Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
March 30, 2007
Pavano's #1

My Baseball Bias writes about Torre naming Carl Pavano his opening day starter.

The way I see it, Pavano has a few things going for him...adrenaline and the Devil Rays. The D-Rays are a very impatient hitting ball club. When you combine that with Pavano's fastball, which will no doubt have a little extra zip on it because he's starting at Yankee Stadium on opening day, I think this start sets-up very favorably for him.

I wonder what Mike Mussina thinks about this? Mussina's negative comments about Carl earlier this spring might have given Pavano the push he needed. However, this seems to be more luck of the draw than anything else. Pavano pitched poorly this spring, striking out five while walking eight in 18 1/3 innings. He kept the ball in the park, however. If there's that many balls in play against the Yankees defense, Pavano's going to need to induce a lot of double plays.

It's also an all or nothing performance for Carl. If he pitches well, the newspaper get to go with the redemption story, and all's right with the world. If he stinks, we'll hear how Pavano has no guts, heart and determination, and that will follow him for the rest of the season.


Posted by David Pinto at 12:50 PM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

I remember as a kid, I could only throw a 76 mph fastball. Then my friend gave me some dirt from Yankee stadium to put in my pocket, and suddenly my fastball was up to 94.

Posted by: JC at March 30, 2007 02:28 PM

Will he be booed at the start of the game? Or will they wait to see if he blows up? I'm hoping they boo.

Posted by: Dan at March 30, 2007 04:34 PM

And I love the UPROAR regarding Pavano starting - as if it makes good sense to rearrange your staff so Mussina can start opening day. 1 of 162...

Posted by: Coco Laboy at March 30, 2007 04:44 PM

While it may not have made sense for the Yankees to rearrange the late-spring-training schedule of an old pitcher, Opening Day is not just another day. Throughout baseball history, teams have used their ace on Opening Day. And whether it means anything or not, you often hear pitchers talk about the honor of being the opening-day starter.

On a practical level, it doesn't mean that Pavano is the Yanks' second-best starter, but it is a rather stunning reflection of the lack of depth on their pitching staff.

Posted by: jvwalt at March 31, 2007 08:08 AM
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