WasWatching.com Water Cooler Talk 6/7/09
Posted by Steve L. on June 7th, 2009 · Comments (8)
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In the post today, a scout talking about David Ortiz: “He’s a 40-year-old man who can’t play anymore,” one scout who has seen him said. “He’s back to the guy he was eight years ago when you could blow fastballs by him inside.
. . . To extend, he has to cheat [with his swing]. When he cheats, you can get him with off-speed pitches.”
The theories on Ortiz’s descent are plentiful. They range from physical (he never recovered from wrist and knee injuries), to strategic (he misses Manny Ramirez batting behind him), to mental (he’s got no confidence), to visual (he said he plans to get his eyes checked), to pure speculation (he’s older than his stated age of 33 or he’s no longer using steroids).
“The chances of his birth certificate being accurate are zero,” the scout said. “That’s both birth certificates. Remember, he was David Arias [when he played in the minor leagues for] Seattle.”
Sweet.
That really sounds like a scout with an axe to grind. Does he really believe he’s 40, as opposed to 34 or 35, and not 33? The last couple of weeks Ortiz has definitely had some tough luck, hitting the ball on the nose and having nothing to show for it. I’ll say I’m cautiously (very cautiously) optimistic he can pull out of this. (He’s also 6 for his last 21, which is pretty good, considering …. )
Question for my Yankee friends: Beckett has pitched like Beckett V2007 for the last month and Lester is coming off two excellent starts, one of which certainly was at least as impressive as his no-hitter. So Sox fans believe the top of the rotation is rounding into form. Do you say:
A. its much ado about nothing – Lester will succumb to the big jump in innings, and Beckett won’t keep it up. The Sox rotation was never as good as advertised heading into the year.
B. its a little disconcerting. They’ll be very tough if those two perform well.
C. no worries. If the Yanks perform up to par, no team can hang with us, and you’ll see that by September if not before.
Hey, Nick Swisher’s WPA is now 0.21. When’s the post coming up about Nick Swisher helping the Yankees, overall?
OnceIWasAYankeeFan wrote:
He didn’t look great K’ing against Wilson in the 9th today, but Wilson has terrific stuff.
I would say: B. The Sox always worry me. If both Beckett and Lester are at the top of their games, the Sox will be very tough in any short series.
Yeah, I would say B as well. Even when they are not pitching well, those guys are tough pitchers who I expect to give the Yankees a tough game every time out.
AndrewYF wrote:
Didn’t YOU say that WPA was a flawed stat not to be taken seriously?
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Yes, we did. It was, uhhhh, sick. But it got better.
@ Steve Lombardi: Hey, I’m just saying, where’s the post from you saying Swisher is helping the team? It’s a little disingenuous to only post negative things, and then completely ignore the positive things.