I'm at work every Sunday, so there is no access to today's game, though I'm recording the game to watch later. Still, it is very clear that Kirk Rueter is getting pounded by AAAA hitters at this very moment, unless he has already been knocked out of the game. Note I am not following the game, but just guessing. Well, it isn't exactly guessing, but it isn't exactly using a NASA mainframe and forecasting model either. If Rueter is actually pitching a good game, I will apologize on the site and work an eight-hour day with a smooshed Mallomar in each of my shoes. There is but little fear in my heart.
Yesterday, Jason Schmidt labored to go through five innings, and the Giants couldn't hit in Colorado. If we all had it to do over again, most of us would rather have watched a leaked VHS copy of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman's wedding night. Schmidt's missing velocity is starting to produce some weird chirps from the WorryTron 3000, though open weeping is definitely not called for at this point. The "changeup" is still getting swingthroughs, so it isn't like he's unarmed out there. It is the start of the season, and there is always room for a pitcher to warm up, stretch out, and hit his peak velocity. Like, for example, by his fourth start. Please.
It will be interesting what happens when the Giants get Moises Alou and Barry Bonds back. If the improvement by Edgardo Alfonzo is for real, and if Ray Durham is suddenly not the worst second baseman in the league, the Giants should score. The starting pitching relies a whole bunch on Schmidt being Schmidt, as does the already beleaguered bullpen. The radar guns going the way of Foppert is little more than a curiosity right now, but absolutely can't portend anything worse if the Giants want to keep above .500.
Thoughts on Encyclopedia Brown's Case of the Missing Five MPH? Do we need Sally Kimball to start knocking some teeth in for answers?