The Brewers-Cubs
tilt had plenty to offer as far as Opening Day matchups go — both from a
fantasy aspect and the “real” baseball aspect: two teams who figure to battle
it out all year for the division; a pair of stud starters; new closer
situations for both; the next great Japanese import; and plenty of great
hitters.
Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets both
brought it from the start. Big Z pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, struck out 5,
and allowed only 3 hits and a walk before leaving with an apparent injury to one
of his fingers. He doesn’t expect to miss much time though. Sheets matched him
the whole way, going 6.1 innings, 7 K’s, 2 hits and 2 walks. This is
encouraging for both as Zambrano really struggled at the start of last year and
Sheets is always one pitch away from the DL.
However, the
more intriguing part of this game came when it got to the bullpens. New closer Kerry Wood entered a scoreless game in
the top of the 9th and promptly gave up 3 runs — this on the heels of
closer-in-waiting Carlos Marmol getting
out 4 straight Brewers (three strikeouts). Cubs fans that aren’t already
yelling for Sweet Lou to make Marmol the closer have certainly joined the
chorus now. Then it was new Brew closer Eric
Gagne’s turn and he gave up 3 runs at the hand of Kosuke Fukudome’s (3/3 with a walk) three-run homer. Gagne owners
have to be wondering which 2007 model they’ve got: the 16-save Ranger version
or the “disaster-in-waiting” Red Sox version.
While this
wasn’t a save situation for Wood, his owners have to be a bit nervous. He
doesn’t have a tight grip on the job as it is, and this outing won’t help any.
On the other hand, if you’ve got Marmol, just hold him and wait it out until he
gets his turn. The third option in the Piniella Closer Carousel, Bob Howry, also pitched poorly,
allowing the winning run in the 10th.
Elsewhere...
* Johan
Santana had a
stellar debut for the Mets, going 7 innings, 2 ER, 8 K’s, 3 hits, and 2 walks.
This is exactly the type of line that Santana consistently produces and maybe
this year, he can avoid his relatively slow starts of previous years (and by
relatively slow, I mean that he has a career April ERA of 4.23 compared to his
career 3.22 ERA).
* Meanwhile, one of the keys to the
Santana trade for Minnesota, Carlos
Gomez, also had a nice debut. Gomez went 2-3 with 2 runs and 2 SB. If he’s
available in your league keep, grab him and pray that he’s a better on-base
version of Joey Gathright... if he
can keep getting on base, there’s no reason why he can’t get close to 50.
* Miguel
Cabrera spent
little time adjusting to the American League by hitting his first homer of the
year. He’ll continue to feast on the thin pitching of the AL Central.
* The third big off-season
acquisition, Erik Bedard, had a
so-so outing. He only lasted 5 innings, struck out 5, while allowing 3 hits and
4 walks. He threw a lot of pitches (106) and will need to keep that pitch count
down to be successful, but this certainly isn’t a reason for concern this early
in the year.
* From the “Oldie but Goodie” file: Jim Thome started the season by hitting
two 2-run homers. He’s 37 and a bit fragile, but he’s hit at least 35 HR in
seven of the last eight years. Ride him
until he falls apart.
* A pair of Pirate OF made some noise
late last night. Nate McLouth led
off for the Pirates and went 3-5 with 2 runs and 4 RBI. He had 22 SB in 23
attempts last year and had a respectable .810 OPS over 329 AB’s. Teammate Xavier Nady went 4-7 with 2 HR’s, 4 R,
and 4 RBI. Nady could make decent 5th OF in mixed leagues for a short while
since he started off in strong fashion last year as well. In the same game Jason Bay went 0-6 (building nicely on
the disastrous ’07 season) and Matt
Capps had an off outing, walking two and allowing 3 ER in the 9th… capping
off a 5 run 9th inning rally for the Braves. A side note: there was supposedly
an unofficial poll taken by Pirates players, and McLouth was voted as being the
teammate most likely to have a breakout year in 2008.
* Jake
Peavy had the day’s
best pitching performance going 7 innings with 4 K’s, 3 hits, and 3 walks. No
surprise here as Peavy will be a top-3 pitcher all year.
* File this under “What I don’t want
to hear from my pitcher”: Chad Cordero says
his shoulder feels “kind of weird.” He’s had a cortisone shot, rested Monday
and will again Tuesday before being re-evaluated. Don’t be surprised if he
“kind of” hits the DL.
* Yovani
Gallardo will make
a make a Triple-A rehab start on Friday and then at least one more sometime next
week before he comes off the DL around April 19th. Carlos Villanueva and Manny Parra will be filling in the back
end of the Brewers’ rotation until Gallardo returns at which point one of them,
or Dave Bush, will have to go. Out
of the three, Parra has the biggest upside.
* Victor
Martinez left
Monday’s game after injuring a hamstring and was taken for an MRI. He is
currently listed as day-to-day. In daily leagues keep an eye on his status over
the next few days.
QuickTIPS
Spot-start
candidate: Brandon Backe, Astros vs.
Padres. In 18 career innings vs. the Padres he has a 2.45 ERA. Combine that
with the game being played in pitcher-friendly PETCO… and Backe could have a
solid outing.
Not only does he
have the LF job nailed down, but Andre
Ethier has gone 6-11 in his young career versus Matt Cain, whom he faces on Tuesday.
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