Highlights from Sunday’s St. Louis Cardinals minor league spring training games in Florida.
I have not enjoyed being wrong this spring any more than today. On my schedule, Saturday was the last day of spring play for St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguers before they headed to their initial 2010 regular season assignments. Turns out that only Springfield had a Sunday morning flight out, so the other four clubs once again hit the fields in Jupiter, Florida for intrasquad action.
So, consider this unexpected bonus coverage!
Cardinals director of minor league operations John Vuch shares game highlights as he has all along. The raw data is his, with the comments mine.
Once the regular season begins, check out our daily Cardinals Major League and Minor League Notebooks at TheCardinalNation.com, each returning for the new year.
Team summary: As an equalizer, teams “generally” faced their own pitchers in the Memphis-Palm Beach game, but Memphis still won. I am not sure what to make of that. The extended spring training club spanked young Shelby Miller and Quad Cities. I surely don’t know what to make of that, either.
Combined records: The Cardinals records on the day were 2-2 once again. Final (I think) spring totals are 31-37-8 (.456) overall and 19-25-4 (.432) versus external competition.
My Pitcher of the Day: Quad Cities’ Jesse Simpson collected seven outs, five of them on strikeouts. He did not allow a hit in his 2 1/3 innings.
My Hitter of the Day: Shane Robinson of Memphis (pictured) had two triples, a single and three RBI. No word if he played in centerfield or second base or perhaps both.
Monday’s schedule: Players will be boarding planes for Memphis and Quad Cities for open house, meet the fans and similar events early in the week. The Cardinal Nation subscribers can access the most recent working rosters on the main site, but be aware they will not be final until Thursday.
Memphis (5-9-3) defeated Palm Beach (8-8-1), 6-3 (pitchers generally faced their own club)
Memphis Pitching
Rich Hill – 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K’s – Does the gaudy strikeout total obscure the walks?
Scott McGregor – 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K’s – A strong outing.
Kevin Thomas – 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 K
Memphis Hitting
Shane Robinson – 3-for-4 with two triples and 3 RBIs – Player of the Day. Despite good speed, Robinson has just ten career triples in 1,159 regular-season at-bats.
Tyler Greene – 3-for-4 with a solo HR – Good to see Tyler hitting again. He batted just .194 in major league camp earlier.
Luis DeLaCruz – doubled, walked, scored twice and had an RBI – Memphis’ catcher for a day is listed on the Palm Beach working roster.
Mark Shorey – singled, walked and scored a run – Multiple mentions this week for career .287 hitter with a lifetime .799 OPS.
Amaury Cazana – singled and scored a run – Will he stay with Memphis? Passport problem has him there to start season.
Daniel Descalso – singled and walked
“Palm Beach” Pitching
Adam Ottavino – 4.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K’s – Hmmm. Only allowed the same total of three earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in major league camp earlier.
Brandon Dickson – 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB – Solid outing.
Tyler Norrick – 1 IP, 1 H
Matt Scherer – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER
Josh Kinney – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K – May be coming around.
Palm Beach Hitting
Rich Racobaldo – 2-for-3
Tommy Pham – 1-for-2 with a walk and RBI – Doing so well this spring that getting on base twice seems like a bad day…
Jermaine Curtis and Xavier Scruggs – each doubled and scored a run
Alex Castellanos – singled and walked
Jose Martinez – RBI double and walked – May need to earn back a starting job after missing 2009.
Extended Spring Training (formerly QC2) (4-4-1) defeated Quad Cities (6-10), 3-0 (pitchers from various clubs)
Quad Cities Pitching
Shelby Miller – 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K’s – See specifics in the hitters report below.
Jesse Simpson – 2.1 IP, 0 H, 5 K’s – The top pitching performance of the day.
Kyle Heim – one perfect inning
Michael Thompson – 1 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 K’s
David Carpenter – one perfect inning with 2 K’s – Very nice outing for QCs closer last year.
Quad Cities Hitting
Jason Stidham – tripled – Had two three-base hits in 211 at-bats during his debut last year.
Luis Mateo, Ivan Castro and D’Marcus Ingram – each singled for QC’s only other hits
EST Pitching
Deryk Hooker – 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K’s – Should not be part of the group left behind in Jupiter.
