Kranitz on Koji
Pitching coach Rick Kranitz was very pleased with the performance of Koji Uehara, especially in the context of a spring that hasn't produced a lot of good news about the starting rotation.
"That's huge,'' he said. "We're counting on him to go out there every fifth day. It was a big boost for everybody."
Kranitz, who has been working with Uehara on a new changeup, saw just about everything he wanted to see during a solid 3 2/3-inning performance that kept Koji on track for the first week of the regular season.
"He threw the ball really well,'' Kranitz said. "I thought early he was just kind of testing his leg. As he went along, he felt better and got comfortable. He threw a couple of changeups and the split, which had something to do with the strikeouts."
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Comments
Peter, do you think that Uehara will cause a lot of hitters problems his first time through the league? Do you think Alfredo Simon has done enough for a rotation spot? I do, he's the only candidate that has stepped up.
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Pete's reply: I've already written a couple of times that I think Koji will be good the first time through.
Posted by: Luke | March 24, 2009 8:31 PM