Monday, June 13, 2011

Notes

Mike Pelfrey and Paul Maholm work tonight as the Bucs try to salvage a split against the Mets. First pitch is at 7:05 PM and the game will be shown on Root Sports. Pelfrey is the guy the Bucs jumped ahead of 7-0 last week just to eventually lose a dreadful 8-7 decision.

Tonight's lineup: Jose Tabata LF, Xavier Paul CF, Neil Walker 2B, Garrett Jones RF, Lyle Overbay 1B, Brandon Wood 3B, Mike McKenry C, Ronny Cedeno SS, Paul Maholm P. 

Jones gets to start after showing some life at the plate.  McKenry gets the call behind the dish, and that's logical - Maholm is a vet, has good control and is an easy guy to catch.  McCutch gets the night off, ouch.

  • Dejan Kovacevic of the Tribune Review makes the argument for a Neal Huntington contract extension.
  • By picking up Mike McKenry, the FO reinforced their emphasis on pitching by selected a good-glove, average hit guy to help weather the current storm behind the dish. After an initial burst of trying to model the team along AL lines, it looks like they may be building a more prototypical NL club. (Of course, it's always possible that everyone wanted Jameson Taillon in trade for their third-string catcher, too.) 
  • Jen Langosch of MLB.com reports that the Mets are protesting to have McCutch's two-run double off RA Dickey Saturday changed to an error.  The difference?  Dickey gets two less earned runs on his stat line, and McCutch loses the RBIs.  Tough play and call; thirdbaseman Dan Murphy had to move to his right to glove a smash that glanced off him. It could go either way, although we see no reason to change the original decision.
  • Even with the rash of injuries in Pittsburgh and all the recent roster churning that has entailed, the Indy Indians keep on trucking.  On May 7th they were 12 games under .500 at 9-21; as of yesterday they were 33-32. 
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2 comments:

  1. WilliamJPellasJune 13, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    I did some research into McKenry, and I'd say he's definitely better than the other two minor leaguers we had in here recently. He has some sock and has a reputation as a good defensive catcher with a strong throwing arm. I like this move a lot. Huntington did quite well in a pinch. Methinks McKenry might have an opportunity to play his way into a platoon with Jaramillo next season as the bridge to Tony Sanchez.

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  2. Ron IeraciJune 13, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    He seems to have fallen into some disfavor at Boston; I'd guess it's an age/short people (he's 5-9, maybe) thing. But he does have some high props as a D guy with a great arm, and has been a pretty steady doubles producer. I agree, Will, considering the situation, that NH did pretty well.

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