May 8, 200422 yr Despite all the talk about hitters "owning" pitchers nowadays, and the decline in pitching over the past frew years, there were three outstanding shoutouts yesterday. John Lackey: 9 IP 1 H Carlos Zambrano: 9 IP 2 H Wilson Alvarez/Guillermo Moto: 9 IP 1 H BTW, Zambrano is becoming one heck of a pitcher....
May 8, 200422 yr We are definately on the swing back to pitching, though it is going gradually. Teams have started realizing that pitching is what wins in the bigs, and you can see it with the success teams had last year. Of the four teams that were left standing in the LCS', three of them had top flight pitching staffs (Boston's was good but this year's is waaaaaay better). The teams at the top of the heap right now? Three of them (Boston, Houston, LA) have celebrated pitching staffs. The other three (Florida, Chicago Sox, Anaheim) have very underrated staffs that can duel with almost anyone. At the end of the year, among the teams fighting for it at the end will be the Marlins, Phillies, Dodgers, White Sox, Cubs, Anaheim, Oakland, San Diego, Minnesota, Boston, and New York (AL version). What do all these teams have in common? Above Average Pitching, whether it be an amazing Starting 5, an amazing Pen, or both. Offense is overrated anyways.
May 8, 200422 yr Author Exactly. How many 9-4 games do you have in the playoffs? Virtually none. Every year the team's that have the one or two big time aces and lights out bullpens are the ones that advance and usually win in October.
May 9, 200422 yr Mussina and Quantrill 0ER 9 IP :mischief Baseball goes in cycles (well, literally.) Offense goes up and it goes down. What if mark prior gets fully healthy and guys like mussina and ect get better? All of the sudden, pitching is back. People think of baseball like it is the 80s or 1992 season...it really is not like that. Old yankee stadium would be a hitters park now.
May 9, 200422 yr The rules of the game still have been insituted in the hitter's favor. From the distance of outfield fences and color of bleacher sections to batting armor to the winding of the ball. I think pitching has leveled the hitting boom of the post-strike era. Maybe because better conditioning or the introdction of expiereinced college pitchers and those with odd deliveries (Willis, the entire Rockies' bullpen, Otsuka, sidearmers) and sinkerballs. I don't know, but I like it.
May 9, 200422 yr Author Mussina and Quantrill 0ER 9 IP :mischief Baseball goes in cycles (well, literally.) Offense goes up and it goes down. What if mark prior gets fully healthy and guys like mussina and ect get better? All of the sudden, pitching is back. People think of baseball like it is the 80s or 1992 season...it really is not like that. Old yankee stadium would be a hitters park now. The Mariners are second to last in the AL in hitting, but I'm not going to start with ya... :shifty
May 10, 200422 yr Wilson is back and thats all I care about ... he's only the best pitcher in the league :whistle
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