Sunday, April 10, 2005
WELL, AT LEAST THE GOOD RELIEVERS GOT A REST
But the rest of Sunday's game was ugly to the nth. Bartolo Colon shook my faith in his having a bounceback year, and Vlad and The Legs were the only hitters on their game.
Kansas City, in the meantime, demonstrated they are a team to watch. Not that I'm predicting that they'll be competitive in their division this seaosn, though I guess it's possible. But they have a lot of young and intruiging ballplayers. John Buck didn't do much in that series, but as a young catcher with some pop, bears watching. Ruben Gotay's home run off of Bartolo came on a really nice swing where he turned on a ball belt-high and in -- normally you'll see left-handed batters get extension on balls down and in, but he cleared his hips and applied the hurt to one at the belt, which seems rarer. He doesn't look like he's going to be a big home run guy -- he hit a double off of Bartolo on a fastball over the middle knee-high, and he doesn't seem big enough to drive that ball over the wall -- but looks like a solid hitter, and certainly the most promising the guy the Royals have put at that position since, um, Carlos Febles. So health will be a factor.
You also have Mark Teahen, who's trying to avoid becoming Sean Burroughs, and Angel Berroa trying to make a comeback. In the outfield, you have David DeJesus, who demonstrated excellent pitch selection, a nice line-drive stroke, and excellent defense. And then you get Denny Bautista, a live arm that chewed up the free-swinging Angels on Friday night, and one that is filled with promise.
All that said, it's still a bit embarrassing to give that team two out of three at home, especially when two of those games involved our pitchers getting rocked from here to hell and gone. Hopefully, The Ballpark and the Texas rotation will reinvigorate the Halo bats ...
But the rest of Sunday's game was ugly to the nth. Bartolo Colon shook my faith in his having a bounceback year, and Vlad and The Legs were the only hitters on their game.
Kansas City, in the meantime, demonstrated they are a team to watch. Not that I'm predicting that they'll be competitive in their division this seaosn, though I guess it's possible. But they have a lot of young and intruiging ballplayers. John Buck didn't do much in that series, but as a young catcher with some pop, bears watching. Ruben Gotay's home run off of Bartolo came on a really nice swing where he turned on a ball belt-high and in -- normally you'll see left-handed batters get extension on balls down and in, but he cleared his hips and applied the hurt to one at the belt, which seems rarer. He doesn't look like he's going to be a big home run guy -- he hit a double off of Bartolo on a fastball over the middle knee-high, and he doesn't seem big enough to drive that ball over the wall -- but looks like a solid hitter, and certainly the most promising the guy the Royals have put at that position since, um, Carlos Febles. So health will be a factor.
You also have Mark Teahen, who's trying to avoid becoming Sean Burroughs, and Angel Berroa trying to make a comeback. In the outfield, you have David DeJesus, who demonstrated excellent pitch selection, a nice line-drive stroke, and excellent defense. And then you get Denny Bautista, a live arm that chewed up the free-swinging Angels on Friday night, and one that is filled with promise.
All that said, it's still a bit embarrassing to give that team two out of three at home, especially when two of those games involved our pitchers getting rocked from here to hell and gone. Hopefully, The Ballpark and the Texas rotation will reinvigorate the Halo bats ...
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