Not for nothing, but I really want the season to start. I'm just not that interested in spring training. I can't make any sense of spring training. Mike Mussina leads the team in strikeouts, Shelley Duncan's our best power hitter, Derek Jeter's average is in the .200's, Joba Chamberlain's throwing sinkers for outs, Wang can't throw sinkers for outs, and Carl Pavano is still with the team. Its like the bizzaro world of baseball. Once the season starts everything returns to normal, Mussina's strikeouts go down, A-Rod's power numbers go up, Jeter starts hitting .300, Chamberlain sticks to his 4-seam/slider combination, Wang induces 20 groundball outs per start, and Pavano is no where to be seen.
By the way, it looks like the Red Sox are having the spring training we had last season. Schilling and Beckett are injured with no real time table, and there's already talk of Lester being the opening day starter by default. Sound familiar Pavano? Now, if only half a dozen hamstrings can snap within a two week period, it'll be exactly like our spring training from last year.
I for one am really excited about this season. Not that I've ever not been excited for a season, but this is something different. There are plenty of players in their walk years (Giambi, Abreu, and Mussina), veteran players out to prove they can still perform (Matsui and Damon) rookie players out to prove themselves (Kennedy, Hughes, Duncan and Chamberlain), young players out to build on what they've established (Cabrera, and Cano), and veterans who want that 27th world series (Jeter, A-Rod, Rivera, Posada and Girardi). I get the feeling that the older players feed off the youth, and that the youth soak up as much as they can from the older players. I think they push each other, and make each other better. We'll see how that plays out throughout the season.
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2 comments:
I agree - the team dynamics look realy strong for a hell of a run this season. I am still vexed about how they're going to use Joba though. What sense does it make to have him work out the timing and coordination of his curveball and changeup and this two-seamer, and then stick him in the bullpen to start the year?
Last year seemed to work really well for him. He started for 4 months, took a couple weeks to get aquainted wih the pen, and then came up and dominated. Why not give Kennedy his time at AAA, see what we've got in Joba as a starter at the begining of the year when it isn't as important, and then move him back to the pen once he's made 16-18 starts (around 110 innings)?
That way, we'll know if he can get through a major league lineup 3 or 4 times, and then we'll have him setting up Mo at the end of the season when the pennant is on the line instead of in May. It would also be a whole hell of a lot easier to limit his innings at the end of the year as a reliever instead of as a starter. Now, I realize the Steinbrenners employ some of the best minds in baseball, but this whole notion of pen then rotation for Joba just doesn't make any sense to me.
Yeah, I think its tough trying to juggle 6 guys in 5 spots, but if last year taught us anything its that you can't have too many starters. I have a feeling that this may just work itself out. If Joba does start in the pen though, I hope it isn't for nearly as long as they project.
Kennedy was pretty sharp last season so I don't know what I feel about him in Scranton, but I do think that he could use the experience and if he stumbles out the gate, he may find himself there anyway.
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