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After the disaster which was yesterday, today promises to be a real pitching clinic, with a home starter making his major league debut, against a visiting starter who was diagnosed with cancer last week. Is it entirely wrong to be hoping for the potential rainout? All cynicism aside, I certainly admire Davis's courage, wanting to hang on in there for the team, until Johnson can rejoin the rotation. The wisdom of such a decision, on the other hand, seems to be more questionable, especially in the light of his last pre-season start, which turned into a Home Run Derby for the Rockies.
Don't know much about his opponent today. He's just 22 and only has four games under his belt above the Double-A level, which makes his 3.28 minor-league ERA a little less imposing. Indeed, he has just 69 games there in total, so it seems the Reds are keen to fast-track him to the majors. Welcome to the big leagues, Johnny Cueto. Let's hope our bats give him a warm welcome. And maybe - just maybe - we'll get a home-run with someone on base today?
First pitch is at some abysmal hour like 9:35 am, Arizona time, so don't expect to hear anything of significance from me in the thread. I'm wondering what kind of crowd will show up at the park; they only had 14,000 there last night, a lot less even than we had in 2007 for out second home game (20,547). To make matters worse, rain seems almost certain - the chance is listed at 100% all afternoon - and so a delay or even cancellation seems entirely possible. In the event that's the case, here is Today's comment starter. It may be too early to be talking about replacing Lyon as closer, but when - if at all - should Melvin step in and take action?