Pitching Breakdown

Honolulu kept their string alive by crushing New Jersey 9-2 yesterday. Jered Weaver improved to 4-1 on the year. The first overall selection in this year's draft also has a 2.30 ERA (4th), 45 Ks (tied for 3rd) and 8.6 R/9 (1st). Weaver is not only justifying his lofty draft status, but is also making a case for the Listach Award. Honolulu will next face the struggling Mudcats today in Carolina.

Two pitchers went down yesterday. The first was a crushing blow for the Marietta Mighty Men. Rookie starter Francisco Liriano - he of the hot spring and great start to the season - will be lost for most of this month. Marietta will replace him with Gil Meche, formerly of Vancouver. That's not the only rotation turnover in Marietta though. The Mighty Men have given up on their home/away platoon and have tossed both Brett Tomko and Mark Hendrickson overboard. They will be replaced by Jeff Suppan.

The other pitcher lost to injury was New Jersey's Jake Westbrook. Westbrook had pitched in only his second game since returning from a prior injury before succumbing to his latest ailment. Westbrook will once again be replaced by Livan Hernandez, who was awful in his brief tryout before (0-2, 11.20 ERA). Westbrook will miss around two weeks.

By the way, did you see Jason Jennings breathe a huge sigh of relief when he realized that he wasn't facing the Sugar Bears this week? In fact Jennings pitched 7.1 innings against South Boston without allowing any runs and lowering his ERA to a still high, but at least single digit, 9.37.

Sugar Bears stymied (finally!)

Well, it finally happened, the Sugar Bears lost their first game and were held in check by Hillsborough rookie Justin Verlander. Verlander only surrendered two earned runs (3 total) in six innings and struck out five. This was Newark's first game against a formidable right-handed foe - yesterday Josh Beckett matchup didn't count).

Philly's Johan Santana had the best pitching line of the season so far. Santana pitched a complete game shutout of Las Vegas, surrendering only four hits, no walks and striking out 14 Rats. Santana improved to 2-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 1.13. Philly extended their undefeated record to 6-0.

Joining Philly in the ranks of the undefeated, Arkansas also got a good performance from veteran ace Roger Clemens. Clemens pitched eight innings against Sardine City, striking out eight and surrendering only two runs on four hits.

South Boston broke out of the winless column and edged the Sharks 5-4 behind Chris Carpenter's strong outing. The Gang got a big lift from struggling Vladimir Guerrero, who went 2-4 with a homer and four RBIs.

The first part of Marietta's Great Pitching Platoon Experiment was a dud yesterday as starter Mark Hendrickson was pounded by the Bushslappers. "It's only one game" said Hendrickson after he was pulled in the sixth inning. "Stupid Tomko is already talking shit." Brett Tomko is the other member of the home/away platoon.

Platooning Pitchers?

Marietta is experimenting with a pitching platoon today. Brett Tomko will start home games for Marietta and Mark Hendrickson starts the road games in the fifth spot in the rotation. Will it work? Has it been done before? Well there hasn't been any home/road platoon, but Vancouver tried a lefty/righty platoon a few years ago with mixed results. It's only spring training and there are teams that are using 6-man rotations and changing up their starters at will, so this is the time to experiment. It's hard to pull off a pitching platoon though because most teams lack the depth in pitching to successfully execute this plan. Whether Tomko/Hendrickson qualify as "depth" time will tell.

D.C. is actively shopping outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Soriano, now on his third team, is a great example of a hyped player that has not lived up to his name. Soriano burst onto the scene in 2002 with Stanhope as a second baseman. Last year, despite a .219 average, may have been his best year - 33 HRs and 82 RBIs. Soriano suffers from a low OBP (.272 career) and needs to learn some plate discipline before living up to his name. He's been working closely with hitting coach Howard Johnson and HoJo seems to think that this is Soriano's year. "I've been able to share some of the secrets that made me an OBP success in the Majors!" said HoJo.