This looks promising.
Magglio Ordonez is 18 for his last 37. Gary Sheffield has hits in 5 of his last six games. Brandon Inge went 3-3 yesterday with a walk-off home run. Placido Polanco and Curtis Granderson are still hitting. What can go wrong?
For a day or two, it might have been Joel Zumaya. After walking four in a row one day and then giving up four runs the next, it looked like he was going to go through a bit of a sophomore jinx. Justin Verlander was basically shelled on Saturday as well.
So, maybe it is the pitching.
Zumaya bounced back on Sunday with 1 1/3 innings of shutout ball. But he doesn't seem like his old self. He's not getting swings and misses like usual, and hitters are fouling off a lot of pitches. He did strike out Torii Hunter on a bouncing curveball, but he walked two because of a large amount of foul balls. He got ahead of both hitters he walked, but he couldn't put them away, and they couldn't put the ball in play.
The latter part of that statement is good, but the former could cause issue. If hitters keep fouling off Zumaya pitches, he is going to throw more and he will not be available for a second inning, or he may require more rest between appearrances. Zumaya needs the strikeout to be overly effective, and he is not getting it as much. His pitches are still in the upper-90s, but he isn't hitting 100 with as much consistency. It's almost as if he is steering the ball into the strike zone, and hitters are late.
Well, they will catch up with him. They're major leaguers, and Zumaya is throwing at about 3% slower of a rate than he used to. He needs the reckless abandon, and he needs to hit the corners to be the go-to-guy in the future. He didn't face any "great" hitters against the Twins, and he will have to get great hitters out.
As for Verlander, every starter has a tough outing. His came sooner which is better than later. Look for him to turn it around next outing, especially because it is in Kansas City.
Bonderman takes the hill tonight, and he will still be looking for his first decision of the year. Hopefully it is on the good side.
