Justin Duchscherer tossed five stellar innings and the A's offense showed signs of life as the A's took the first game of the weekend series.
Duke was simply dominant, showing masterful command and recording six K's. He had good, late lateral movement on his fastball and painted the black on both sides of the plate. Here's what I found most impressive: he couldn't spot his hammer curve for the first three innings, and yet he was still unhittable. That's how good his location was.
In the second inning he struck out Hafner (L) looking on the outside corner, and then Franklin Gutierrez (R) on the inside corner to end the inning. But neither K was of the "completely fooled" variety; Hafner and Gutz took those pitches because they didn't have a chance at hitting them anyway. If Duke can spot his cutter that well all year, he'll be a force to be reckoned with.
But will he even get the chance?
Duke came out after starting the sixth inning; it was the training staff's second visit out to the mound. The early report is minor bicep tendonitis. Let's hope for a speedy return, because right now a staff of Blanton-Harden-Duke-Gaudin-Eveland looks pretty formidable.
Huston Street came on in the ninth and allowed a bomb to Hafner before closing the door on the win. His penchant for allowing the long ball has rightfully caused a good deal of consternation on AN.
I'm not sure how I feel about Street yet. The home runs are happening because his pitches are traveling through only one plane right now. His fastball is flat because of his low release point, and (apparently) he's not getting enough horizontal movement to offset that.
So...has he made a mechanical change inadvertently, or to alleviate pain? Has he lowered his release point at some point in the last two years to alleviate strain on his arm/shoulder?
The optimistic view is that Street's home run woes are a very fixable problem - adjusting his arm slot slightly higher on release, to create more downward/two-plane movement. The scarier version is, a higher arm slot is causing him pain, so he had to drop lower. In that scenario, Street is faced with picking the lesser of two evils: injured, or homer-prone but healthy
0 recs | 84 comments
Offensive positives:
Ryan Sweeney went 4-for-4. Great "I belong here" confidence-booster.
Barton had several great at-bats, and missed a homer by two feet.
I think Crosby's improvement is for real. I was pumped after seeing the new stance in our first 3 a.m. Japan game, and I still think he's turned the corner. Today he took a pitch on the outside corner and knocked a solid base hit up the middle. Last year he would've rolled his hands over and hit a meek grounder to the left side.
Cust hit a ball to the warning track in center that would've been a homer if it was 80 degrees today (June) and not 49.
notsellingjeans - April 4, 2008
Negatives
As Nico and several others said, Buck looks lost. Not keeping his weight back, rolling his hands over on outside pitches.
Too radical to send him back to AAA this fast...but I think the compromise is to move him down to ninth in the order until this ends. It's that he's just not hitting...he also looks terrible.
notsellingjeans - April 4, 2008
you are pumped about this win...
you not only had to be first to respond to your own game wrap... you had to be second, too. ;-)
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
now, that's just rude...
devo stepping on your game wrap with his Staturday's post only moments after midnight. LOL
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
I am indeed :)
But I also just wanted to get the game wrap out there. You can't leave the people pining for game wraps or they get fiesty.
I still had stuff to say though.
notsellingjeans - April 5, 2008
I appreciate the wrap up since
I didn't want to use the game thread.
I agree on Crosby. The changes he's made at the plate seem to be paying dividends. Od course, pitchers will adjust to him as well, so how he adjusts to that will help determine if he's really turned the corner.
Byrd seemed to lose the strike zone for a while there. Hitting two batters in one frame, then bringing in the first run on a wild pitch, seemed unusual for him. It was also interesting to see two starters at the same time whose pitches all register in the 70's and 80's on the radar gun.
The dreaded 'day to day" listing for Duchscherer is very worrisome.
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
Good call
On the game wrap, I mean. Getting the main thread up quickly and then adding additional comments after.
iglew - April 5, 2008
T-Buck = T-Long
at least his swing reminds me of Long's.
sf drift king - April 5, 2008
Totally rude dude!
Like Jar-Jar Binks rude yo!
mrod - April 5, 2008
Regarding Crosby, I'm pleased
But I also noted, when he came up with the bases loaded and nobody out, that the previous AB he had looked terrific - relaxed, short to the ball - and that this AB was in a "pressure" situation...and Crosby lunged, got impatient, and hit a weak ground ball (similar to his bases loaded AB against Matsusaka on Opening Night).
