Imaginary Diamond

Wrote enough about Scherzer a couple of days ago, so here’s a quick list of notes from his first start.

1.) Final line, if you hadn’t seen it: 4IP, 7H, 5R, 2ER, 5Ks, 2 BBs

2.) That fastball is nice, very nice, and he can command it extremely well. Especially like how he can climb the ladder with two strikes. He was a pretty consistent 93-94 with it and peaked around 96.

3.) Slider and change-up need some work. When you can’t throw offspeed pitches for strikes, big league hitters will hurt you, as the Phillies did Scherzer on Monday.

4.) The mechanics appeared smoother as his mindset was to pace himself.

5.) Still better suited for a bullpen role, where he can hone a fastball-slider combination and forget about the change-up. Or vice versa, he’s got about an equally good feel for both pitches.

6.) Will likely be in a bullpen role when Doug Davis returns from the disabled list.

7.) Defense didn’t help him. Orlando Hudson’s Gold Glove D at second was limited by a hamstring injury, and shortstop Stephen Drew booted a groundball to open the floodgates for a four-run Phillies third inning.

More news …
Ervin Santana was excellent yet again with a four-hit shutout on the road against the Royals. Santana is 6-0 with a 2.02 ERA, 38 strikeouts and nine walks (none Monday night) in 48 innings.

Jim Leyland’s big lineup shift centered only around the left fied position, where designated hitter Gary Sheffield shifted to left to take the place of Jacque Jones, who was designated for assignment before the game. Matt Joyce took Jones’ roster spot and started in right, and Magglio Ordonez was the DH.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s latest tirade proved just about as effective as all of his others, as the Blue Jays sent the Sox to their sixth straight loss, 1-0. It’s quickly becoming time for Ozzie to start being Ozzie in some other city.

The Seattle Mariners snapped a losing streak of their own, riding Wladimir Balentien and Richie Sexson home runs to a 7-3 win over the Texas Rangers. For super prospect Balentien, it was his second home run since his April 30 call-up. Both he and DH Jeff Clement were summoned from Triple-A Tacoma to inject some life into the slumbering Seattle offense.

Dodgers starting pitcher Chad Billingsley turned in a second straight quality outing, holding the New York Mets to one run over six innings to pick up his second straight win. Matt Kemp, Blake DeWitt and Rafael Furcal all homered and combined to score four of L.A.’s five runs.

Other opinions …
The Seattle Times provides some more specifics on the call-ups of Balentien and Clement.

Angels Locker says that Santana and lefty Joe Saunders have saved the Angels’ pitching staff.

We Are The Postmen writes a good piece about the evolution of Guillen’s tirades.

Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.