaping hole that he could have easily swam out of to safety?

- Watched highlights from the Rangers-Devils game 5 and something jumped out at me. The Devils scored and were celebrating in front of the glass boards; all good and normal but right behind them a Ranger fan was furious and gave them the double middle-finger. It's clear as day on TV and funny as hell.

- Andy the Stopper.

- With tomorrow's off day, Joe Girardi is tweaking the rotation to keep Hughes and Kennedy apart so as to not overtax the bullpen. A smart and necessary move.

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