Still...baby steps.
Nico - April 5, 2008
"Baby!"
"The other, other white meat!"
mrod - April 5, 2008
Crosby's stepping on babies?!
What more does the guy have to do before he gets run out of town?
grover - April 5, 2008
Grover!
Where have you been sir??? Good to see ya up on the "Hotline!".
mrod - April 5, 2008
Duke was looking solid
and it was amazing to watch (and listen to on the radio, Korach was obviously loving it). He was working quickly, and was unhittable. About the fourth inning, he started taking his time between pitches, walking around the mound, rubbing the all, etc., ahich is when I knew something was up. At first I just thought that he was getting tired having not pitched 3+ innings recently over the past few seasons.
But what really concerned me was when the trainers rushed out of the dugout in the fifth without any clearly noticeable indication that he was hurt. It seems to me that the only reason that this happened was that he talked to them about it in the bottom of the fourth in the dugout. As has been previously noted, why would you let your pitcher go out again after you know he's not 100%?
I'm not trying to lay any blame for his injury on anyone, and he was pitching wonderfully until the fifth, but I feel it was preventable.
senor_k - April 5, 2008
Obviously you've not been following the A's for long. ;)
OldhamA - April 5, 2008
Duke
I was watching the Cleveland broadcast (go EI!) and the trainer and Geren came out the first time because Duke stepped off the mound after a pitch and was shaking his arm out like it was stiff or he was in pain. I can't believe they ran him back out for the sixth inning (a) on a cold night, when (b) he was already in line for the win. Now both Duke and Geren are calling his injury a "strain" and saying that (at least) his next start might be in jeopardy. I don't know who's responsible for the decision, but I blame Geren and the medical staff for even allowing Duke's outing to continue.
LoveDemAs - April 5, 2008
I blame Duke, too. Too Mexican.
The Dogfather - April 5, 2008
That is what
all of us are wondering about as well.
mrod - April 5, 2008
Mike Sweeney
Someone requested a Mike Sweeney circa-prime years photo in the earlier thread.
This is his batting stance in Spring Training of the 2000 season. He knocked in 144 runs and put up a .930 OPS that year.
He's "loading" in that photo, so I figure the pitch is either leaving the pitcher's hand or is a milli-second away from that.
Now, compare that photo to what you saw tonight. His crouch is pretty significant, isn't?
I think it will be hard for him to generate his pre-back injury power, but he's had to adopt this approach to swing pain-free.
notsellingjeans - April 5, 2008
somehow last night his batting stance
reminded me of Kendall
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
You know who reminded me of Kendall?
David Dellucci.
He had that same "my wife kicked me out of the house a month ago and my life is in a shambles" facial hair.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
sure sign of old trauma
when various home and opposing players remind us of Kendall...
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
Also
the new alternates look terrible, and they don't have the 40th Anniversary patch on them. At least get a new set of batting helmets to match the black hats.
senor_k - April 5, 2008
P.S.
Anyone have a photo of the black alts from 2000 (or whenever) when someone was up to bat? Did they have black helmets then?
senor_k - April 5, 2008
I like the black alts...
I actually bought a black A's cap back when they wore them before and it quickly became my favorite A's hat. But, I honestly can't remember if they wore black batting helmets back then. It would look better (and, they wouldn't look so cheap).
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
Have they replaced the green jerseys?
If so I'm not happy. They were the best looking jerseys in the majors.
OldhamA - April 5, 2008
ditto
ak_A - April 5, 2008
I think the greens are still in play
I think I recall one of the A's clubhouse folks saying in Spring Training that they'd still be using the green tops during the regular season.
One of the worst things about the black jerseys is all of the A's wearing the green shirts underneath. Looks terrible. I agree with the comment above that if they're going with black, then the team needs all of the accessory equipment to match.
LoveDemAs - April 5, 2008
Those who were rocking the high socks
(thank you, Chris Denorfia) were wearing green socks, too. When I came into the stadium and looked out at the field from the concourse, I wasn't sure who was taking batting practice until I remembered the black tops. Well, at least they might have been a degree or so warmer than the white ones.