Scott Schneider – three perfect innings with 1 K – Could easily be the pitching line of the day. Sorry, Scott!
Ramon Delgado – one perfect inning with a K
Matt Frevert – 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB
Joel Pichardo – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K’s
EST Hitting
Three run rally off Shelby Miller in the second inning – Roberto DeLaCruz singled, Romulo Ruiz RBI double, C.J. Beatty RBI double, Ted Obregon RBI single
Ross Smith – singled in his only AB
Follow me on Twitter.
Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook.
For The Cardinal Nation subscribers, the first of a two-part series is up with top hitting performances from minor league camp. Not surprisingly, Tommy Pham leads the way…
“I respect everybody over there. I respect [manager Dusty Baker]. I respect [general manager Walt Jocketty], of course, and everybody that runs this organization. They’ve got quality people over there that run it. It’s just something that needs to be brought up. The fact is that ultimately their guys that pitch with them all the time might be used to it. But the worst thing that could happen is, you come in here and you’re throwing cue balls up there and something gets away and one of their guys get hurt.”
I do love the way he ended this statement……………….. a true statesman…………. Nikita Khrushchev couldn’t have done better………….. or Vito Corleone for that matter. Carp for secretary of defense.
Lots of opinions floating about these days concerning the Bull Pen. The answer of course is that any weakness hasn’t been proven yet ………… The real question is, has the appearance of weakness already become a tactical consideration?
Last year when Wolf opened for the Dodgers, it became apparent that Torre was very aware of the gambit he was offering. The strength in his position was based on his believe that his Pen was where he wanted to be anyway, especially with the odd playoff scheduling with its added rest periods. I would say it worked as he intended.
Yesterdays game presents an interesting glimpse into strategy. Carp had a very elevated pitch count. Poor control? or just a good team strategy to get into and expose a weak bull pen? Will Waino be forced to be overly aggressive in an attempt to challenge a patient team with the same intention?…….in a band box park? Is Harrang their best pitcher? or just an attempt to save their arms for games 2 and 3, avoiding an Ace who isn’t going to give you much anyway?
The bottom line, is our pen likely to give “high ground” strategic ideas to all teams? Patients is the superior approach. The rest of this series is likely to reveal allot about our first month.
A down side is the injury risk to our starters who will begin to martyr themselves into the +100 pitches zone. Again………………… this all goes away with a few weeks of solid performances. Will they happen??????????
Westy, I’d guess you saw this story today.
CBSSports.com wire reports
NEW YORK — Baseball players may file a collusion grievance charging owners with conspiring against free agents last winter.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/13165977/apnewsbreak-baseball-players-mull-grievance?tag=pageRow;pageContainer
I’ve written quite a bit about that. Its become very complicated recently. There will likely be a settlement without a hearing. Barry Bonds is likely to get some of that money interestingly enough.
More interesting news is the Strauss article. That it is apparently assumed that the locals except their explanation concerning a correlation between revenue and payroll is a complete mystery. Boras went after them, and rightfully so about their numbers. This was the softest market in a long time and we are still short handed. BD is staying on his targets. He is good if you aren’t aware of that.
I wonder if the trend will continue with amateur signing bonuses. With the Cardinals having four early picks, there could be an impact.
It’s easy for BD to hit his targets if they are moving as much as you suggest. In the off season you said his payroll target was in the low 80′s. Now we are in the mid 90′s + over $8 million we are sending to Baltimore. Or maybe you have no idea what his targets are?
The MLB amateur draft has been in place, holding down signing bonuses, since 1965. If the Players Union could overturn the draft, by itself, the US draft would have disappeared decades ago.
The Union can talk all it wants about collusion, but prevailing economic conditions matter, so in keeping with tough times, teams generally want to lower costs. The USA is running a $1T annual government deficit. This is unsustainable. There will be a double dip recession or inflation or something not nice. Its only a matter of time.
MLB teams are entertainment businesses. Economists call demand for sports “inelastic” (or inessential), during a recession. Teams have reasons to be cut back on spending and are doing so. Its not collusion owing to greed, just a surprising outbreak of common-sense.
With differed money being held in accounts in banks owned by partners……….. they’re in the 80′s.
