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| Source: tw.appledaily.com |
- This picture was taken last season but it has been a common sight for Brothers' fans this year. Manager Cory Snyder making the walk to the mound for a pitching change. No matter how you slice it, the Brothers' bullpen has been bad through the first six weeks of the season. In the seventh inning of their game against the Monkeys on April 27, this is what happened after starter Nick Additon was taken out of a 3-0 game with the bases loaded: walk, another pitching change, walk, single, and another walk before an inning-ending double-play. BAM, 7-0. The next night, April 28 resulted in four more walks and three more earned runs in two innings and in their rubber match on Sunday, April 29, their most reliable relief pitcher (Cheng Kai-Wen) bit the dust too squandering a 4-2 lead by coughing up consecutive singles, a walk, another single, a throwing error on a bunt, and then finally a walk-off hit. CLUNK, 5-4 loss. I feel for Snyder as there seems to be little he can do. And now his tenure with the Brothers is undoubtedly nearing the end after a 6-20 start. Last week I predicted that he would be fired by May and uh-hum, tomorrow is May 1.
- On the other hand, Brother SP Chen Hu has performed admirably through his first two starts of the year. The 2016 first-round pick has hurled 11 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts and four walks while giving up only three hits. Oh, and he leads the White Team starting pitchers in voting for the All-Star Game. Not too shabby.
- While on the subject of Taiwanese starters, the Lions have a trio of good ones: Chiang Chen-Yen, Shih Tze-Chien, and Hung Hsin-Chi. In their three-game sweep over the Guardians this past weekend, the trio combined for 20 IP, 13 hits, four earned runs, five walks, and 16 punchouts. That's pretty dominant stuff folks.
- Turning our attention to the offensive side, Wang Po-Jung (Monkeys), Chiang Chih-Hsien (Guardians), and Lo Guo-Lung (Lions) each clobbered two home runs in a game this past week. For Wang and Chiang the longballs were number three and four of the year while Lo tallied his second and third of the season.
- Five of Guardians' SP Mike Loree's seven starts have come against the Lions. In those five games, the Lions have teed off on the reigning CPBL Pitcher-of-the-Year eight times, beating him twice along the way (against one win and two no-decisions). They beat him 5-1on Saturday.
- After going 4-1 this past week, the Monkeys continue to sit comfortably atop the standings at 20-6. After setting all kinds of records last year, they can add the record of least amount of games needed to reach 20 wins (26 games). The Lions created some separation in the standings between themselves and the Guardians after sweeping their three-game set. The Brothers remained consistent with their one-win-a-week policy and occupy the cellar at 6-20.
- In the coming week the Brothers will be at home for five games against the Guardians and Lions. If you are a Dragon BallZ fan then be sure to make your way out to Intercontinental Stadium for their weekend promotion when they will don BrotherZ uniforms. The Monkeys will head to Tainan for a couple of games against the Lions before visiting Guardians territory in Xinzhuang for a weekend three-game series.
Very interesting China Trust Brother this week and for baseball. Most(all) of the starting pitchers for the Elephants last 6 innings effectively. Bullpen has been incredibly weak for years and the game breaks open in the later innings.
ReplyDeleteThe thought being, the bullpen should start the game and pitch the first 3-4 innings. (the latter innings considered to be more important) The premier pitchers would then be strong through the 9th inning.
This is not done in baseball.
Yet this week, Zack came in in the 4th inning and today Nick Additon came in in the 3rd inning. They are getting smart!
Peter
Its working well...but they should start the "starter" in the 4th and not the 3rd. They're still using a reliever in the 9th.
ReplyDelete