Don't Panic
Ok, I'm writing this in the second inning, and Matt Garza has not exactly been the messiah that many fans seem to have been expecting him to be. Marty and I agreed, however, that Garza was not going to step in and dominate, and hopefully anyone who did think so can get over their disappointment quickly and focus on the positives. Here they are:
1.) Garza's got a great fastball that he seems to be able to locate well and throw at a variety of speeds. Tonight, he wasn't throwing his other pitches effectively, and so the Blue Jays were able to key off on that fastball. But all indications are that Garza won't have such problems every time out there, and tonight it was probably related to anxiety. So be content with the realization that he has a heck of a repertoire, and certainly appears to be the real deal.
2.) Mental makeup. From the interviews and the way he handled himself on the mound, even after getting knocked around a bit, it certainly appears that Garza isn't going to let a bad start get him down. He'll be fine, and he'll be champing at the bit next time out to demonstrate exactly what he's able to do.
3.) Fan reaction. It was incredible to see how the fans reacted to his first career strikeout, and the ovation that he received before even throwing a pitch. Garza is already a star, despite what happened tonight, and Twins fans have embraced him fully.
4.) He'll still be around in 5 days. Unlike poor Mike Smith, who had a bad first start as a Twin and was immediately sent back to AAA, Garza is with the team to stay. He'll get another shot in 5 days or so to prove that he belongs, and then 5 days after that, and so on and so forth. That's good news for the Twins, because by the end of the season he's going to be a solid rookie starter. Not the messiah, mind you, but a solid rookie starter.
So try to enjoy the rest of tonight's game, and root for the Twins to make a solid comeback tonight to win the game. But even if they don't...it's just one game.
1.) Garza's got a great fastball that he seems to be able to locate well and throw at a variety of speeds. Tonight, he wasn't throwing his other pitches effectively, and so the Blue Jays were able to key off on that fastball. But all indications are that Garza won't have such problems every time out there, and tonight it was probably related to anxiety. So be content with the realization that he has a heck of a repertoire, and certainly appears to be the real deal.
2.) Mental makeup. From the interviews and the way he handled himself on the mound, even after getting knocked around a bit, it certainly appears that Garza isn't going to let a bad start get him down. He'll be fine, and he'll be champing at the bit next time out to demonstrate exactly what he's able to do.
3.) Fan reaction. It was incredible to see how the fans reacted to his first career strikeout, and the ovation that he received before even throwing a pitch. Garza is already a star, despite what happened tonight, and Twins fans have embraced him fully.
4.) He'll still be around in 5 days. Unlike poor Mike Smith, who had a bad first start as a Twin and was immediately sent back to AAA, Garza is with the team to stay. He'll get another shot in 5 days or so to prove that he belongs, and then 5 days after that, and so on and so forth. That's good news for the Twins, because by the end of the season he's going to be a solid rookie starter. Not the messiah, mind you, but a solid rookie starter.
So try to enjoy the rest of tonight's game, and root for the Twins to make a solid comeback tonight to win the game. But even if they don't...it's just one game.
posted by JST @ Friday, August 11, 2006
2 Comments:
At Sun Aug 13, 11:44:00 PM ,
Marty said...
I was really hoping we'd be proved wrong when Garza started pitching. Oh well, what was really great was how Bert Blyleven was describing how he felt in his first start at the majors. The description Bert gave seemed to describe and explain the symptoms Garza showed. The big question is, can Garza turn himself into a mentally prepared (not mentally mature) major league pitcher by...thursday?
At Mon Aug 14, 12:05:00 AM ,
JST said...
I think the answer is yes. I'm not saying he's going to be great on Thursday, or that he's going to blow everybody away. But the nerves should be vastly reduced, and hopefully we'll get to see him throwing his curve and slider for strikes. If so, he's going to be great. A quality start would be a fantastic improvement. The best sign that he's mentally where he needs to be was his willingness to come back to the dugout after he showered. As Bert said, that's a great sign. This kid has the mental makeup, he has the physical stuff, he has the charisma. Now he just needs to get over the nerves (arguably part of the mental makeup, but I think they're separate categories). We're in for a treat watching him for the rest of the season.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home