The internet makes us all seem like we’re so close………and yet some of us are very far away. The commissioner has to obey the rules and the laws like everyone else. He does have many discretionary powers though. You don’t think Boras is going to have his dogs contributing to the Union investigation? …………………………… Ask Brian, who is in good standing with the Cardinals, to go after that information. Hell, we’ll pound on Selig’s door with freedom of information requests. We will attack using Bostons many rouge journalists. We’ll……….. not worry about it. Brian knows which Fox’s to chase, and this ain’t one of them………….
Three players to Oakland and 1.5 cash coming home even though A’s had to add .5 to the O. Cabrera deal to bail any of his salary to the Twins. Cabrera is hitting in the 400′s in July….we need infield depth??????????/ and most importantly, no matter what the truth is………..we want Lugo to be happy!!!!!!!! Oh yea. Lugo is in the Dominican, reviled by Boston fans………no one would touch him………… days until free agency………. Chris Duncan headed to AAA under the guiding hand of a dotting father……….. Ok Boston, if you take Chris, that makes us look better…….and look, we know your hurting on this Lugo give away so let us give you a little something. We can get you some cash next year……..would that help? WE REALLY NEED LUGO, right this minute!!
Who cares at this point……………… we have the salary room now to sign Pulols and be around 100 mill a year…………. not good for Salary hopefuls like a future Colby. Ludwick will surely depart to make room for the escalating pitching contracts etc, etc;
Whether Selig is involved here to aid Oakland………to fulfill agreements with the Cards and or Boston…………..who really cares……………….. if you have MLB on line be sure to watch the Cubs and Atlanta first inning………………. Zambrano melt down. XXXXXXXXiting.
The Sox got fed up with Lugo and wanted to boot him, even though they would waste millions. The Cards only got Lugo because Boston was so desparate to get rid of him.
Not even Jumbo…………………….
These are the hindsight variables now apparent;
The Chris Duncan issue was not time sensitive…………. why was it treated so?
The Lugo trade was very time sensitive to the Boston as he is a free agent in three days. He likely signs with a contender for the minimum after his release is complete, Cardinals likely win that competition with no obligation, no competition. Why was this trade, when there were superior options undertaken?
The Holiday acquisition was time sensitive……… to Oakland. If he goes by the trade deadline, he is a free agent juggernaut with Scott Boras at the wheel. Oakland is then bleeding even further with the Fremont move in full push. Did the Comish have a plan to head this off?
There is mystery money here……… my first speculations, while wonderfully predictive, aren’t the only possibilities. Since we aren’t likely to know the mystery number, why isn’t it public record? Who will it embarrass? What does it reveal? Why the time sensitivity?
If BD doesn’t need money for the subsequent Holiday transaction…………… does he need something from Boston before he starts shepherding the free agent juggernaut? Is this a collusion with Selig at the wheel? Has Boston been given some encouragement by St. Louis to stay out of the Holiday derby that ended with so many question marks?……. Before they committed to the Selig bailout of Oakland?
I don’t know the answers to these question……………… don’t really care. Is the Union looking? Maybe? Do interesting people around the country read this blog? Maybe?
Westie cant even come up with credible conspiracy theories anymore.
Deferred money held in banks owned by Cardinal partners? Who cares? They still have to put and tie up their money there. If you take the Lugo cash add in the $4 million we have to pay Rolen and they are still doling out $100 million + — so much for the plan.
Lugo was time sensitive to Boston? They could have given a rats butt — they are out the money either way.
Duncan was time sensitive to STL. They needed to get rid of him before
Holliday got here and so that the hurt feelings could be mended before the playoffs. If anything we owed Boston a favor after this one not the other way around.
I’m sure getting Wallace really saved the Freemont stadium deal for Oakland. HOw do you come up with this stuff?
Come on Westie, you are slipping. you can do better than this cant you? or can you?
Billie Beane had a poor team last year. Beane is a Showman competing with the Giants in the Bay marketplace. He scored headlines by trading for Holliday, then he scored headlines getting three players for Holliday. Headlines are important.
