Man, you don't know what a luxury it is to have a dependable closer until it's gone. Wait, is that a Cinderella song?
By far the best action & command on his splitter Valverde's had this season. Threw some really nice pitches, especially to Helton & Holliday. Good sign.
Much better concentration and command. Now all he needs is the confidence back. I'm not a fan of the antics after the save (hell, he was pumping his fists before Bourn even caught the ball). I'm more of a fan of "acting like he's done this before..." which for the "league leader" in saves last year, you'd expect that to be the case.
Not a huge fan either, but everybody's different, and you can't make him into someone he's not. It's obvious he's not trying to show anybody up, just the way he is.
Great showing this game, even tho I am still really concerned about our pitching staff but hopefully this game will help our starting pitching/bullpen into getting back to pitching in a way that we know they are capable of. I am really shocked at Tejada's productivity this season, with all the steroid and age controversy I would have expected him to be distracted and have a off year. But it is a contract season for him, lets just hope he can keep this up.
Two-run lead, nobody on base. Keep the ball in the zone. Make the batter do something with it. Don't walk the guy and put the tying run at the plate.
It's a scary feeling when I'm nervous to see my closer come onto the mound. He got in trouble but at least he got the save.
I was nervous, too, but the reality is that fans of every team are always nervous in close situations, even if the closer is Rivera in his prime. Of course, we were more nervous because of Valverde's start to the season. Hey, at least our closer isn't Joe Borowski.
Truth is, I was actually defending Valverde by saying the only thing he clearly did wrong was miss that pitch, which he did. That is not overly critical, just fact. And, that inch or so is critical for a closer. That was a bad time to walk a batter. We had a two-run lead. We were better off making Helton hurt us than walking him and bringing the trying run to the plate. A closer needs to be able to get that pitch in the strike zone in that situation.
Helton against Valverde: 6-9, 4BB, 0K Some guys just have your number. Valverde pitched him about as well as he could. He made a good pitch. You're picking nits.
i think whats worse is mutombo wagging his finger after a block even when we havent secured the ball yet....if he wasnt on our team i would be so pissed
It was a good pitch that could have been called either way. At the knees on the outside of the plate against a guy who has basically owned him. Either way, it was his best outing to this point. Still would love to see a 1-2-3 out of him. Nice comeback win today. Hopefully this leads to bigger and better. Roy O going tomorrow against the Pads. We need for him to build on his last start because the 2nd game is Backe against Peavey...who has done nothing but be the best pitcher in the NL so far (3-0, 1.20 era, .9 WHIP).
Yes... but like Lidge, Mutombo has had an extended stretch of dominance before. Valverde's antics remind me more of Jose Lima than they do Mutombo.
I agree... he's not trying to show anybody up, and it is just the way he is. I just also wish that his "dominance" was a little bit more extended and consistent over his entire career. I'd be a little less worried about his performance, and his antics, if it was.
That last pitch to Helton was not even close. It was a clear ball. It looked to be about 6 inches off the plate. Even though Helton has hit him well, Valverde still needs to get that pitch in the zone on a full count with a two-run lead and nobody on base. I don't know how anybody can argue that. Regardless, I was making the point that Valverde did well today. Let's hope he strings a few more good outings together.
