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4-0, 3.25 | 8-3, 2.97 |
Here we go -- another Sunday rubber game. Josh Johnson's one of the Marlins' good young pitchers. Finished 4th in the rookie of the year balloting in 2006 after finishing 12-7, 3.10. He's barely pitched since 2006 due to injury but has thrown 63.2 IP this year and been very good. Big tall guy (6'7"), good K ratio (7.71/9 IP for his short career), lot of ground balls (1.36 GB/FB for his career). Sound like anybody you know?
Throws mostly a good hard sinker (avg. 93.3 mph this year) and a good hard slider and will sprinkle in a changeup every now and then. Doesn't have Wainwright's big curve ball but, aside from that, there are a lot of similarities.
Since coming off the DL, Wainwright's only yielded 4 ER in 3 games. He's become, w/o question, the team's ace. My hope is that Carp can return next year and be the best #2 starter in the bigs but there's not a lot of doubt in my mind that Wainwright will be the better pitcher over the remainder of their tenure w/ the Cards.
I mentioned Sunday rubber games. This year we're 9-5 in Sunday rubber games. Unlike LB, I do care if we finish above the 'stros. Maybe that's b/c I live here and can't stand those (expletive deleted). Plus, it's gotta help Pujols' claim to the MVP, especially since the NL's 2nd best player this year has been Berkman.