The Sox were frantic to dump Lugo. This fit well with the Cards, who were eager to get rid of Chris. It was a match. Simple stuff. Nothing to do with foreign banks. Westie, you might study Occam’s Razor (sp?).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam‘s_razor
Your attempt to even read what I’m saying places you squarely in the Dope category Brazilian. You failed to grasp any of the points. But it wasn’t for you any way. Don’t bother me. You and Jumbo talk this out.
The messenger is an inept communicator so he blames the listeners (readers). Very enlightened of you Westie.
I never was very good at interpreting drivel.
You are a noise dweeb Brazilian. Enjoy this.
“”Deferred money held in banks owned by Cardinal partners? Who cares? They still have to put and tie up their money there. If you take the Lugo cash add in the $4 million we have to pay Rolen and they are still doling out $100 million + — so much for the plan. “”
Complete crap. There are two bankers on the Cardinal owners list. Small banks. Privately held. Each 2 million dollar differed account draws interest on a ten year plan……..well over a million a crack. You don’t think BD can borrow against that very favorably? Dope…. Rolen money would not count against the luxury tax. It isn’t on anyone else’s payroll estimations save yours.
“Lugo was time sensitive to Boston? They could have given a rats butt — they are out the money either way.”
He was a free agent in three days………..dope………..they apparently got something for him, over a million to warrant Selig’s necessary approval. The number is suppressed by both teams and the commissioner….A point of interest?……The Union is looking at that…Dope.
::Duncan was time sensitive to STL. They needed to get rid of him before
Holliday got here and so that the hurt feelings could be mended before the playoffs. If anything we owed Boston a favor after this one not the other way around. “”
Total BS……… Dave Duncan’s major beef had to do with trading Chris for a guy that was terminal anyway. He was trying to get Chris on the injured reserve at the time. The comment about owing Boston a favor I agree with………but at the time, it was very inflammatory….as it was meant to be…..Boston added two other first baseman in those days before the deadline….Cardinals were not even in first place at the time if I recall … Dope
“”I’m sure getting Wallace really saved the Freemont stadium deal for Oakland. HOw do you come up with this stuff?”"”
Wallace is all the A’s could get. No one was going to touch Holiday for obvious reasons. This all happened before the Housing Crisis and the Toyota plant closing in Fremont. Selig was very involved in that effort………….. The real point being……no owner wanted to see Boras with Holiday at full strength in the FA market. BD had plans for Holiday, Selig had concerns, and it might appear that being reassured of no competition in the FA market was what really happened here. They made no offers to Holiday before the final one……….. Boston offered a limp wrist to Holiday as they did for Bay……….avoiding the appearance of any collisions by them………Dope
Your now on the bench for the rest of the season. Released is a better word. I apologize to the rest of the group for having to do this. Don’t join him Jumbo……..study the thread. I know others are.
Westie, its good to mellow out, man. There are multiple ways of reading tea leaves.
About the Cards having partners who are affiliated with banks……If this is true, which I do not know, its still not an important issue. The Cards are a significant business, grossing more than $200MM per year. There are lots of banks around, too many, IMO. Any significantly sized business can get loans, even if no banker were to own shares in the Cards.
You are a noise dweeb Brazilian. Enjoy this.
“”Deferred money held in banks owned by Cardinal partners? Who cares? They still have to put and tie up their money there. If you take the Lugo cash add in the $4 million we have to pay Rolen and they are still doling out $100 million + — so much for the plan. “”
Complete crap. There are two bankers on the Cardinal owners list. Small banks. Privately held. Each 2 million dollar differed account draws interest on a ten year plan……..well over a million a crack. You don’t think BD can borrow against that very favorably? Dope…. Rolen money would not count against the luxury tax. It isn’t on anyone else’s payroll estimations save yours
** Luxury tax – are you nuts? (no need to respond we know the answer). The luxury tax isn’t a factor for us, Toronto, or Cinci. It is cash flow though and some idiot on this board told me it was all about the cash flow. Shame on me for listening. **
“Lugo was time sensitive to Boston? They could have given a rats butt — they are out the money either way.”
He was a free agent in three days………..dope………..they apparently got something for him, over a million to warrant Selig’s necessary approval. The number is suppressed by both treams and the commissioner….A point of interest?……The Union is looking at that…Dope.
