- Anibal Sanchez put in a very solid performance. He had some spots of wildness - usually on the first couple of pitches - but most of the time he was able to rein that in and get the Mets out. His velocity looked good for him and his breaking stuff was working. He had more than a few Mets batters off balance during the game. He also showed good composure, getting out of a situation in which Jai Miller misread a ball hit by Jason Bay which ended up a triple, giving up no runs.

 

- Hector Luna put in another solid is unspectacular performance Sunday. Can he make the club out of ST and send Bonifacio packing? Probably not. But if he keeps putting wood on the ball (he us 7 for 16 in ST) we'll have at least the pretense of competition. Of course it would be nice to see some XBHs. Even considering Hector Luna a possible option is sad, of course, but only comes after the Bonifacio Experience last season (which many of us are still recovering from).

 

- At one point I was sitting in the bleachers and some joker called out to Renyel Pinto "How much you weigh?" to which Pinto responded "260." About 20 seconds later Pinto yelled back to the guy "How much YOU weigh?" He looked like he was about ready to smack the guy. Luckily he was separated from Pinto by about 6 rows of bleacher and a fence.

 

- With the relief corps, both Pinto and Wood were solid, as was McClung (who showed some of that nice velocity). MacDougal continued his wild ways. If he keeps this up, I don't see him sticking around with the Marlins much longer.

Oh yeah, and it was a beautiful day at the park. Perfect weather, completely packed stadium. A lot of fun had by all. The Mets fans were definitely more subdued - probably because of all the problems the team is going through.

 

One last bonus - I got to meet Adam Rubin, the NY Daily Post Mets beat writer famous for being called out by Omar Minaya over the Tony Bernazard debacle, and his parents. Good times, though this sunburn is going to hurt tomorrow.

McClung has always had a cannon dialing up mid 90s fastballs. And very quietly, McClung's RP splits 2007-2009.

 

108.1 IP, 3.82 era, 1.48 whips, 7 K/9, 9 HR, .243 BAA

 

I mean, that's a right handed Pinto. Terrifying, but kind of gets the job done because he's only ineffective from walks, not giving up a lot of hits. He's my favorite of the motley crew of relievers they brought in. He's probably a more than solid 4th or 5th RHP in the pen, with upside if the control ever shows up. We can say that a lot about Marlins pitchers. If the control ever shows up.

Here are a few photos - Coghlan, Uggla, and the goat of the game John Maine.

We also beat the Mets in a "B" game Sunday morning. Stanton was 2-3 with a walk and 3 rbi's.

McClung has always had a cannon dialing up mid 90s fastballs. And very quietly, McClung's RP splits 2007-2009.

 

108.1 IP, 3.82 era, 1.48 whips, 7 K/9, 9 HR, .243 BAA

 

I mean, that's a right handed Pinto. Terrifying, but kind of gets the job done because he's only ineffective from walks, not giving up a lot of hits. He's my favorite of the motley crew of relievers they brought in. He's probably a more than solid 4th or 5th RHP in the pen, with upside if the control ever shows up. We can say that a lot about Marlins pitchers. If the control ever shows up.

 

 

We'll see what Randy St. Claire can do about those control issues. I am definitely not impressed with his track record in Washington - but then again he didn't have much to work with.

 

Re: McClung - I agree with you. I was holding out some hope for MacDougal as I saw some flashes of nastiness after he settled into his role as closer last season with the Nats. But I don't think it is going to happen. Those control issues are too much. Plus there may be some lingering issues from his offseason surgery. Out of all of the "motley crew" the Marlins assembled, I'm most closely watching what McClung and Clay Hensley can do at this point.

Yes, Hensley is my other "favorite" of them. He's more of a finesse long reliever/spot starter though, than McCling who just might turn into an awesome RP if teams stop trying to start him all the time. We might be saying that italicized part about Vanden Hurk, Miller, Tucker, and maybe even West or Anibal this time next year. Just some foreshadowing.

- Anibal Sanchez put in a very solid performance. He had some spots of wildness - usually on the first couple of pitches - but most of the time he was able to rein that in and get the Mets out. His velocity looked good for him and his breaking stuff was working. He had more than a few Mets batters off balance during the game. He also showed good composure, [/b]getting out of a situation in which Jai Miller misread a ball hit by Jason Bay which ended up a triple, giving up no runs.

