Breathing Easier, I Hope--Peter

Well, Jenn, from not blogging for several days due to the dline, to 2x in a day--must be a record of some kind. Today's game is something of the Fenmen that I expected when the season began. JB was on the mound and, at least for the first four innings totally in control. Then came the 5th and I was thinking, "Oh no--Here we go again." Oh, me of little faith. I'm starting to get like Poppa' Julie of twenty years and more ago. But anyway, by now I should know better with these guys. Like I said earlier today, my bad.

After his brief transgression, JB found himself again and hung another zero on the board. Actually, the guy who is inside the board on the Monster did the literal hanging, but you get what I'm saying here. Do you have any opinion why he seems to be somewhat we expect of him, but not quite reliably all there yet? Is it too much spring or trying too hard to cover for the team as it works through its early season disruptions?

One thing seems to be rounding nicely into expected form. It's the reconstructed bullpen. Thanks Theo. This is two days in a row that Oki has thrown shutout ball for his part of the game, and Laserman, Pap to most of the folks out there that we hope are reading this blog, did his thing. No K's but he pretty much shut the O's down and slammed the door. What's a nice added touch was the performance of Saito between Oki and Pap. I mean what's not to like about an inning of shutout ball with a pair of K's? OK, I grant you, he did give up a hit, but he kept rolling and didn't let it disturb his psyche--or his pitching. Bang, Bang, bang--inning over, hand the ball to Pap and get out of the way.

Another nice thing, Jenn, is it appears that Lowell and Papi are starting to get somewhat of a bead on the ball. Papi got two hits today, and even Teddy Ballgame would tell you that you have to be able to get singles with some regularity before you start going yard. Lowell continues to claw his way back and I think that his early month troubles with the stick have been more due to getting used to his repaired hip than anything else. His two hits included his third two bagger of the year. Youk? Youk's Youk--what more can you say--and why bother anyway? It's enough. Dusty always starts slowly, so I'd tell you if you're worrying about him, I wouldn't--at least not for now. If he's not hitting in another couple of weeks, call me and we'll talk--assuming I've got my deadlines handled.