** Selig’s approval needed for the trade? Ever occur to you that it could have been because there was several million dollars coming our way to pay Lugo’s salary? Duh! If you can show me evidence that we sent Boston more than a million then dinners on me next time I’m on the coast. Could be it wasn’t reported because the amount was so trivial no one cared. **
::Duncan was time sensitive to STL. They needed to get rid of him before
Holliday got here and so that the hurt feelings could be mended before the playoffs. If anything we owed Boston a favor after this one not the other way around. “”
Total BS……… Dave Duncan’s major beef had to do with trading Chris for a guy that was terminal anyway. He was trying to get Chris on the injured reserve at the time. The comment about owing Boston a favor I agree with………but at the time, it was very inflammatory….as it was meant to be…..Boston added two other first baseman in those days before the deadline….Cardinals were not even in first place at the time if I recall … Dope
** No, Duncan’s beef was he wasn’t advised along with the trade itself. He claimed chris was hurt when defending him after the trade. And yes, we were in first place (not that that has anything to do with the issue). I guess some people’s memory’s aren’t what they used to be. **
“”I’m sure getting Wallace really saved the Freemont stadium deal for Oakland. HOw do you come up with this stuff?”””
Wallace is all the A’s could get. No one was going to touch Holiday for obvious reasons. This all happened before the Housing Crisis and the Toyota plant closing in Fremont. Selig was very involved in that effort………….. The real point being……no owner wanted to see Boras with Holiday at full strength in the FA market. BD had plans for Holiday, Selig had concerns, and it might appear that being reassured of no competition in the FA market was what really happened here. They made no offers to Holiday before the final one……….. Boston offered a limp wrist to Holiday as they did for Bay……….avoiding the appearance of any collisions by them………Dope
** what this BS has to do with how trading Holliday for Wallace helped in any deal for a Freemont stadium deal is beyond me. Holliday being in STL wouldn’t make it any easier to collude except in your fantasy world. (again, nothing to do with the freemont stadium deal) **
Your now on the bench for the rest of the season. Released is a better word. I apologize to the rest of the group for having to do this. Don’t join him Jumbo……..study the thread. I know others are.
** benched and released by someone who would make Cubs management look like geniuses would be a compliment actually. Too bad you are not as powerful as you think.
Keep looking for the strawberries Westie, I’m sure you’ll find them eventually **
Jumbo, I have a strong feeling those leaves Westie reads aren’t from tea..
Intense CC, I’ve got a buzz from all the “DOPE’s”.
Perhaps there are varieties of tea leaves that are hallucinogenic?
Carioca, you recently opined that Westie’s obscure views may contain interesting nuggets of value. This was a bold opinion and you are to be congratulated for such courage!
If you encourage and invite his writings, then it may be fair not to be too critical about all elements within them. While prospecting for the hidden nuggets of value, it would seem fair to look beyond the effective camouflage of less persuasive views.
You may have a point jumbo. However even though I consider Jumbo a wise soul, when his optimism gets the best of him and he goes too far in his defense of those who dont need defending i feel a need to get out a fan and blow the smoke away (so that his wisdom can shine through again). It is much the same when Westie piles it so high and deep the nuggets can no longer be seen and the stench wouldn’t allow you to look for them anyway I feel it necessary to let him know how much what he is saying requires the holding of ones nose.
Westie can sometimes be sincere and hence get frustrated, in which case its good to back off and let him have room to be himself.
He is skeptical of MLB, Bud, DeWitt, banks, Hal McRae. He sometimes overinterprets and sometimes is impatient given the long season. He is too willing to trade Pujols and think other bold thoughts, some unsound. But Westie seems to buy some tickets and is a paying customer.
Also this web site has so far stayed away from feeling the need for a “community.” This is useful, because it encourages more diversity and freshness of views, a healthy thing. Westie is unusual. Out here in eastern Montana, we do not have a lot of shamen quite like him.
I do consider this a community of Cardinals followers, though a dysfunctional one at times…
Westie has a valid point about the Duncan trade. Daddy Dunc seemed mad Chris was traded for a guy, Lugo, who was DFA’d. He took that as disrespect.
Since then, Boston has released Chris and then Chris did not make the Nats out of spring training. By now Daddy may have mellowed by realizing the Cards could not go any longer with Chris.