 

- Hector Luna put in another solid is unspectacular performance Sunday. Can he make the club out of ST and send Bonifacio packing? Probably not. But if he keeps putting wood on the ball (he us 7 for 16 in ST) we'll have at least the pretense of competition. Of course it would be nice to see some XBHs. Even considering Hector Luna a possible option is sad, of course, but only comes after the Bonifacio Experience last season (which many of us are still recovering from).

 

- At one point I was sitting in the bleachers and some joker called out to Renyel Pinto "How much you weigh?" to which Pinto responded "260." About 20 seconds later Pinto yelled back to the guy "How much YOU weigh?" He looked like he was about ready to smack the guy. Luckily he was separated from Pinto by about 6 rows of bleacher and a fence.

 

- With the relief corps, both Pinto and Wood were solid, as was McClung (who showed some of that nice velocity). MacDougal continued his wild ways. If he keeps this up, I don't see him sticking around with the Marlins much longer.

 

 

That statement is pretty funny. He ran a long ways to get to that one. Unfortunetly, it hit him right in the glove. I figured it was going as an error. I turned to the wife and said let's see how Anibal reacts to that one. (Let it bother him or pitch out of it.) He did fine. I watched Anibal in his last outing and was left wondering if his weight loss was affecting his performance. But he settled in Sunday and went toe-to-toe with Johan. Nice job.

 

Plenty of bloop singles by both teams. And balls that were really catchable, even if they would have been nice looking catches. That is not the OF I want to see on Opening Day for our team.

 

Sitting behind HP, I was watching Logan at the plate. To me he looks like he is thinking too much. Trying to read too much into what the pitcher is doing instead of just letting his instincts take over. Alot of late swings. Fouls balls, pulling pitches that are outside, and outright swishes. Someone tell this kid to relax. His glove is fine. The only play that got past him was Castillo's double in the 1st, and that was because he slipped on his move towards the bag. Very playable ball by a decent 1B. (See that hand shake and hug between Trader Jack and Loius when he was on deck before the first pitch of the game? Nice to see.) Consensus at this point....Logan's bat isn't ready for this level. PLEASE prove me wrong.

 

Nothing is being said about Davis. Very fine defensive job behind the plate. With guys on base he was all over everything. Nice blocks and grabs to both sides (most notably to me was to his right), smothering things in the dirt, etc... Good job.

 

Side note....Got to talk a bit with Harvey. Damn if he isn't the smaller "twin" of his dad. Right down to the whiskers and attitude. Haven't seen him pitching, but keep the kid. It gives me a chuckle.

 

Notice how well they held the runners? I have now been to 4 games and they are getting better at that in each one. Good job by the coaching staff.

I'm glad that Anibal pitched a good four innings. The Marlins really need him to pitch well enough to earn that rotation spot with West and Miller being so horrid.

I'm glad that Anibal pitched a good four innings. The Marlins really need him to pitch well enough to earn that rotation spot with West and Miller being so horrid.

 

 

I read something about him and St Claire sitting down and watching tapes. Who knows, maybe it's sinking in. His next will be interesting.

I'm rooting for Anibal to put it all together and nail down the rotation spot, if only for the horrible stretch he's had with injuries and his son since his rookie year. It got me to thinking, however, say he and RVH continue to improve and solidify and earn 3/4. Who's our 5th? Would Anibal and RVH making the rotation automatically default Andrew Miller to 5, regardless of his spring? 1-4 is a whole lot of righties, especially in a division w/ so many good left-handed hitters.

 

Who else could be a lefty starter? They wouldn't move Dan Meyer out of the BP where he is so effective, would they? Or is Freddi's comment about Sean West in the Herald foreshadowing: "He'll be back." I wonder if the plan is to give the Miller the opportunity to start and after a few games into the season if it's not happening, bring Sean back up and see what he can do?

Unless there is a free agent lefty still available, I think Miller might make the rotation just for simply being a southpaw.

Unless there is a free agent lefty still available, I think Miller might make the rotation just for simply being a southpaw.

 

 

That would be unfortunate for both him and the team. He needs game time to improve, and he would hardly get any as #5. Not only would he not be much good to the Marlins this year but he also wouldn't be making progress for the future.