WBC Roundup: Monday

Boy, it sure was nice seeing the Tigers and hearing Mario & Rod on TV again. They even got themselves a nice walk-off win. It’s hard to tell what to think of Zach Miner this spring. He’d been giving up lots of hits, but at least he was throwing strikes. He walked a few more today, but he kinda recovered from the first inning. He threw too many pitches, though.

Pool 1
In their rematch of the 2006 WBC finals, Japan came out on top again, and quite easily. Meanwhile, in the late game, I fell asleep once again, but I woke up to find out that while Mexico had the early 2-0 lead, their pitching let them down again. Tonight, Cuba and Mexico face off in an elimination game, and it’d probably be surprising if Cuba lost, but with Mexico’s offensive potential, anything’s possible.

Pool 2
Well, I guess you can only go so far on determination and heart alone. Team USA made up for its bad play against Puerto Rico by eliminating the Netherlands, although Matt Lindstrom kind of unnecessarily antagonized the Dutch players. And I know Granderson started in centerfield last night, but that seems to be uncommon. After all that Davey Johnson said about Granderson being the starting centerfielder, it seems like most games start off with Shane Victorrino in center and at some point late in the game he’ll shift over to right as a defensive replacement for Adam Dunn and Granderson goes in to play center. As a result, Granderson’s not getting that many at-bats (and on the nights he does start, he’s the #9 hitter). At any rate, tonight it’s Venezuela against Puerto Rico, and that can only lead to frustration for me, cuz I like both teams. I thought Armando Galarraga might start being as this is not an elimination game and Venezuela might want to hold off their ace for when they really need him, but I guess it’s been even longer since Felix Hernandez has pitched, so maybe they didn’t have a choice. Meanwhile, it looks as though Pudge has found a home with Houston. I’ve never cared much for the Astros, but it’s his best shot at catching every day (since all the other teams in need of catchers were looking for platoon players or backups). And it’s in the National League and not one of the “big” teams, so I won’t see him that often (Yeah, I’m aware the Tigers go to Minute Maid Park for Interleague play this year, but I’ll have something figured out by then). Alas, the number 7 is retired in Houston (Biggio), but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers and now I’m on the verge of sounding downright insulting so I’ll stop now.