Sunday, April 12, 2009

Hell Freezes Over

For one night, Livan Hernandez made a monkey out of me.

I have no insight to share, no analysis to offer. Somehow, and without any explanation that I can conjure up, Livan Hernandez found a way to dominate a major league baseball lineup. Good for him. One turn through the rotation and the best start came from the Mets' fifth starter - baseball is a funny game sometimes.

In other news, Luis Castillo had a break-out night, with four hits in four official at-bats. Why do you bat Luis Castillo eighth? Here's why:

New York - Top of Third
- L Castillo singled to center.
- L Hernandez sacrificed to pitcher, L Castillo to second.

New York - Top of Fifth
-
L Castillo singled to left.
- L Hernandez sacrificed to pitcher, L Castillo to second.

New York - Top of Sixth
- L Castillo singled to right center, R Church scored.
-
L Hernandez sacrificed to pitcher, L Castillo to second.

Livan Hernandez happens to be a good hitting pitcher, but that only means he sports a career line of .233/.241/.313. You don't want pitchers to have to bat for themselves whenever possible. If you can get a #8 hitter who will get on base, but will rarely get beyond first base on his own, you have the option of making the pitcher's at-bat useful for something more than a laugh.

1 comment:

TW said...

Simply put, Livan is doing what he does every season:Start strong.

It didn't hurt to get his first start on a perfect baseball evening in Miami, where his arm could stay loose. Hernandez has the ability to get people out with nasty stuff on occasion, he has a good lineup and defense around him, was there really ever wonder?

As for Castillo, he is performing exactly the way we need him too. Hopefully this just isn't flurry due to a homecoming of sorts.