The ball finds you

Phil Gurnee ♦ May 25, 2017 ♦ Leave a comment

Chris Taylor made his first ever start in CF last night and on the second pitch, Fowler hit a deep drive to straight away CF that seemed destined for a leadoff double or triple, but Chris Taylor tracked it down and leaped at the wall to snare the out leading Joe Davis to exclaim “The ball finds you”. Indeed it did, but Chris Taylor was up to the task looking like he had played CF for more than one pitch.

That was the highlight of the game. Rich Hill looked like the guy I saw in spring training in 2016 when he made a start for the A’s against the Dodgers and walked the bases loaded in the first inning. He never got out of the first inning in that start, but last night he managed to limit the damage to two runs until the 5th when his walks and Cody Bellinger’s error put the game out of reach and ended an erratic start by Hill.

History will show I was never a fan of the three-year deal for the 37-year-old journeyman, and so far it has been a bumpy ride in the first year of the deal.

If anyone can be critical of the front office it would have to start with how they have spent money on multi-year deals for oft-injured starting pitching.  This front office is full of smart people and they have made wonderful below the radar trades but their free agent signings for the rotation are another manner.

McCarthy / Kazmir / Hill

We will look into that in further detail later, but for now, Rich Hill is not helping the resume.