JPNese 8/3

The Barons had a decent homestand this time around, taking 3 out of 5 from Chattanooga.  Don’t get too thrilled though, Chattanooga had only one good pitcher and that was game 5 starter Rubby De La Rosa.  The Barons are now up to 37 big wins, but are at 70 losses, which guarantees a sub .500 record for the year.  Which of course was a certainty anyway.  They should be able to manage at least 4 wins out of their remaining 33 games to avoid losing 100 games for the season.  The most disappointing and odd thing about the 2010 Barons is the fact that, excluding Brent Morel, Buck Coats and Fernando Cortez, there has been no everyday player with a .300 batting average all season.  Jim Gallagher leads the team with a .289 average and an .814 OPS.  Ouch.  Obviously, he leads the team in hits and is second in homeruns and RBI.  He is the only Barons player with over a 100 hits with 112.  Christian Marrero is a distant second with 95.  Talk about depressing.  I’ve never been so eager for a season to end.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              I did manage to see Kyle Bellamy this time around, third time’s a charm.  While I wasn’t wowed, he did pitch well and has interesting stuff.  His fastball was sitting at 88 and touching 89.  I don’t think I saw him throw a slider or any sinkers, splitters or cuts.  But, he did mix in a nice curveball with a compact break.  The curveball was sitting at 72 MPH.  He also pitches from the stretch, as most relievers do.  He didn’t seem to have any control issues.  In fact, he looked as if he had very good control.  No apparent wildness at all.  I’m curious to see if he’s pushed to AAA before the end of the season.  The White Sox don’t seem to be rushing him too much, but considering the style of pitcher he is and with Chris Sale being pushed quickly, Bellamy could benefit from a promotion.

I thought I suffered an aneurysm the other night when I saw C.J. Retherford swing wildly at a ball low and 4 feet off the plate.  I don’t know what’s happened to him.  He was so fundamentally sound and made such good contact last season and even before that.  Sometimes I wonder if he’s been replaced by a pod person.  I find it hard to believe I’m watching the same guy, it’s night and day from 2009 to 2010.  Jeff Buchanan, please show me some number that explains his awful season!  I just don’t understand or can figure out what’s wrong with Retherford.

All in all, it was a fairly boring homestand.  Even though they scored 15 runs in the game last Friday night.  That was enough of a cushion for Kyle McCulloch to get the win.  Three homestands left, 17 games to go until my long nightmare ends.  If it tells you anything, I scheduled elective surgery during the next homestand that will cause me to miss 2 or 3 games.  That’s how bad it’s gotten.  I’d rather have surgery than watch the Barons.  Until next time, with painkillers…

Cheers,
          JPN