Englishmajor - April 5, 2008
totally
I don't like the black tops, but at least if they're going to wear them they need helmets and undershirts to match. What they're doing now is just bad.
batgirl - April 5, 2008
Reacccesorizing
they need a new round of those beryllium neck collars - as well as new undershirts - to really pull that black jersey look together.
Hot Cup Joe - April 5, 2008
yeah, I didn't like how they look
of course, it's a matter of taste
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
along with the black hats
they should wear black t-shirts inside of the black jerseys.
sf drift king - April 5, 2008
Not biceps tendonitis
Doesn't sound good:
HigherPie - April 5, 2008
It's not all bad.
Greg Smith may be a worthy replacement if Duke needs to sit for a while. We may have lost Dan Haren in the offseason, but with Smith and Gonzalez (not to mention DiNardo), we have some serious rotation depth.
Hopefully, the offense isn't as bad as it looks so far this year. Other than Suzuki and Crosby, nobody looks like they have much of an idea at the plate, Sweeney's nice night notwithstanding.
jeepers - April 5, 2008
If he goes on the DL, misses 3 starts,
and comes back good as new, it's no big deal at all. You just wonder the odds of that given his history, the ominous nature of a "strain" to the pitching arm, and the damage the A's did allowing him to throw pitches in pain in the 6th inning. I say he's out a month and then we get to watch him as "cringefully" as we watch Harden.
Nico - April 5, 2008
What about Saarloos?
Everybody seems to think that either DiNardo or Smith will get the start that Duchscherer will (presumably) miss...but why not throw Saarloos out there, especially if it is going to be a two-three start thing?
Since Smith looks like he's a part of the organization's future, he should be kept on turn in Sacramento and not jolted up and down to the majors and minors, whereas DiNardo is needed as a long-reliever at this point, especially since Geren seems to be leaning heavily on Foulke-Embree-Street in every game and leaving the bullpen kind of thing on guys that chew innings.
Saarloos can be brought up, given two starts and then when Duke comes back, they can send him back down - if he accepts the assignment that is, which I would if i were him, knowing that there's a good chance that he'd be back up again before long with full knowledge of the A's extensive injury history.
Taj Adib - April 5, 2008
That's not a bad idea...
Saarloos can start a couple of games, no prob.
baseballgirl - April 5, 2008
If Saarloos makes 2-3 capable starts
I suspect that he would not clear waivers. Someone in need of a pitcher will take him on.
Obviously if he pitches like he did last year, there wouldn't be a lot of point to it anyway.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
That would be OK, I guess.
I agree it would be better if it weren't DiNardo, because I think he's pretty valuable out of the pen as a groundball specialist. Teams catch up with his "fastball" after two or three times through. I'm glad Braden isn't being mentioned as a possibility. I hope the A's decide to make him into a reliever, because I think that's the only way he will stick in the bigs.
Smith looks pretty ready to contribute, though. He should be the choice if Duke is going to miss some serious time.
jeepers - April 5, 2008
He's not on the 40-man roster
which is an issue, unless Duke is REALLY hurt and has to go on the 60-day DL (let's hope that's not the case...).
I like the team better with DiNardo as a starter and Braden as a reliever than the other way around, so I guess that's the strategy I'm hoping they take.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
I'm hoping they call up Smith -
He seemed totally ready for the bigs throughout spring training, then picked up where he left off in Sacramento. I see him as having more upside than DiNardo or Braden, in that none of the three has "great stuff" but Smith seems to have a feel for pitching that has sustained him at every level. I think we've seen the best of DiNardo and I have my doubts about Braden - sans screwball, he's kind of a one-trick pony without the trick. Which I'd love to be, 'cause then I'd have a pony.
Nico - April 5, 2008
Actually, I was incorrect
Cutting DJ will create the 40-man roster spot and DLing Duke will create the 25-man roster spot.
So IF Duke has to go on the DL, yeah, I say give Smith the shot. He'll have to be added to the 40-man to protect him from Rule 5 by next offseason anyway.
PaulThomas - April 6, 2008
Agreed - and given the A's health record
along with Smith's pitching, he's going to be called up this year at some point. Howzabout now!
