TDA Bullpen - Our Writers' Blog

Sunday, August 01, 2004

Opportunity Costs

I had to make the choice between watching Greg Maddux go for career win 300 on the tube or attending the Pedro Martinez-Johan Santana matchup at the Metrodome. I opted to watch Maddux, so I had to settle for flipping between channels to keep track of both games. This might be the first time in my life I've genuinely regretted not having TiVo.

Maddux was decent after the first. He gave up a couple of solo shots to Jimmy Rollins and Bobby Abreu in the first. The Cubs have to be mighty happy that Abreu is leaving town, because he just killed the Cubs this series. He had 2 dingers and 5 RBI in the first game, and then the game-winning homer in yesterday's game. Sammy Sosa and Aramis Ramirez tied the game in the second with back-to-back homers with no outs. The Cubs' bats came back to life one inning too late, as Maddux was lifted after 6 trailing 3-2 before the Cubs hung a four spot in the bottom of the 7th against Randy Wolf and two relievers, a rally capped by new Cub Nomar Garciaparra's RBI single. Kyle Farnsworth made things real interesting in the 8th by loading the bases with no one out. Farnsworth got a strikeout before being lifted, and then Mike Remlinger cleaned up the mess by getting the last two outs, leaving the bases juiced. More on Farnsworth later. LaTroy Hawkins then made things interesting in the 9th by bringing the tying run to the plate before shutting the door, no doubt in homage to Lee Smith, who sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" in the middle of the 7th.

The Twins-Red Sox was pretty good, too. Martinez and Santana traded strikeouts all day -- Pedro had 11 in 7 innings and Santana fanned 12 in 8. Santana had yet another 3-or-fewer-hits start, giving up just two solo homeruns, one each to new Red Sox SS Orlando Cabrera and Manny Ramirez. If there's one knock against Santana, it's that he's prone to the long ball. He's given up 22 in 23 starts (152.1 IP), which maybe is a little on the high side, but he's still got a 3.30 ERA in spite of that.

Pedro left with a 3-2 lead. After Santana got K's #11 and 12 in the top of the 8th, the Twins scraped together a two-run rally in their half of the 8th. Cristian Guzman and Lew Ford led off with singles, and then they pulled off a daring double steal with lefty rookie Justin Morneau at the plate. Morneau then flashed some warning track power for a game-tying sac fly, and when the relay to the infield was kicked by Cabrera, Ford dashed home for the game-winner. Joe Nathan hit Mark Bellhorn to lead off the 9th, but then whiffed Cabrera and got Ramirez to hit into a game-ending 4-6-3 for hist 30th save in 31 chances.

And this last point leads us back to Farnsworth. This guy has been the Cubs' closer of the future for a few years now. He has supremely nasty stuff -- upper 90's fastball (occasionally breaking into triple digits) and a low-to-mid-80s slider, but somehow that only translates to an ERA just over 3 and a slot as the setup man -- when the regular setup man has to close due to injury. Shouldn't Farnsworth's ERA be about half what it is given the stuff he has? He's basically a slightly harder throwing version of Joe Nathan (who seems to top out somewhere around 97-98 mph), and yet it's Nathan who has turned into the closest thing to a guarantee this side of Eric Gagne while Farnsworth is a victim of his own potential. It just seems like the sort of situation where Farnsworth will eventually become a 40-save guy for another team, sort of like the way Lou Brock blossomed after the Cubs traded him in the '60s. Only time will tell, I suppose.

posted by Tom Renbarger 2:30 PM