Halsey gets the #5 spot in the rotation while Gosling will be working out of the bullpen - this in turn suggests that Oscar Villarreal will likely be consigned to Tucson until he gets his act together, along with the other killer V, Jose Valverde. In the end, there was very little to choose between the two contenders:
Gosling 22.1 IP, 26 H, 9 BB, 10 K
Halsey 22.0 IP, 27 H, 8 BB, 10 K
Flip a coin there, I'd say. Just as with the catcher's spot, Melvin has kinda sidled round the decision laterally. Not certain Gosling will be best served by sitting in the pen, but it does solve the problem of having Choate, underwhelming this spring, as the only lefty. Though I somehow can't see Gosling coming in to face one hitter - the leap there from starting would seem too much of a shock to the psyche.
Our turn yesterday to post a six-spot in the first innings and kick the starter out - in this case, Tim Wakefield - before the frame is over. Three hits for Cintron, and Gonzo went 3-for-3 for the second straight game, to finish with a spring average of .316. That's a heck of a turnaround, given he started training off 6-for-30 - since then, he's hit 12-for-27. Perhaps he'll be the new Finley, super-streaky.
Webb took the win, settling down after a wobbly first innings, to go six, with six hits and two walks. Choate allowed two hits and a run, but Aquino and Koplove threw perfect frames. Despite mutterings about Lyon being the closer, after his spectacular performance in March, I think Aquino is more likely to be the go-to guy, at least initially.
The Final Heroes and Zeroes
Batting (min 35 AB)
Glaus .421 (24-for-57), 6 HR, 30 RBI Hairston .410 (16-for-39), 1 HR, 8 RBI Cruz .390 (23-for-59), 3 HR, 11 RBI Cintron .382 (21-for-55), 2 HR, 9 RBI Tracy .321 (18-for 56), 2 HR, 12 RBI --------------------------------------- Clayton .254 (15-for-59), 0 HR, 3 RBI McCr'ken .250 (12-for-48), 0 HR, 5 RBI Green .238 (15-for-63), 1 HR, 8 RBI
Pitching (min 10 IP)
[Apologies for the formatting; there's something randomly odd about the way the blogware deals with supposedly pre-formatted text!]
Lyon 0.75 12.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K Bruney 2.70 10.0 IP, 11 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 12 K Gosling 3.22 22.1 IP, 26 H, 8 ER, 9 BB, 10 K --------------------------------------- Koplove 7.20 10.0 IP, 13 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 7 K Ortiz 7.95 16.2 IP, 24 H, 15 ER, 10 BB, 7 K Vill'al 12.79 12.2 IP, 21 H, 18 ER, 8 BB, 3 KTop ten things we learned this spring
1. Troy Glaus can hit.
2. No, really hit.
3. And Royce Clayton can't.
4. Our bullpen is shaky.
5. Signing Russ Ortiz to a long-term contract may have been a mistake.
6. Unsigned veterans are usually unsigned for a reason.
7. We might get something useful out of the Schilling trade yet.
8. Scott Hairston can play the outfield.
9. Walks will likely kill us this year
10. Spring training is a significant reason for living in Arizona.
Hey, I didn't say they weren't things we didn't know already. ;-)