Thursday, May 14, 2009

The boys are tired, Guillen is Guillen, Aviles is done for now

Ron Mahay has finally thrown three strikes in a row after going one for nine out of the bullpen. This feels familiar. Folks who live in towns like Kansas City know this drill.

Well, sure, this is easy to understand. They boys traveled back to Kansas City late last night. Got to bed late. They're tired. They've lost their concentration.

Can you believe an announcer just opined on such silliness? As the gold glove second baseman sitting beside him in the booth said, you have to cinch up your belt, go out and get the job done. If the manager makes the too tired excuse between tonight and tomorrow night, the fans will know where such an attitude originates and why it persists.

What is much harder to take is the play of Jose Guillen. He's either injured (again) and needs to sit or he's caught the lazies awfully early in the season. That dropped fly in Texas, followed by his inability to score from first on a double to the wall, then another misplayed or unplayed short pop tonight before the bullpen blew up, make it all too painfully clear he is a liability in the lineup and on the field.

The big question about this team is whether it has the character to pinch off a skid and get going again. We'll see.

Aviles just struck out with the bases jammed. The way he turned around and dropped the bat told the whole story of where he's at right now. Needs a breather. Batting him ninth took all the air out of his sails.

--Lofflin

1 comment:

  1. It's been pretty tough to watch this week, that's for sure. Hopefully they have the grit to turn things around. Maybe Zack can shake them out of their slump Friday night.

    You're on the money about Aviles. I've always been a bit of a Guillen apologist - he was arguably the best hitter on the team last year - but yeah, if he's hurt, he should sit.

    It's a long season. Hopefully it won't feel like this the rest of the summer.

    --Matt Kelsey

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