Iwamura 3B Ichiro CF Crawford LF Beltre 3B Pena 1B Guillen RF Upton CF Ibanez DH Young RF Johjima C Harris 2B Vidro 1B Gomes DH Betancourt SS Navarro C Jones LF Wilson SS Ballgame 2B ---------- ----------
Kazmir (12-8, 3.65)
Horacio Ramirez and Jeff Weaver over their last seven combined starts: 26.2 innings, 34 runs, 62 baserunners, 12 strikeouts
(The team has gone 1-6 in these starts despite scoring an average of five runs a game.)
Jorge Campillo, Ryan Feierabend, and RRS over the same amount of time: 19.1 innings, 7 runs, 25 baserunners, 19 strikeouts
Yeah, it's just relief, and yeah, all three of these guys have problems of their own that basically leave them as replacement-level starters in the here-and-now, but replacement level is light years ahead of what we've been getting for most of the summer. That a change still hasn't been made to this day by a team that likes to think it's a serious contender just absolutely boggles the mind. When we look back on this season and wonder why we fell short, the staggering loyalty to underachieving veterans is going to be right at the top of the list. Yeah, young players get managers fired. But bad older players lose games. Somebody, please, learn a lesson.