April 25, 2007
Good Start, Poor Finish
After a great first inning, Randy Johnson struggled in his first outing of the season.
There were lots of swings and misses from Padres hitters. There was good shape, good movement on Johnson's pitches. There was good velocity, his fastball registering at 93 mph about 10 times, 94 a few times and 96 once, on a 3-0 pitch to Adrian Gonzalez in the fifth.
But there also were some mistakes. Johnson walked four batters (two intentional) and hit two batters. He seemed to tire in the fifth. He fell behind too many hitters and left too many pitches up in the strike zone, and he paid for it, particularly during a four-run fifth inning.
"Early on, his mechanics were good, he was repeating his delivery, and he was reasonably sharp," manager Bob Melvin said. "I just think he hit a wall in the fifth. Endurance-wise, he needs to get out a little further, but I didn't think he threw the ball badly at all."
He ended up allowing six runs in five innings and the Diamondbacks lost 10-5.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:03 AM
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I hope with a little more time he can get enough stamina to pitch 6-7 innings, but if not Randy could always try being a closer, and probably dominate in that role until age 50 or maybe even beyond.