It's an off day. The
Brian Anderson situation is resolved for the time being.
Luis Terrero over Josh Fields isn't that big of a deal if it works out that way, because Fields probably wouldn't see enough at-bats to make it worth it. The
second installment of the AL Central Trail is put to bed, and I can't work on any new frames yet.
What else is there? Well, we could go back to an old favorite and talk about Brandon McCarthy, who
was once again shelled in his latest outing:
[McCarthy] lasted just three innings, but that was an improvement over the
previous two starts, when he lasted a total of three. As in those
outings, McCarthy was wild Sunday from the beginning.
His control problems put four of the first five hitters on base without a hit.
The wacky thing is that in his only relief appearance, he
threw two scoreless innings. Wouldn't it be a kick in the nuts if he finally learned how to pitch in a relief role at the expense of his starting career?
I'm not convinced McCarthy would have performed this poorly if Kenny Williams didn't move him, but mainly because of the quality of the coaching staffs. The Sox have developed or renovated more pitchers in two years than the Rangers have in the last 10 (maybe 20). Almost all Texas' prospects have fizzled when reaching the big leagues, and they traded away the only guy who acquitted himself well,
Chris Young. Edinson Volquez, the middle third of the vaunted DVD combo that included John Danks, got smacked around in his two cups of coffee, and is
currently struggling in Triple-A A-ball.
Maybe there is something to Black Mac's complaints that
the Sox clubhouse isn't as accommodating to younger players, but I think his arguments about the critical environment would have more weight if the staff didn't have so much recent success. Now, if he were a young hitter, I'd probably agree with him considering how all young Sox hitters seem to be susceptible to the same damn pitch in the same damn spot.
Anyway, while Williams looks like he botched the left field situation this offseason, the McCarthy trade couldn't have started off better, with the exception of Danks actually getting some run support. McCarthy has an ERA almost twice that of Danks, yet he has a victory.
****************
Minor league round-up:- Huntsville 6, Birmingham 4
- Ryan Wing only allowed one hit in three innings during his second start of the year, but it amounted to three runs. He walked the first two batters of the second inning before giving up the homer. Oddly enough, he retired the other batters he faced 1-2-3, and those three runs were the only ones he's given up in 15 1/3 innings so far.
- I'm trying to figure this out about Dewon Day -- he pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two, but he gave up three hits. In 11 2/3 innings, he's struck out 24 and given up 14 hits. He's allowing a .588 batting average on balls in play. Having only seen him once, I'm not sure what's up with this aside from a month-long stretch of bad luck.
- Ricardo Nanita went 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI, and has a six-game hit streak (9-for-20).
- Potomac 3, Winston-Salem 2
- Micah Schnurstein hit his sixth homer of the year, and Rod Allen hit his first.
- Aaron Cunningham is in a mini-slump -- an 0-for-4 day extends his hitless streak to nine at-bats.
- John Lujan and Matt Zaleski threw three scoreless innings of relief.
- Victor Mercedes, who threw the first punch in the brawl between the two teams a few days ago, didn't play.
- Augusta 4, Kannapolis 3
- Faustino De Los Santos threw five scoreless innings in his start, lowering his ERA to 0.87 over 20 2/3 IP. He walked only one batter, which is an improvement considering he was averaging almost 7 BB/9 IP coming in.
- John Shelby Jr. had a three-hit day, and Maurice Gartrell hit a two-run homer. Brandon Allen had a double and a triple.