two observations about mulder's pitching last night:
- 1. he worked the inner half of the plate more than he usually does
- 2. he got a lot of guys reaching and chasing on the outer half
-
related? sure seemed like it to me. whether or not that's what made the difference, he looked sharp -- even to me. he even threw a couple of crisp curveballs, which i don't think i've seen him do all season. if he could turn that into a reliable pitch he might actually be able to change speeds, which is something mulder otherwise doesn't do -- his fastball's an 86 mph pitch, and his breaking pitches get up there at 83. it was not the most economical performance -- 99 pitches in seven innings, four of seven leadoff men on base -- but the braves didn't hit the ball very hard, and there weren't many "uh oh" moments. on the contrary, when the braves attempted to rally in the 7th i was glad la russa left him in there -- i thought he'd work out of it, and so he did. coming into the game i thought the braves had the type of hitters who could expose mulder, but he kept them off-balance most of the night. encouraging.
the cubs DFA'd mike remlinger, a veteran left-handed relief pitcher . . . . .and one the cards should not consider picking up under any circumstances. he is what they call a "reverse LOOGY," ie he's more effective against right-handers than lefties. which well-known fact didn't keep dusty baker from calling him in to face the todd heltons and adam dunns and jim edmondses of the league. anyway, he's not the lhrp help the cardinals need.
here's a lovingly written article about todd zeile. and here's one about abe nunez -- well it's not really about him, but it places him among the three most valuable 3bmen in the majors this year -- right behind a-rod. the stat in use is NRAA (net runs above average), which is itself a composite of a hitting stat (MLV, or marginal lineup value) and a fielding stat (Rate2). nunez contributes most of his value with the glove -- his Rate2 is an outstanding 113, meaning that he saves his team 13 runs per 100 games.
a lot of well-expressed sentiments voiced about respect / contempt for the braves in the comments to yesterday's post. if you haven't weighed in yet, do it while they're still in town . . . . good chance we will see `em this fall.
jason marquis since june 1 (per day-by-day database): 3-6, 4.61 era, 1.5 whip . . . .
