Run differential reached -80 for the season. Man, only three-and-a-half weeks ago the Astros were four games over and had gotten that differential down to -16. What a pathetic stretch of AAAA baseball this has been.
For me, his motion doesn't look that bad for his arm. But with the way he looks like he is is going to keel over to his left and fall down every time he pitches I am amazed that he has any control at all. I don't think he's ever going to be more than "somewhat wild" with his location.
I'd actually be concerned with his conditioning. That setup he does with his legs would seem to get tiring. I guess that's why he's a reliever. No way he could do that over multiple innings as a starter. The actual motion looks funky, but it also looks like it doesn't put that much stress on his body like a typical sidearm pitcher would deal with.
See, I've read that whole "falling away" thing is just brutal on your shoulder and your arm. The pitching motion is unnatural as it is, but then they're adding this jerky-yanking-across thing. I don't think I could find it now, but there was an outstanding article a few years back on mechanics in general (not just arm slot) that talked about this.
I actually like Bazardo and think I see what some people like about him. It looked like he got squeezed on a couple of pitches. He seems to have good movement and control and a variety of pitches. The Marlins $25 mil offense is just smoking hot right now. It's hard to believe that Lee and Matsui alone make as much as the entire Marlins offense.
I'd love to see a highlight reel at the end of the season of Bourn's best plays - clutch hits, steals, catches, etc...
Monster shot for Q. That'll boost his .616 OPS a bit. Matsui's OPS was down to .620 before his 0-for-2 start to this game. His chase for Adam Everett's full-season-worst of .642 may go down to the wire.
Now, Matsui's poor defense will cost Bazardo a chance at a win. To be fair, Matsui has been solid, defensively, this season.
Is Cooper aware of the fact that Byrdak has been signficantly worse against lefthanded hitters than righthanded hitters this season? How many times has Byrdak come in and walked a lefty only to get pulled? I can think of at least a few times off the top.
Bourn on 3rd, no outs... Mr. Patience (Kepp) with an infield pop out on the first pitch he sees. Walk Puma. Lee swings way out of the zone on the first pitch he sees right into a DP. No runs. Garbage.
Here come the Marlins. We had to at least score Bourn last inning. Marlins now 2 hits away from their 15th consecutive 10-hit game.
Michael Bourn is F***ING AMAZING!!! Cooper was right about that if nothing else. Standing O for Mikey.
Fulchino falls on his face trying to field a weak dribbler. 15th straight game with 10 hits for the Marlins. Only 3 teams in history have longer streaks. We can't keep giving the Marlins extra chances.
