That was horrible by oneil, you have to automatically tag up there
Watching on TV I thought that was a hit, and maybe O’Neill did as well. But yeah, you tag right away in case it is caught, as you can always score on a hit.
Oviedo now has a higher career HR/9 than Ponce. Not a selling point for making the rotation.
It’s a little less of a red flag when you’re talking about a 22/23 year old with less than 40 career innings who probably would have been in Memphis for 2/3rds or those than it is for Ponce, with 3 times the work load in various roles and at a much riper age.
Flaherty gave up a lot of homers initially. So did Hudson when he moved to starting. I think it’s more important right now to look at the quality of the stuff and whether he can control it. Oviedo looks like he can, and then he can work on honing the command to keep more of those pitches in the park. Ponce just can’t seem to pitch in the zone and when he nibbles, the walks go sky high.
To add to my post, I think Ponce can be an effective bullpen arm in the Gant mold. I just don’t think he can do more than spot start for you in an emergency.
If it weren’t for all the Mikolas, Hudson, KK, Ponce injuries it’s likely Oviedo would be honing his command as a minor leaguer. Trading Gomber also hurt the SP depth. Oviedo seems like the next man up, out of need.
Well, game 2 was a clunker. The Cards had their chances with 11 base hits in 7 innings, but manages to strand just about as many as possible. They still have a shot to take 3 of 4 with a good game on today, so let’s hope the clutch hitting is better.