Mazzone = Baloney
Thanks for the invite, guys. First post here.
When I heard that Leo Mazzone had been hired in the offseason as Baltimore's pitching coach, I thought, "Man, the O's are going to be unstoppable this year! Of course I have thought that for the past few years, and Frank and Jim think that every year, and are wrong every year, but maybe this is the year!"
Why did I think that this one man would pull Baltimore out of their traditional 4th place finish and lead them into contention for the pennant? The past successes of Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, even dudes like Kent Mercker speak for themselves. Mazzone's pitchers have dominated the last decade. He turned a young, inconsistent staff into future hall-of-famers, and helped coach his team to more consecutive division titles than should be allowed. So, imagine what Mazzone will do with young talent such as Bedard, Cabrera, and Penn? Plus with Ponson gone, Benson added, and Lopez and Chen back from decent years, the O's staff was looking good this April. The O's even picked up another good catcher who knows how to call a game.
But not anymore. The team has the second-worst ERA in the league, and are once again stuck in 4th place behind the usual Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. Their "ace" from last year is a rosy 2-7, Chen is 0-5, Cabrera averages 1 walk per inning, etc. The starters are averaging one quality start every three games, and only one has an ERA below 5.00.
I know Mazzone probably just needs more time. And maybe the pitchers aren't used to their new catcher. Who knows. I'm outside of the day-to-day Orioles loop but from afar it doesn't really look good. So maybe some of you Marylanders can chime in and let me know what is going on?
In the meantime all this talk of baloney is making me hungry so I'm going to eat a ham sandwich.
When I heard that Leo Mazzone had been hired in the offseason as Baltimore's pitching coach, I thought, "Man, the O's are going to be unstoppable this year! Of course I have thought that for the past few years, and Frank and Jim think that every year, and are wrong every year, but maybe this is the year!"
Why did I think that this one man would pull Baltimore out of their traditional 4th place finish and lead them into contention for the pennant? The past successes of Glavine, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, even dudes like Kent Mercker speak for themselves. Mazzone's pitchers have dominated the last decade. He turned a young, inconsistent staff into future hall-of-famers, and helped coach his team to more consecutive division titles than should be allowed. So, imagine what Mazzone will do with young talent such as Bedard, Cabrera, and Penn? Plus with Ponson gone, Benson added, and Lopez and Chen back from decent years, the O's staff was looking good this April. The O's even picked up another good catcher who knows how to call a game.
But not anymore. The team has the second-worst ERA in the league, and are once again stuck in 4th place behind the usual Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays. Their "ace" from last year is a rosy 2-7, Chen is 0-5, Cabrera averages 1 walk per inning, etc. The starters are averaging one quality start every three games, and only one has an ERA below 5.00.
I know Mazzone probably just needs more time. And maybe the pitchers aren't used to their new catcher. Who knows. I'm outside of the day-to-day Orioles loop but from afar it doesn't really look good. So maybe some of you Marylanders can chime in and let me know what is going on?
In the meantime all this talk of baloney is making me hungry so I'm going to eat a ham sandwich.
posted by Eric at 5:16 PM
4 Comments:
Welcome aboard Eric.
Now even Perlozzo said it would take a while for the Mazzone Effect to kick in. He said it would kick in around June. So, let's see. Rodrigo has won two in a row. And umm ... Chris Ray is great ... and umm Cabrera hasn't lost in a couple weeks ... because he's disabled and all... but don't give up hope yet! The O's shall rise again!!
Thanks Aaron.
I do hope the Mazzone effect kicks in sooner rather than later. I guess if he's tweaking deliveries and pitching motions its bound to take awhile for the pitchers to get comfortable.
It also takes some time to tweak his mustache properly. Once he does that, then he can focus on the pitchers.
I think Mazzone should have started making the pitchers better from the start. Why should he wait until June? What sense does that make? That's like wasting 2 good months.
Also, I think Perlozzo has got his work cut out for him now. Its really hard to win when your pitching is a giant, flaming bowl of dinosaur crap.
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