Nico - April 6, 2008
Duke and Street
As for Duchscherer, the injury was exactly what everyone was fearing most. So I have a hard time taking anything positive from this very solid win. We're right back in Harden-mode: crossing our fingers and hoping the injury won't be prolonged while it continues to prolong.
As for Street, I know someone connected with the A's and the truth is that the team just doesn't believe he's a top-line closer. Nothing he's done at the start of the season has changed that, of course. And the penchant for home runs to lefties goes back to last year. Right now he looks like a righty specialist, not a closer.
RLangford - April 5, 2008
there goes his trade value
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
Care to back this statement up with something approaching actual fact (instead of, at best, third-degree hearsay and, at worst, a fabrication)?
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
Probably not - if he knows someone
connected to the A's who reports that the team just doesn't believe Street is a top-line closer, there is no "fact" or "data" to offer other than what he just offered. Which is why the proper reply, IMO, is "Thanks for sharing an inside perspective," not, "You didn't tell me what I wanted to hear and you're a poopy, poopy, poopy-face!!!!!!!!!!" Granted, I'm paraphrasing. Dude, not everyone is sold on Street - it's ok. Some are - it's ok too. RLangford probably didn't comment just to put an unfounded attribution out there; he probably is reporting exactly what someone he knows said - take it for what you want, he's not claiming it as gospel, just as what someone he knows said.
Why am I so snarky? This "everything has to be backed with data" craze is pissing me off - can people also have opinions, observations, ideas, perspectives, intuitions, theories, etc., and have them respected as valid?
Nico - April 5, 2008
On the whole, Nico,
I agree with the main gist of your post here.
But I would add that RLangford could have made your job of defending him much easier if he had written "I know someone connected with the A's and he says that..." rather than "I know someone connected with the A's and the truth is that....
iglew - April 5, 2008
Agreed, iglew - I did notice that and almost mentioned it
But I also wonder, do people have to write so carefully, and edit/re-read, as if they're writing an essay, or can people figure out what they probably meant? I like to think of AN as a real-time conversation, not an essay-writing contest - now let me re-read this comment 8 times to make sure
itsit's justwriteright.Nico - April 5, 2008
Well, think of it this way
Editing and re-reading will probably go down now that previewing is optional.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
I kinda doubt it, actually -
I usually just see preview/post as an annoying double-button. If I'm going to edit, I do it before I press "preview" anyway (or as I'm typing - like just now when I typed "tying" and went back).
Nico - April 5, 2008
I preview as I'm tying
(up new posters in my closet before flailing them with my sarcastic invective).
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
You'd like Jennifer
Nico - April 5, 2008
No, people don't have to write carefully
But people are going to respond to what you do write. And if you accidentally take a tone you didn't mean to take, then you can't blame the next guy for responding to what you said rather than what you meant.
iglew - April 6, 2008
Ah, I mean what you say.
I mean, I see what you mean.
To be precise: I say, you're mean.
Nico - April 6, 2008
poppycock!
That is just unadulterated opinion, not backed up by any fact or data whatsoever!
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
poppycock?
I could swear she was female.
Nico - April 5, 2008
poppycust?
monkeyball - April 5, 2008
I'd put more faith in this
if this wasn't the internet, where people make up whatever they want and then claim to have "inside sources" telling them that it's the truth.
If I had a penny for every time someone invented inside info to win an argument, I'd be a wealthy man.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
Do we need to cue that hoary old Special Olympics graphic?
Not trying to be insensitive in that regard, but it does make a point -- at some point after Debate Club stage, "froth" is overvalued.
The Dogfather - April 5, 2008
Fair enough, but...
RLangford has been around AN a lot longer than you have - you might just bear in mind that there is history - which sometimes translates to credibility - on a blog like this. It's not like Blez posting something, or Eddie Guardado discussing the 9th inning, where it's obviously rubbish.
Nico - April 5, 2008
lol
QOTM
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
Meh
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
Sorry, but this isn't the New York Times
Look, I do know someone and he said this to me before the season. He told me plenty more too. I'd gauge him as reliable, though certainly not infallible. But, yes, this is what a reliable source connected to the A's said, so calm down.
RLangford - April 5, 2008
I've done an exhaustive investigation
through a private detective, and determined that you do not in fact know anyone. Now back to your cave.
