Lets discuss leiter's start. I mean he played decent, went deeper into the game, and IMO played good enough to win. He had that one bad pitch to cantu, but i think his play is improving.

Al's big problem was Jack handing the ball to Mota.

I thought he pitched decently. He had the one hiccough where the two walks and then the pitch to Cantu (who's red-hot) hurt him, but he got several DPs to get out of jams.

I disagree.

 

Walking Crawford and Lupo on 9 pitches, and then serving up a fat ball to Cantu really handed the momentum back to the DRays.

 

We had Waechter on the ropes. Al bailed him out. Waechter came out in the 5th rejuvenated, our offense came out dejected and the entire game took on a different tone.

 

Al may have pitched well the other innings, but in that severe lapse he gave up his win.

 

When is Al ever going to learn to pitch to contact?

 

Admittedly, I have now lost all confidence in him. It's time to move him out of the rotation. I really hope Olsen works out.

As one of the major anti-Leiter posters...I think he did okay. Yea his control was again off, but 3 runs in a tad less than 7 innings...I'd take that every outing.

I disagree.

 

Walking Crawford and Lupo on 9 pitches, and then serving up a fat ball to Cantu really handed the momentum back to the DRays.

 

We had Waechter on the ropes. Al bailed him out. Waechter came out in the 5th rejuvenated, our offense came out dejected and the entire game took on a different tone.

 

Al may have pitched well the other innings, but in that severe lapse he gave up his win.

 

When is Al ever going to learn to pitch to contact?

 

Admittedly, I have now lost all confidence in him. It's time to move him out of the rotation. I really hope Olsen works out.

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Your hatred of leiter has blinded you. Why pull him out now when hes improving game by game. Even with those 4 runs allowed we were still in the game, in fact we won. Leiter is continuign to improve and i have completely regained my hope that he will continue to do so

I think that 'sending him to the pen' a week or so ago might have been what Al Leiter needed. I like the guy, and I'd like to see him help out our team.

Based on performance if our rotation set up: Willis, Beckett, Burnett, Moehler, Leiter, I'd take this type of outing every time from our fifth starter.

If Al can turn it around then great.

 

But sorry, I didn't get the same positive vibes that you did tonight. He was fortunate the defense had some sweet DPs behind him tonight.

 

I'm at a point where I'd like to see what Olsen has to offer.

When is Al ever going to learn to pitch to contact?

 

 

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PBMarlin Posted Today, 10:48 PM

If Al can turn it around then great.

 

But sorry, I didn't get the same positive vibes that you did tonight. He was fortunate the defense had some sweet DPs behind him tonight.

 

 

 

When you pitch to contact, you are forced to rely on your defense...

He also gave up 4 free passes, two of them in a row after he secured a 3 run lead.

 

No lead is safe with him on the mound. Reminds me of Darren Oliver last year.

Oh, I agree, he still needs to do better, but he's shown some improvement over his last few starts...

Leiter was absolutley un-hittable today, he gave up what, like two/three hits? Three runs but it was on the homer, he pitched very well. He has given us two good quality starts after being taking out the rotation. Maybe thats all he needed.

first of all, all has done far worse than darren oliver did

 

second of all

how many times do we have to say that WALKS COME BACK TO HAUNT YOU.

its just mind boggling if u throw strikes you stay out of trouble.

how many walks of leiters have scored.

I don't know, but Al has the most walks per inning of any starter in the NL.

 

He also has one of the lowest quality start ratios.

Oh, I agree, he still needs to do better, but he's shown some improvement over his last few starts...

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I hear you there.Yes,he is still walking way too many people,but you got to look at the positives.

Al's big problem was Jack handing the ball to Mota.

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Really? I thought it was throwing strikes. 50 BBs

The ump was squeezing Al.

Being at the Trop... I have to say he really looked good out there tonight... hey 2 decent starts in a row, u have to like that. At least he is starting to look like a 5th starter opposed to a guy who shouldn't be in the rotation. I have faith in Al, and watching him first hand... I have to say that I was very proud of him tonight.

 

...but I was very not proud of Mota...

With the way Moe's been pitching, Al's the 5th starter. All you generally ask of your 5th starter is that he keeps you in the game. I'd have no problem if Leiter was pitching this way the rest of the year. I guess the question is, can he do it at home?

Its not only if he keeps us in the game... but if he keeps himself in the game. He's gone 6 innings in his past two, which is all we need from him. His 120 pitches by the 4th inning in previous games were ridiculous, but 120 pitches by the 6th, well hell i'll take it.

He's not going to go out and win the game by himself like Dontrelle, Beckett or AJ can.. we knew that before he even threw a pitch this year. We just need him to go 6-7 innings and give us a chance to win, and he did that tonight. No complaints here.

With the scenario being what it was...runners on 2nd and thrd..with the very hot Cantu at the plate with (was it no outs or one out?)..does anyone think Jack should of intentionally walked Cantu? It would of set up a force at every base & also taken the bat out of this streaking guy's hands at the same time.That's what I was hoping for at the time.

Mota stunk as usual lately.

 

Yes Leiter did pitch better for the 2nd consecutive game which is good to see. However he had been so god-awful that virtually anything would've been an improvement.

 

If he just hadn't walked two straight before Cantu's HR it would've been a terrific outing.

 

He may have saved his spot in the rotation with these last two starts.