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Friday, February 13, 2009

Pre P&C Report Question of the Day 3

I guess this is the last one of these, since pitchers and catchers report tomorrow.

Anyway, are you comfortable with Joel Hanrahan as the closer?
If so, why?
If not, why and what do you see as the alternative?

The Moneyball book made some good points about closers. I'm not as hung up on having a "proven" one as I used to be. I'm OK with Hanrahan. If he can consistently throw that 97 mph job that moves, he can be as good as anybody. Big if, I know. As was discussed in Ball Four: Sandy Koufax used to get 'em out with letter high fastballs. Great advice if you can throw a letter high fastball like Sandy Koufax. I'd be a fine pitching coach, eh? Sure, Joel, just go out there and toss that 97 mph thing for strikes.

I'm geared up. I need this to be a good spring and a good season. Life was going along swimmingly, even as the Nats season turned sour. Then my dog died and everything turned to hell. It's basically stayed that way, with a few blips of good here and there. I need to get good and stay good and a good baseball team would go a long way toward that. Sad commentary, I suppose. But true.

So the pressure is on you, Joel. My sanity depends on your 97 mph gas.

4 comments:

Kevin Reiss said...

You think the starting pitching is good enough for it to make a difference who pitches in the 9th?

MikeHarris said...

I think it can be, yes.

An Briosca Mor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

My feeling is that these Nat's aren't going to make you happy all the time, but there will be more highlights than last year, and therefore, more fun to be had in watching a game. As for Joel, I reckon you'll get the same as above. Some great days, some where you just turn off, take a deep breathe and play with the dohgs.