IMHO, Bailey had a solid start today throwing to an umpire whose strike zone is about eight inches wide and right in the middle of the plate. Anything outside that zone was a ball for Homer all day. The Reds hitters are so impatient/incompetent that they never got the advantage of this against Jackson.
We are getting to the point where it's hard to evaluate pitchers. There's so much pressure on pitchers to throw a shutout every time because the team doesn't score any runs.Originally Posted by HokieRed
So I'll give Homer credit today. Maddening in the first three innings, but hung in there, pitching for this terrible offensive outfit that provides zero support.
Today was like opposite of his first start. Bailey pitched poorly today, but got ok results out of it. His first start he pitched much better and had iffy results.
Man, this offense is bad right now though.
Frankly, it's a little hard to worry about Homer or any pitcher when the offense is this pathetic. Homer can be maddening, but did decently enough. I would have liked to see him go another inning, even with the high pitch count.
I honestly thought he was going to come out for the 7th. I wouldn't have blamed Dusty for it either, though I would have had someone in the bullpen ready.
Homer won me over a bit today. He hung tough, threw 110 pitches, like a real starter.
6 innings, 11 baserunners......to me, just another Volquez-like performance (see Matt Latos in his first two starts as well).
I agree.
Anyone care to hazard a guess as to why Reds pitchers are getting squeezed by the umps?
There was talk during the game thread on how Homer was aggressive in the first inning, but appeared to nibble in the second innings. I am thinking it had to do with the fact that he was trying to be a little cautious to the meat of the batting order. But the umpire would not call a strike on those corner pitches. As a result, Homer had to keep moving towards the middle of the plate, and the Nats were connecting on those.
All in all, I am not as down on Homer has some are. The pitching, as a whole has been pretty good. The offense, well ... that's for another discussion.
“I think I throw the ball as hard as anyone. The ball just doesn't get there as fast.” — Eddie Bane
“We know we're better than this ... but we can't prove it.” — Tony Gwynn
I watched a lot of that game, and it seemed to me that Homer got very badly squeezed and in some key moments in the game. The plate was extremely small, not only on the corners but also high-low, with very little low strike. This made, IMHO, the Reds' super aggressiveness (and I happen to think there's a lot to Dusty's "hit your way out of a slump" philosophy) even more maddening. Homer's stuff was way better than Jackson's; in fact, it was distressing to see what mediocre stuff is capable of striking out some of the Reds' hitters--I won't name names.
I don't want to make this a Homer vs. Leake thread; but why do Leake's first two starts get such passing grades while Homer is seemingly being put out to pasture?
2009 Attendance Record: 3-5 2010 Attendance Record: 2-9 2015 Attendance Record: 2-0
2011 Attendance Record: 3-4 2012 Attendance Record: 3-4
2013 Attendance Record: 5-2 2014 Attendance Record: 3-1
Because Leake had a better ERA in the past.
Because Leake wasn't thought of as the second coming at one point and hasn't been.
Not saying it is right. But I get the feeling that it is a lot of it.
I personally was impressed by Homer's last start, and was not a fan of Leake's last start. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think that's the prevailing view of most on this board.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
As the OP of the other Homer thread, Bailey's last start looked so much better than his first. He was exceptionally sharp in the 1st inning with movement on his pitches that I havent seen from him in a LONG time.
-matt
Leake was a very high draft pick who came straight to the majors upon being drafted. It's not as if there have been zero expectations for him. No, he wasn't looked upon as the staff savior as Homer once was, but Homer hasn't been viewed as the staff savior for many years now. He hasn't been very reliable to this point. I'm not saying he'll never be reliable, and I acknowledge he has very good stuff. I don't think he's a mental basketcase as some portray. He just has problems staying healthy, and has problems avoiding the big innings. Can he correct these? Yes, he can. Will he? It's hard to tell. Baseball's a funny game.
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