Posted January 9, 200916 yr Florida Marlins closer Lindstrom headed for World Baseball Classic BY CLARK SPENCER [email protected] The Marlins have high expectations for Matt Lindstrom, who is their projected closer next season. They won't be the only ones counting on the hard-throwing pitcher's triple-digit heat. Lindstrom, who throws one of the fastest fastballs in the majors, has accepted an invitation to represent the United States in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. ''It's huge,'' said Lindstrom, a 28-year-old Idahoan. ``You play for your country. We want to show everyone we still have the best talent in the world.'' The 16 countries slated to participate in the WBC are assembling provisional rosters. Final rosters will be announced in February, shortly before the tournament starts in March. Last season, Lindstrom made 66 relief appearances for the Marlins, going 3-3 with five saves and a 3.14 earned-run average. He is expected to assume the ninth-inning role that was vacated when Kevin Gregg was traded in November to the Chicago Cubs. Lindstrom, who spends most of the winter offseason in Denver, said he has been throwing and working out. ''I'll be ready,'' Lindstrom said. Lindstrom said he never expected to receive an invitation. When informational flyers about the WBC were given to players late last season, Lindstrom said he took one look at them and thought, ``yeah, right.'' ''When they called me the day after Christmas, it put a good cap on a big year,'' Lindstrom said. Lindstrom isn't the only Marlin expected to take part in the WBC. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez (Dominican Republic), pitcher Rick Vandenhurk (the Netherlands), reliever Renyel Pinto (Venezuela) and third baseman Jorge Cantu and infielder Alfredo Amezaga (Mexico) also are planning to participate. The 16-nation tournament starts March 5. Second-round games will be held March 14-19 at Dolphin Stadium and San Diego's PETCO Park, with the semifinals and finals set for Dodger Stadium on March 21 and 23. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/844145.html
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts?
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much.
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
January 9, 200916 yr Doubt he gets overworked they have 8 to 10 other pitchers who will probably get more innings out of the pen but w/e Woot Go Lindy turn up the heat on the rest of the World Except for Puerto Rico and El Salvador cuz i don't need my countries to get enbarresed
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. For once, I'll have to agree w/ Eric. I would imagine so many people refused to play that they are now going to the B Listers. That really sucks. When are we going to have a true World Baseball Classic where the best players actually represent. :thumbdown Anyway, good for Lindstrom. Hopefully he'll get some good work in before the season. :thumbup
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season.
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season. So you are saying he is one of the best relievers in baseball? If not, that's just what Erick is saying.
January 9, 200916 yr Very cool. I'm pretty upset Uggla didn't get a call, though. Who said? Well, he made it very publicly clear he'd love to play in the WBC. Obviously if he were invited, we'd know.
January 9, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season. So you are saying he is one of the best relievers in baseball? If not, that's just what Erick is saying. I'm not saying he is one of the best relievers in baseball RAB, but the coaches for the WBC USA team obviously think he can contribute or why would they have offered him an opportunity to play? Granted he is only invited until the final 28 players are selected to play. Fuentes, Broxton, Ryan, Shields, and Joe Nathan were invited by the same group of coaches. You would think on a Marlins baseball forum real marlins fans would be more excited about the invitation rather than being negative.
January 9, 200916 yr Very cool. I'm pretty upset Uggla didn't get a call, though. I can understand Pedroia geting the start at second but derosa as back up thats crap uggla shoulda got the call. Who knows though maybe he will. Im still worried one of our guys will get hurt.
January 9, 200916 yr This is exciting, but I'm really surprised. Any news on if any of our other players are playing in this? (Hanley, Uggla)
January 9, 200916 yr This is exciting, but I'm really surprised. Any news on if any of our other players are playing in this? (Hanley, Uggla) Hanley is playing for the Dominican Republic.
January 9, 200916 yr This is exciting, but I'm really surprised. Any news on if any of our other players are playing in this? (Hanley, Uggla) Shortstop Hanley Ramirez (Dominican Republic), pitcher Rick Vandenhurk (the Netherlands), reliever Renyel Pinto (Venezuela) and third baseman Jorge Cantu and infielder Alfredo Amezaga (Mexico) also are planning to participate.
January 9, 200916 yr Yeah I'm happy for Matt, but I agree with Erick, he really has no business being there.
January 9, 200916 yr Also, this makes me wonder... The Dominican team will be playing an exhibition game against the Marlins on Tuesday, March 3rd. Will Hanley be playing against his own team (The Marlins)? :blink:
January 10, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?
January 10, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Yeah I did bro, my bad! I'm just sick and "tired" of reading posts that don't give credit where I think credit is due. You and others on this forum think it's a miracle and are quite surprised that a second year player with average numbers could make the WBC. "but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States" who says? The CEO and coaches of the WBC think differently or else why would they have invited him? Besides he's only been invited not selected to play for the team. They've invited like 45 players and are only taking 28. Marlins fans should be excited and not say they are happy for him one minute and the next minute say something sardonic like yeah he has no business being there. I'm sorry but those comments are contradicting. Is he the best reliever? NO. Is he pretty good? Obviously, the Marlins and coaches from the WBC seem to think so and lucky for him that's what matters. I'd like to see more support and less critisizing this year that's all. Sorry for the last comment, I'll try and turn it down a notch.
January 10, 200916 yr Oh boy, this could be bad for us. I'm happy for Lindstrom but do we want our closer to be over worked befor the season even starts? Does it matter? WBC...Spring Training...he'll have to pitch regardless before April. And this is a joke. Have that many people declined to play for the U.S. Team? No disrespect to Lindstrom, but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States. He probably won't have to pitch much. Sounds like disrespect to me. Your right they should have contacted Tucker. What do you want him to be Brad Lidge in his second season. I hope he proves you and all the naysayers wrong this upcoming season. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Yeah I did bro, my bad! I'm just sick and "tired" of reading posts that don't give credit where I think credit is due. You and others on this forum think it's a miracle and are quite surprised that a second year player with average numbers could make the WBC. "but he is certainly NOT one of the better pitchers in the United States" who says? The CEO and coaches of the WBC think differently or else why would they have invited him? Besides he's only been invited not selected to play for the team. They've invited like 45 players and are only taking 28. Marlins fans should be excited and not say they are happy for him one minute and the next minute say something sardonic like yeah he has no business being there. I'm sorry but those comments are contradicting. Is he the best reliever? NO. Is he pretty good? Obviously, the Marlins and coaches from the WBC seem to think so and lucky for him that's what matters. I'd like to see more support and less critisizing this year that's all. Sorry for the last comment, I'll try and turn it down a notch. The thing is...Lindstrom was invited b/c of a bunch of other pitchers have declined. Not being one of the better pitchers in the United States isn't a knock on him...it's just fact. The U.S. is loaded with pitching. I wish Lindstrom the best, and hope he can continue his success from the 2nd half last year...but it's hard to deny the fact that the U.S. is loaded with arms. Who has accepted invitations, anyways? Anyone know? Out of all the great pitchers in the U.S. I've only seen Lackey and Oswalt accept the invitation.
January 10, 200916 yr Just because we're Marlins fans doesn't mean we can't think objectively. We don't think a guy is great simply because he dawns a Marlin uniform. You couldn't look at me with a straight face and tell me Matt Lindstrom is among the top notch American relievers available; not even close. As we are all very happy for him and his invitation, we have every right to question the selection.
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