Got back from the game about an hour ago. Our defense is flat out horrible. I think Feliz's glove has been over-rated from this first month of the season. I like Hunter Pence, but his quirkiness is really bothersome. Just the way he runs seems like a waste of speed. Feliz and Matsui are two guys that looked even worse in person. Lee at least hit one ball hard, though straight to Glaus. Michael Bourn, though he did make an error, is special to watch.
I guess it dawned on Mills how ridiculous it was to bat Feliz in the 3-hole. That was an expirement doomed to end in failure. It's not like he has a lot of options but still, Feliz is an extremely bad hitter. He has no business anywhere near the 3-hole, with or without Berkman in the lineup.
Wow... we bust ot the road grays today (probably b/c the Braves wear Red on sundays). Nice to see them... wish we wore them more. Apparently its a "comfort" issue... which leads me to believe that these guys are going to be even more uncomfortable in the grey jerseys today. Can they play worse? We shall see...
Norris takes some nice looking cuts at the plate. If he can manage to remain a starter, I see him belting the occasional HR.
Norris, like Paulino, has a pretty flat fastball. He also has clear cut command issues, leaving a lot of fatties right over the heart of the plate or being unable to find the plate, entirely. He also doesn't have great secondary pitches. Both he and Paulino look like relievers to me at this point.
Wow, Heyward nearly hit another HR. What a beast that kid is. He reminds me a lot of Ryan Howard but may end up being an even better overall hitter if he reaches his full potential.
Well, we're only down 1-0 after 2. Norris did a good job getting out of that jam. Heyward came pretty close to a 3 run shot though. My guess is that we'll have to score at least 5 runs to win this game.
We have 2 pitchers in our starting rotation that don't appear to me to have any major league talent other than the ability to throw the ball hard.
Very heady play by Berkman to let that ball drop and get 2 outs. Norris was on the verge of giving up another 3 or 4 runs with the way this inning is going.
When Pedro Feliz and Jeff Keppinger are your RBI leaders after 23 games, you know that your offense sucks baseballs. As opposed to Feliz, Keppinger is actually a good hitter but really should only be used against LHP as a situational hitter in an ideal scenario. Either way, he's not supposed to be your RBI leader.
Bourn is a reason to tune into games, if nothing else. He's a highlight reel waiting to happen, offensively and defensively. That was a nice diving grab.
Absolutely incredible diving effort by Norris then he throws it to the backstop. Towles does well to gather the ball and keep another runner from scoring. Norris' glove and bat impress me more than his pitching.
Norris' line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP He gets yanked with a man at 3rd. He actually got lucky that his line wasn't worse, even if that runner at 3rd ends up scoring.
Before Norris even threw one pitch this season, I posted that I thought he'd be out of the starting rotation by the second half. My guess is that they will send him back to RR because they don't want to give up on him being a starter yet. I think they should though. If he goes to RR, you probably throw Moehler into his spot and bring up somebody for the pen. What happens if both Paulino and Norris are getting killed? Do you keep sending one of them out there? Do you give Wesley a shot before he ends up in the same situation? Somebody else from RR? Look outside for help?
