G35 | spittin' bristles in Texas...

.


M's 2 | Rangers 3

The good news is...
Felix was finally Felix. And, as Shannon finds out, maybe even better.

Felix's velocity being down was game plan. I flat out asked him, why not throw 96-97 to these guys today. Okay, so I set him up a little, but good answer anyway.

"A couple years ago I was a thrower, not a pitcher. Now I am a pitcher. I located all of my pitches today. I don't want to throw 97 in the middle. I just want to go at the corners and throw my two seamers. They have a pretty good line up and you have to locate your pitches. Michael Young is a great hitter, you see that, two hits against me but if you get the other guys out it will be fine."

He struck out Hank Blalock three times, first time change up, second time fastball inside, third fastball away. He said it was a big game for him. I asked what he wanted to do in this game after what happened in Minnesota, he replied, "Pitch. I just want to pitch a great game. I have been struggling for the last two games, I just want to go out there and pitch. Don't just throw the ball, pitch."

Pretty amazing to see what he could do with pretty much just a two seamer and a change, with a couple of okay sliders thrown in. The curve again was MIA.

It's a shame offense was still the offense :-(

Here's hoping that...
we have yet to see the real Brandon this season.
Not that I'm happy about it, but looks like my early trepidation was founded :-(

There are those saying that Brandon is done ...
I'm not buying it. I seem to remember that he performed pretty darn well as a fill-in closer for JJ last season, but had to go refresh my memory on his stats...

Sure enough, he had 10 saves in 12 opportunities with a 1.47ERA as a reliever. His lefty/right splits were nearly identical (except for a few more walks to the lefties and a LOT more K's to the righties). Brandon gave up exactly ZERO runs to the: O's, RedSox, WhiteSox, Tribe, Tigers, BJ's, Mets, Pads and Marlins in nearly 25IP to those teams (and barely gave up any vs, the Yanks, Halos and Rangers in 18.2IP). It was the actual STARTS vs. KC and OAK where his ERA ballooned.

All this to say that...
despite the relatively small sample size, Brandon was tested against some pretty potent lineups last season and, for the most part, passed with flying colors. I think the main problem this season is that he just flat out wasn't ready. He missed a TON of ST time (pitched a grand total of 5 innings) due to shoulder stiffness and should probably have started the season on the DL - as opposed to struggling early, then getting DL's and then coming back without rehab (in the Metrodome and Arlington, of all places).

So, here's to Wak, et al....
figuring out the best way for Brandon to dust off the rust AND regain his confidence ~ without having the game on the line.

Bring on the BoSox!!!

(I'll be at "Fenway Northwest" on Friday and Sunday)