Nico - April 5, 2008
OK
Enlighten us with this "plenty more." I'm all ears.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
How about
the persistent lack of a long-term deal, despite repeated intimations from Street and his agent that one is in the offing?
I'm more worried that Street will need Tommy John surgery, because it's clear he doesn't throw as hard as he did when he didn't came up, and elbow injuries tend to be persistent. It reminds me a lot of how Dotel looked before he went down.
I'd trade him in a heartbeat for the right offer, and was hoping the A's might do so in the offseason. It might be too late now.
jeepers - April 5, 2008
Blech.
I guess I'm not benefitting from the new ability to post before previewing.
jeepers - April 5, 2008
Hey, I just now noticed
that preview is no longer mandatory. I suppose we have the noisy complainers at Lookout Landing to thank for that as well?
Wide screen option, suppress avatars option, and now preview-less posts. Is there nothing they can't do?
iglew - April 5, 2008
could they put two spaces after a period...
when that's the way one types it?
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
the two space thing might be html stuff
Let's try something:
a b
a b
Ok, in preview, adding seems to work.
MobiusKlein - April 5, 2008
yes, I'm not an HTML expert...
but, I thought there might be some code, in "styles" or whatever it's called, that could automatically insert two spaces after a period ending a sentence. Because adding after each sentence is too much of a pain.
FoolshGame22 - April 5, 2008
I never understood why one would put two spaces after a period
For one thing, it's more work. For another, it doesn't track handwritten English anyway. I've never WRITTEN with two spaces after a period.
PaulThomas - April 5, 2008
it's a relic from typewriters and old IBM/Windows-based word processors
Starting with Macs, and now with all platforms, word processors will proportionally space between characters. Double-spacing after sentences is unnecessary now.
Age 40 is about the cutoff point for people needing to be retrained to not double-space after sentences. When I'm working with a writer over 40, the first thing I do to their manuscript is shift-applekey-H and change all double-spaces to single spaces. PITA.
monkeyball - April 5, 2008
I still do it
I thought it was just for typesetting, that no double-space was in effect.
hmmm
One won lost won - April 5, 2008
That may be true
But this particular forum is not a good example for your case. Posts are displayed flush left, which means there's no expansion of any space characters (which I assume is what you mean by "proportionally space between characters"). Furthermore, it displays in Arial/Helvetica, which benefits more than most typefaces from the double-space.
There's a long long argument about the pros and cons of double spacing between sentences, but insofar as it has value, it has more value in this particular forum than just about any other.
Monospaced fonts actually require the double-space after a period less than proportional fonts, not more (because the wider period character brings some space with it). Historically, double-spacing after a sentence was for readability. The advent of computer typesetting did not render it less necessary. Rather, it made it problematic, because the early machines couldn't process it. (I used to work on Compugraphic machines where two consecutive spaces would cause an error.) After that people became accustomed to less space between sentences, so the arguments of tradition and aesthetics have turned against it.
iglew - April 6, 2008
You don't?
When I hand-write, I do make the space after a period wider than other spaces. I think most people do. Certainly people have historically. Take a look at pretty much any polished handwritten manuscript -- say, the Declaration of Independence -- and you'll see it.
The old tradition of double-spacing after a sentence on a typewriter was in imitation of standard handwriting practice.
iglew - April 6, 2008
If you're interested
Wikipedia has an excellent discussion of the history of typographic spacing over various technologies. It's impressively thorough, and likely longer than anyone would care to read. (I read most of it, but skipped a few parts.)
If you'd rather just skim, I particularly recommend the sections on readability and style preferences.
iglew - April 6, 2008
Score more runs than their opponent?
Nico - April 5, 2008
If Duke started feeling the arm in the 5th, why ...
... in the bloody farking hell did he start the 6th?
The Dogfather - April 5, 2008
Because the A's want him to be as good as Dan Meyer?
Nico - April 5, 2008
There's another game today
and I'm on my way to the ballpark...catch y'all later...
OaklandSi - April 5, 2008
It's an old news now. I've seen some details before at myinterracialmatch.c o m There also has some hot stars profile with their photoes and blogs.
millersbn - April 7, 2008
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