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9-3, 3.82 |
3-11, 6.75 |
GAME TIME 1:15 CDT
When Wells was signed, it was by Dave Duncan's recommendation; Wells always has had good stuff but was a perennial underachiever and it was almost expected that Kip would be one of Dunc's great reclamation projects, a feel good story. How horribly things have gone wrong. Now this could be Kip's last stand, or at least his last stand as a starter. No pitcher has done more to hurt his team then Wells this season, yet he gave us all a glimmer of hope by the way he pitched in the 13th and 14th innings of Wednesday night's game, particularly the way he got John Buck to strike out swinging with runners on the corners to end the 14th. It felt like that night he did the polar opposite of what he's done all season, which is buckle down under pressure. Wells has had a knack for wilting with runners on; his strand % is 56.9%, the worst in the majors. (Watching him hitting David Dejesus in the first inning on June 14th with the bases loaded comes to mind as one of those painful situations.) In one night he went from appearing to be a million dollar arm with a ten cent head (to borrow the Crash Davis line), to simply having a million dollar arm. Should he fail today, next will be a last ditch effort to squeeze value out of him in relief, which wouldn't be the end of the world if he can continue to produce results like he did in the wee hours of Thursday morn. Or they may just cut bait. No pressure or anything Kip, just pitch your butt off and save your job. Getting him on track would sure be nice.
- This site has the real down low on opposing pitcher Cole Hamels. One of my favorite Cole Hamels facts is: "Gwyneth Paltrow thought she was going to see Cole Play, but she settled for the lead singer of Coldplay."