So far as I can tell I haven’t been benched yet or traded to another bolg, so I’ll just state my opinion that CC is not a Brazilian. He is, or was, there (I recall he said he was in northern Brazil a while back) and maybe lives there.
As far as today’s game, when you lose 2-1 your pitching wasn’t a problem. That being said, Motte doesn’t seem to have learned anything about pitching or improved his skills since this time last year. Maybe Ottovino should keep a bag packed.
Internet second-guessers very critical of Motte for throwing six consecutive fastballs to Gomes. Is that what LaRue called or did Motte shake off a 10-year veteran catcher? (I wasn’t watching that closely.) Not saying Motte isn’t ultimately responsible, but I wonder. If no one has enough confidence in his other pitches, why is he on the mound in the ninth in a tie game, throwing nothing but fastballs to a dead fastball hitter?
If Gomes had missed the 6th fastball, as might easily have happenned, Motte could be a hero rather than goat.
Motte will not become a trustworthy success until he can add an off-speed pitch. I am more hopeful about Boggs, a starter in the minors with breaking pitches to augment a good fastball.
Not that complicated Brian. Tony knows where Franklin is head. He is looking for another go to guy. There was also the specter of extra innings. Motte would have went 2 innings. I believe he is much more concerned with Milwaukee. The Rotation change and then its reversal may have been an attempt to bait the Brewers into a counter move, keeping Carp off of their number 5. As it is, Brewers just skipped 5 and Garcia now gets Gallardo…….Carp vs Wolf.
I saw many problems brewing at the plate today. You know who leads the way. Lohse will need 5 to win tomorrow……………………… Felt sorry for Craig. Not a good match up for his style, and he was just looking for base knocks. Ryan has to be brought under control. He is way over swing for his role……………………… I see how Tony is going to use Lopez now. Good luck.
DD probably had a say in deciding to move Perez rather than Motte so Motte will get more chances to prove it right than he deserves. Deveoping pitches and getting better control are not quick fixes which is what is needed. Motte said he was trying to go down and away. Why not just put it on a tee. None of the 6 fastballs was on the inside part of the plate (except the one that slipped and went way high). He needs to work both sides of the plate. If #5 had been 96 mph and inside by a couple inches, Gomes wouldn’t have been sitting on #6. Nothing is worse than a hard thrower who’s a wuss. He should be forced to shave the Bruce Sutter beard.
Penny looks great in the stirrups. Love Aroyo’s leg kick, reminds me of Nelson Briles.
Word BB…………….. Motte needed to get allot done. Didn’t…………. DD complains under his breath to Bernie………..careful not to break the non interference detente that they’re enjoying.
We all said early on how important it was to keep Penny’s innings in check…..not a good day for that consideration……… I hope for a win tomorrow. Unless Lohse has an active reinforcement from the offense, that is unlikely. I watched the Brewers a couple times…………don’t like it. Colorado has a good team. If we don’t jump on they’re pitching, we could lose all three. They are going to score runs.
The guy who had a say in moving Chris Perez was Mike Schipiro, GM of the Indians. He had a lot of leverage over the Cards in negotiations and used it. Perez has had some control difficulties, but also has a potentially plus slider. Two plus pitches are why Perez went high in the draft.
I had forgotten about Perez having a slider. (not a very good endorsement for the slider).
Last year on this blog it was put forward that Motte’s short arm motion doesn’t lend itself to throwing different kinds of pitches. I think someone came up with examples of short arm pitchers that did have a couple good pitches. Since Motte seems unchanged from last year, we could probably cut and past that discussion here. If anything, his motion is even more of a pronounced short arm now, if that’s possible.
He could be devastating if batters didn’t know what was coming. I wonder if taking a couple mph off the fastball would let it have more movement. Let’s see some DD magic happen here.
Perez is 2 for 2 in save opportunities for the Indians. He has had a plus slider; maybe he is gaining control. DD may be hoping to mold Boggs into the next Perez.
gomes looked horrible on breaking pitches this series. shame motte didn’t attempt to throw one, regardless of it’s effectiveness. i’m left wondering if gomes could have done anything with a weak breaking ball after 5 fastballs.