February 18, 2006
No Magic for the Dominicans
Ervin Santana opted out of the World Baseball Classic. This leaves the Dominican team in a bit of a bind:
Santana's withdrawal could create issues for the Dominicans, who have a scary lineup but little starting pitching. Bartolo Colon and Pedro Martinez are waffling because of physical issues, meaning Daniel Cabrera or Jose Lima could become the team's No.1 starter.
If you like high scoring games, the Dominicans are going to be the team to watch in this tournament. If they move the games to Coors Field, we might see 40 runs a game. :-)
Posted by David Pinto at
11:43 AM
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I haven't really thought of it but the Dominican pitching staff needs a little help. Somehow I can already see Lima pumping his fists on the mound in a Domincan Republic uniform...
Despite the early hype the USA has to be the odds on favorite to win the WBC. We don't have the lineup that the DR has but we have starting pitching along with a heavy emphasize on relief pitching.
That said it really is anyone's game. The format of the WBC could very well produce the DR and/or USA getting knocked out early in the semi-finals. A scenario which would discredit the WBC greatly.
Well, this points to the whole problem with the WBC.
Players can play and play, and sure there's a percentage chance of injury everytime they go out, but barring that, nothing's lost. But pitchers feel, and their teams feel this even moreso, that there may be only a certain number of bullets in the gun - or pitches in the arm - and do they really want to spend them there?
As long as the season remains as long as it does, the WBC will be too difficult to play.
Let's hope a trial season brings about new ideas and some solutions to the players having to back out.
If the WBC really takes off, does anyone else hope that the season returns to 154 games?
