Monday, April 03, 2006

Great Start!

I'm sure that most of you somehow managed to either watch or listen to today's opening day 3-1 victory at Kansas City. I listened to the game at work and it was a great start to the season. Here are my thoughts:

Shelton had an awesome start to the season - three hits including a pair of solo homeruns. He also hit the ball hard the fourth time up but was robbed of a hit by Mark Grudzielanek. I am expecting Shelton to be the best hitter on the team this year and today's performance did nothing to dampen my confidence. I don't think he'll be batting sixth for long. Carlos Guillen, who might be the biggest key to a significant Tiger improvement this year, helped ease concerns about his health by belting a homerun for the Tigers third run of the game. He only hit 5 homeruns all last year so this was good to see.

The pitching was excellent. Many of us are concerned about Kenny Rogers' advancing age but he got off to a good start today pitching 6 strong innings. I was even more pleased with the bullpen. Joel Zumaya was put into a key spot in his first major league game and pitched two shutout innings. He reportedly was throwing between 97-99 MPH consistently and had good control. I can hardly wait to watch him pitch on TV later in the week. Finally, Fernando Rodney, who struggled as a closer last year, pitched a perfect ninth to get the save.

It was only one game and it was only the Royals but it was still a very satisfying start to the season. Jeremy Bonderman, another big key to a successful season, pitches the second game on Wednesday against the Royals.

1 comment:

  1. Lee, watching Zumaya pitch today was really somthing. It was really great watching him work himself out of that jam he created in the 7th. He didn't let the emotions of his first big league appearance scare him at all. I also enjoyed as he walked back to the dugout after the 7th trying to look as mean as he could,but, when he hit those dugout steps he craked a little smile as he prob realized what a moment he just had--

    Like you said it was only the Royals today,but, I loved what I saw-

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