O's/Rays in the rear view
Manager Dave Trembley admits to being impressed with the development of Adam Jones as a power threat, but he insists that he's not surprised to see Jones driving the ball with confidence and authority.
"His power numbers are coming a lot quicker than we expected,'' Trembley said, "but I'm not surprised with the talent that he has...He's got a pretty good ceiling."
Jones isn't surprised either. He says the key is having a short stroke and being quick to the ball.
"I'm just not missing them,'' he said. "I'm not trying to do too much. My head's clear."
He was asked after the game whether he's ever felt more confident at the plate than he does right now.
"I'm confident every single day,'' he answered, "but the results are on my side right now."
Closer George Sherrill credits the help of pitching coach Rick Kranitz for helping him regain some of the edge he had during the first half of last season.
"The adjustments Kranny has made have really paid off,'' he said. "You don't like to see your job threatened. I just wanted to see what the problem was."
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Comments
It's games like today that remind me I can be a bit of a reactionary at times. I was calling for Bass and Sherrill's head a short time ago and now both seem to have hit there stride. Sherrill looks so much more crisp with his pitches, it's an amazing difference really. I hope he can maintain it.
Figures with the bullpen (I'm gonna choose to forget about Sunday) and the bottom 3 in the order breaking out of their respective funks, that Roberts would start slumping at the top of the lineup. Like Sherrill he doesn't look the same at all, but in a bad way.
If everyone can just hold it together (especially the starting pitching), when Wieters and Reimold come up things may get very interesting. I'm not predicting a bunch of wins just yet but maybe we can pull out a few more than 40% and look better doing it.
Posted by: djph | May 13, 2009 5:34 AM
Mechanics can really kill pitches before they are even thrown; I am glad Sherrill seems to have put things back together. Especially early on, dead arm leads to faulty mechanics and causes pitchers to overthrow which is what I was thinking was wrong with Guthrie in his first few stats. I dont think Guthrie is back to where he normally is but he is really close.
Posted by: terps19 | May 13, 2009 11:29 AM
I'm still calling for Sherrill's head.
I like the guy and his competitive attitude...but no matter how many saves he racks up, I still don't think he has the makeup for the closer role.
That being said, Ray and Johnson haven't shown anything better, so there's no reason to go to them.
Posted by: Christopher Mills | May 13, 2009 12:02 PM
Did anyone else notice the slide step that Georgie used to strike out Carlos Pena last night? That was brilliant -- reminiscent of Guthrie's hesitation step that he put in last year. Totally froze Pena on a 90 MPH meatball at the heart of the plate. And honestly, I'm a little stunned that Palmer didn't mention it.
As the great Sandy Koufax once said, "Hitting is timing. Pitching is interrupting timing."
Posted by: MGM | May 13, 2009 12:48 PM