9-9, Game Thoughts

I'm going to watch a hockey game. As such, I don't have time to write. But here's the good news: I don't need to tell you anything. You already know what there is to know. Doug Fister is quietly effective. Franklin Gutierrez is pretty good. US Cellular gives up a lot of weak home runs. It also gives up a lot of legitimate ones. Ken Griffey Jr. is borderline hopeless. Casey Kotchman is winning people over. And last, but not least, David Aardsma is performing in line with our expectations.

Aardsma's missed bats and struggled with command and put balls in the air just like he did last year, when he was terrific. Now, less than three weeks into the 2010 season, he's one Franklin Gutierrez catch away from three homers allowed. This isn't a surprise. This is the hazard of pitching like David Aardsma. He comes with known pluses and known minuses, and the minuses are starting to catch up with him. Anyone who says that this is "unusual," that Aardsma isn't this bad - those people are absolutely right. More often than not, he'll be effective. But his pitching style lends itself to bad games, and when David Aardsma has a bad game, it can get really, really bad.

David Aardsma's a pretty good reliever. He strikes out better than a batter an inning. He's also a reliever who, from time to time, is going to cough up leads in the blink of an eye. He is what he is, and we just have to live with it, just like we always knew we would. They can't all be JJ Putz.

Casey Kotchman turned on a low 95mph heater, and Doug Fister stayed strong. I choose to focus on these positives.

Here's to a dominant Brandon League.