Monday, June 28, 2004
Three Weeks, Three Questions (Quick Edition)
What to do about a team that has, of late, been looking like its games belong more on "The Ocho" (Ryan, you know what I'm talking about) than on any real sports network? You write an abbreviated version of Three Weeks, Three Questions.
Three Weeks
The Week That Was
0-6 road trip. Three walk-off homeruns. Worst record in one-run games in the majors. 15 1/2 games out of first, 21 games below .500. Outscored (high-low scores eliminated) 4 to 2.5. As Bill Simmons might say, "Not good times."
The Two Weeks That Will Be
Hosting San Diego for 4 and the Twins for 3, then out to LA for 3 against the Dodgers and up to San Francisco for 4 against the Giants. Then, mercifully, the All-Star Break and an unbearable raft of "What went wrong?" articles.
Normally, I'd do some slightly detailed analysis of the two teams we're facing this week, but it's not like the Padres of this week are that different from the Padres of last week, and I covered them last week, and Ryan, as always, does his series preview here. The Twins, well, I have some history with the Twins, and so I feel like doing something less (or more) than half-assed for that series.
Three Questions
Really, are there any other questions than...
1. Where will Steve Finley go to?
2. Will Shane Reynolds do any better than the previous fifth starters?
3. Will Randy get his 4,000th strikeout Tuesday or Sunday?
For Question 1, see discussions here and on Ryan's West Coast Bias last week.
For Question 2, who knows? I would say it would be hard to do any worse than this...
E. Gonzalez 6/5 -- 4.0 IP / 8 H / 6 R / 2 BB
A. Good 6/12 -- 3.2 IP / 8 H / 7 R / 1 BB
L. Cormier 6/19 -- 1.1 IP / 6 H / 7 R / 1 BB
Look, I'm not trying to suggest that Shane Reynolds is a better pitcher than these guys. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But the bar has not been set very high for the veteran Reynolds to come in and pitch and stay in the starting rotation.
Frankly, the best option would be for Reynolds to pitch well in 3 or 4 starts and for him to be dealt to a contender as a fifth starter so that the three pitchers above can be evaluated with more starts.
As for question 3, Randy gets it tomorrow night. Why? No reason. Just contrariness.
Three Weeks
The Week That Was
0-6 road trip. Three walk-off homeruns. Worst record in one-run games in the majors. 15 1/2 games out of first, 21 games below .500. Outscored (high-low scores eliminated) 4 to 2.5. As Bill Simmons might say, "Not good times."
The Two Weeks That Will Be
Hosting San Diego for 4 and the Twins for 3, then out to LA for 3 against the Dodgers and up to San Francisco for 4 against the Giants. Then, mercifully, the All-Star Break and an unbearable raft of "What went wrong?" articles.
Normally, I'd do some slightly detailed analysis of the two teams we're facing this week, but it's not like the Padres of this week are that different from the Padres of last week, and I covered them last week, and Ryan, as always, does his series preview here. The Twins, well, I have some history with the Twins, and so I feel like doing something less (or more) than half-assed for that series.
Three Questions
Really, are there any other questions than...
1. Where will Steve Finley go to?
2. Will Shane Reynolds do any better than the previous fifth starters?
3. Will Randy get his 4,000th strikeout Tuesday or Sunday?
For Question 1, see discussions here and on Ryan's West Coast Bias last week.
For Question 2, who knows? I would say it would be hard to do any worse than this...
E. Gonzalez 6/5 -- 4.0 IP / 8 H / 6 R / 2 BB
A. Good 6/12 -- 3.2 IP / 8 H / 7 R / 1 BB
L. Cormier 6/19 -- 1.1 IP / 6 H / 7 R / 1 BB
Look, I'm not trying to suggest that Shane Reynolds is a better pitcher than these guys. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. But the bar has not been set very high for the veteran Reynolds to come in and pitch and stay in the starting rotation.
Frankly, the best option would be for Reynolds to pitch well in 3 or 4 starts and for him to be dealt to a contender as a fifth starter so that the three pitchers above can be evaluated with more starts.
As for question 3, Randy gets it tomorrow night. Why? No reason. Just contrariness.
Comments:
Good call about hoping for 3-4 good Reynolds starts and then flipping him for goodies. But doesn't this organization feel loyal to the fault and unwilling to trade anyone who performs well?
Rob Neyer has an article talking about the need for the D-backs to send up the white flag and start trading Finley and Johnson for good prospects. Too bad he's now on ESPN insider because its worth a read. =( Of course, once we do that, its time to put us on Obscure Sports Quarterly.
Ryan
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Rob Neyer has an article talking about the need for the D-backs to send up the white flag and start trading Finley and Johnson for good prospects. Too bad he's now on ESPN insider because its worth a read. =( Of course, once we do that, its time to put us on Obscure Sports Quarterly.
Ryan
Comment posted by 
: 1:41 PM
: 1:41 PM
