Thursday, April 15, 2004
JIMY'S GONE AND DONE IT
Man, just when I anoint Oz the most destructive manager in baseball (destructive to his team's playoff chances, that is), Jimy goes out and does something really bold.
Last year, nobody was quicker bringing out the pen than Jimy. Dotel and Lidge probably suffered for it down the stretch, but with Oswalt and Miller spending considerable time on the DL, it's defensible.
That Jimy's crafty though. Refusing to be categorized, yesterday he stayed with Wade Miller for 122 pitches with a 6-0 lead. (It's not even as if Miller was pitching that well. He only gave up 2 hits, but it's got to be a minor miracle that none of those 7 walks came around to score.)
Yeeeesh.
Continued refusal to play Ensberg as the everyday 3B and a category IV start for Miller in April? The gauntlet's down, Oz. Whatcha gonna do about it?
At least Dusty's finally showing signs of restraint... although Zambrano did throw 107 pitches. Not that 107 is anything to worry about, it's just hard to give Dusty and the Cubs the benefit of the doubt. (My guess is the order is coming straight from Hendry who ultimately deserves the blame if Prior turns out to be seriously hurt for not putting his manager on a shorter leash last year.)
