Houston 6 - Arizona 4, but…
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Sometimes you learn something good in adversity. Edgar Gonzalez did not have his stuff yesterday. He lasted only 2.2 innings, giving up 6 earned runs on 8 hits. But the guy who came in to get the last out of the second was a revelation. Max Scherzer, Arizona’s first pick in the 2006 draft, then faced and retired 12 more batters with electric stuff. Thirteen up and thirteen down. Diamondbacks are not triskaidecaphobes! (People who fear the number 13).
Geoff Blum of the Astros later said he was glad Scherzer didn’t start the game. That will be the Phillies problem as Bob Melvin has announced that Scherzer will start on Monday. Of course, we have to see how Max shakes out in the longer run. He’s a guy with whip-like arm speed and a blazing fastball. As long as he’s on, opposing hitters ought to be in trouble, at least his first time around the league. But like many a young fireballer before him, Scherzer has to make the transition from thrower to pitcher.
I am old school enough to wonder about these guys who get up to the bigs in a huge hurry, especially if they are pitchers. And especially in Scherzer’s case. He took 11 months to sign after the draft and pitched in an independent league to stay in shape. But once in the minors, he was advanced rapidly, as it is Diamondbacks’ policy to keep prospects challenged. We saw the same with Justin Upton; as soon as he proved he could hit in A ball, he was moved to AA. When injuries struck the big club, he was called up, at age 19, had a great October, and although you still see where he’s green in places, there’s no looking back.
It is too early to tell if it will be that way with Scherzer, but he is going to get the chance. And if the Diamondbacks keep hitting as they have this April, he will have the run support to make a go of it.
So while no loss is good, it helps to get some good news out of one.
ByrnesBlogger1
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Posted by ByrnesBlogger1
Kellia Ramares is a freelance journalist, poet and baseball blogger from Oakland, CA. Kellia writes (and does some audio work) about baseball, especially the Arizona Diamondbacks, on her blog, Down The Left Field Line: Life, Baseball & Eric Byrnes. (http://byrnesblog.azsportshub.com), under the name ByrnesBlogger1. She expects to expand her sports journalism from baseball fandom to stories on social issues in a sports context in a website she is building in the fourth quarter of 2007 to be an annex to the "Byrnesblog".
Contact: ByrnesBlogger1[at]azsportshub.com
http://byrnesblog.azsportshub.com
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