2009-04-03 Brewers (Gallardo) at Dodgers (Billingsley): 9:05 PM CDT [Brewers win, 7-2]

[DHonks]

I figure someone else out there has to be following this online, so I'm starting a thread.

According to Gameday, Gallardo so far has thrown 16 1st inning pitches, 5 for strikes. But in their boundaries of the strike zone, only 3 pitches have missed the zone. Either they're off, or the umpire is off

[Ennder]

If that is true Gallardo needs to adjust to the strike zone. It stinks but that is part of growing as a major league pitcher, adjusting to bad umpires.

[DHonks]

wow, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but in one at bat, Yo somehow got Furcal at the plate and Ethier to hit into a GIDP. So that's 3 outs with one guy up. Nice way to get out of a bases loaded, no outs jam

[hawing]

Ohhh, Cory was just telling the story of that awesome Brewer catch in Dodger Stadium last year...by Gabe Gross. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/embarassed.gif

 

Edit: He corrected himself after the commercial break. Kapler. Gabe Kapler.

[DHonks]

that was a great grab.

 

And now Kendall with a jack! Is that his 3rd this exhibition season? What are the odds he beats that this season?

[hawing]

I believe I heard a smattering of boos over the radio after Jason (the bulldog) launched that blast.

[hawing]

Oooh, Mota's in. Come on, Corey - "baseballs taking flight..."

[GormanHarvey]

That catch by Gabe last year at Dodger Stadium has to be one of the best in Brewers history considering how good the catch itself was combined with the fact the game was on the line

[DHonks]

uh oh Riske is in. Is a 7 run lead safe?

[fondybrewfan]

Riske is going to be a thorn in my side the entire year. He is probably a lock to be the bullpen whipping boy this year who gets booed non stop at Miller Park.

[LouisEly]

While it was a spring training game, it was nice to see Lindsay Gulin and Adam Heether take the field in a major league stadium. A nice touch for two guys who have toiled for a while, neither likely to play in the majors.

 

Also found it interesting that the first reserve OF to get in the game was Logan Schafer. They promoted him last season, then (IIRC) sent him to Hawaii, and now bring him in as the first OF off of the bench in a major league park. I didn't know that Cain and Gillespie were hurt, but I get the feeling that they are really high on Schafer.

[trwi7]

If that is true Gallardo needs to adjust to the strike zone. It stinks but that is part of growing as a major league pitcher, adjusting to bad umpires.

 

I disagree. His pitches were in the zone, by adjusting, he's either going to have his pitches go out of the zone, where there's no chance they're called strikes or throw pitches right down the middle, where they'll get hit.

 

If he's in the zone but on the corners, you would think the hitters would eventually start swinging at them.

 

Edit: I should add the new gameday is great. It has a strike zone so you can see if the pitcher's getting squeezed. There's also a new gameday premium that you have to pay for, but you get hot/cold zones, average pitch speed, release points, pFX.

[GormanHarvey]

I don't care if Spring Training numbers don't really matter - I, for one, don't buy that Riske is going to fail to get hardly anyone out this spring and then all of a sudden start mowing people down come tuesday. And its not like has given up a lot of bloops and flares - they've mostly been doubles and dongs

[LouisEly]

wow, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but in one at bat, Yo somehow got Furcal at the plate and Ethier to hit into a GIDP. So that's 3 outs with one guy up. Nice way to get out of a bases loaded, no outs jam

Gallardo threw one in the dirt that got away from Kendall about 10-15 feet towards first base; Furcal went for home but Kendall was able to get to it and toss to Gallardo covering. Initially no signal from the umpire, so Gallardo quickly realized that the ump thought Furcal missed home so he tagged him out trying to get back to the plate. The biggest thing though is that Manny sat there at first just watching - he never went to second. With the missed tag/touching home, Manny had plenty of time to take second. Then the ground ball that got the DP. Dodger fans, prepare to see the real Manny.

 

One other thing I noticed is that I saw a different approach from the Brewers with two strikes. Both Weeks and Hart were down 0-2 to Billingsley in the first inning, but both of them and the rest of the batters managed to fight off pitches, shorten their swing (great use of hands by Hart to get the single), and work the count, which made Billingsley throw 30 pitches that inning. If both of your first two guys up get to 0-2 in the count but the pitcher ends up throwing 30 pitches that inning, you have done a great job of working that inning and setting the team up for success later in the game.

[sdcheezhd]

I didn't realize until the DP that Manny was still on 1st. It's all about Manny in the stands though.

 

So did the strike zone change starting in the 2d or did Yo get sharper? I didn't have the best angle but I was pretty close and it didn't look to me like Gallardo was getting squeezed in the 1st.

[trwi7]

Strike zone started changing. A lot of the pitches that went for balls in the 1st turned into strikes.