Not to steal Mike’s thunder or anything, but I’m listening to Joba’s start on the radio today, so I thought I’d jump in with some updates.
We’re currently in the bottom of the first — Brett Gardner started things off with a triple. In the top, Joba notched three strikeouts and hit a batter. I’ll keep it updated as the innings go by.
What I noticed in the second inning: Joba was behind nearly every batter. But he used his off-speed and breaking stuff when down in the count for strikes. Another two strikeouts and a weak flyout. So out of seven batters faced, he has one flyout, one hit batter, and five strikeouts.
No strikeouts in the third, but Joba still put down all three in order (two flyouts and a groundout). I gotta say, I really like most minor league play-by-play guys. Why can’t they do it like this in the majors? This guy talks about the game 100% of the time. I know what’s going on; I can almost picture the game in my head. This is in stark contrast to John Sterling, who talks about himself and ignores the game most of the time.
Joba leads off the fourth by hitting a batter — the same batter he hit in the first. And he walked the next guy on four pitches. He really hasn’t done a good a good job of throwing first-pitch strikes today. I suspect that’s something that will keep him in AA for a while if it doesn’t improve. He followed up by striking out Chris Coste on a 2-2 pitch, though there were at least three two-strike foul balls during the at bat. A long fly ball out allow the runner from second to advance to third. D’oh. Line-drive base hit on a hung slider for an RBI. Wow. The inning ends on a loooooooooooong fly ball (right in front of the 407 sign).
The fifth inning opens with a double (hanging curve). Not a good sign for Joba. However, he’s thrown first-pitch strikes to the first two batters. Groundout to second gives the Phillies a runner on third and one out. Let’s see how/if Joba works out of this. And he gets a strikeout (another first pitch strike). Nice work, Joba. Another deep fly ends it after a long at bat (at least four fouls). Joba is over 80 pitches now, so that probably means he’s done. I vehemently disagree with this 80-pitch shit.
I’m glad to have placed my foot in my mouth: Joba’s out for the sixth. And he opens it up with a K. Chris Coste, a two-time strikeout victim today, grounds one through for a base hit. After going 2-0, Joba throws a curve for strike, and another strike to induce a weak infield popup. On his 98th pitch, Joba gets a weak grounder towards the middle. End of inning. I’m sure we won’t see him for the 7th, but his line is quite impressive:
6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HBP
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