Tuesday, September 02, 2003
This is kind of eerie. Check out the photo of Robin Yount on the front page (or in the photo archives once it leaves the front page) and then compare to this photo at SI of Corey Koskie:
Robin's long, lost son?
Speaking of eerie and the Twins, I see that Jesse Orosco has surfaced in the Twins bullpen. Rumors of Jim Kaat's imminent signing are just that, so far as I know.
I think it's safe to say that we saw the Pitchers of the Month go over the holiday weekend with Johan Santana's start Saturday against the Rangers and Mark Prior's Labor Day start against the Cards. Santana tweaked his hammy and left after six shutout innings. Prior threw 131 pitches in eight scoreless innings. I hope Dusty doesn't blow out the kid's arm; I see Kerry Wood, part II, coming down Michigan Avenue. Also, an avoidance of Greg Maddux, part II, would be nice -- please don't lowball the guy when contract negotiations come up for Prior, if you would be so kind to do so, Tribune Corp.
Speaking of lowballing, I'm already starting to wonder how the Twins will keep Santana. After a couple of rough outings at the end of July, Santana has been lights out in August. Granted, four of his six starts in the month came against the Tigers and Indians, but 1.20 ERA is 1.20 ERA. If you consider all the pitchers who have pitched against Detroit and Cleveland this month, 1.20 probably is good for an ERA+ of 250 or so, give or take (most likely take) a few dozen. There's no reason to think the kid can't keep it up; he has three good pitches when he's on, and keeps his velocity 100 pitches into a ball game from everything I've seen. Sign him to an extension posthaste if at all possible, before he pitches himself out of your market.
posted by Tom Renbarger 10:15 PM
