My personal opinion is that Bruce Zimmerman pitched to a valiant effort this afternoon in Miami. He joined the ranks of pitchers not going deep into games, however that doesn’t seem to bother manger Brandon Hyde as much as it bothers me. However that seems to be the direction in which the game’s going. Especially with seven-inning doubleheaders being introduced. Zimmerman’s line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K.
And if anything, I believe that Zimmerman could have probably stayed in the game for longer. But again, the game’s not going in that direction right now. Unless of course you have an epic-type starting pitcher. Which the Orioles don’t.
This was a strange week in a sense for the Orioles. Every team will have a week or two like this, but it all feels very unnatural. Off day Monday, game one of a series Tuesday night, game two (the finale) of the series Wednesday afternoon, and then off again Thursday. Obviously the silver lining for the O’s is that they’re now heading home. And following an afternoon game, they’ll be home fairly “early,” and enjoy a day off tomorrow at home.
Miami struck against Zimmerman in the last of the fifth with a two-RBI double by Aguilar. Duvall would add an RBI-single later in the inning, giving Miami a 3-0 lead. Which turned into a 3-0 win.
I’m not trying to say that Zimmerman or any of the relievers used this afternoon didn’t pitch well. This was a very well-pitched game by the Birds. However I think the goal should be for starters to go deeper into games. Now that’s obviously not AS important to Brandon Hyde, and that’s okay. I’m old school. He’s not. Again, that’s okay.
And the fact is that the Birds didn’t surrender any more runs aside from those three. When I make the distinction between old school and new school thinking on this subject, the new way would say that the goal is to win the game, not to have a starter go deep into the game. And that’s true. But if your starters aren’t conditioned to go deep into games, that further taxes your bullpen.
I suppose there’s no right or wrong way. I just feel that the goal should be for the starter to be in there as long as he’s able, otherwise every game may as well be a bullpen game. End of the day, the O’s completed a 3-2 road trip, which isn’t too shabby. Now they head home to take on the Oakland A’s over the weekend – one of the hottest teams in baseball.
Birdland Crush 