Glad We Missed It

(is that Buchholz or Bronson Arroyo?)

Part of me is glad we returned from Ft Myers early enough to miss last night's game against the Twins......Ask me that again by the end of the day and I'll likely have a very different answer.

By now, most of you know Dusty sprained his left wrist diving for a ball in the bottom of the first. Sure, it's nothing to be truly alarmed about, but if I was there at the park I probably would have tried to join his wife and new born baby in the locker room to check on him.

All information seems to indicate he'll by 100 percent in a few days time. I don't doubt he'll be asking Tito to run him out there by tomorrow.

The real concern (if you can call it that in Spring Training) from last night's game is Buchholz. He couldn't get through two innings, not only getting hit hard, but also showing signs of a lack of mental toughness on the mound.

I'm in the camp of wanting both Dice-K and Buchholz at the end of our rotation this year, with Wake eating the long relief and spot start innings. Buchholz has yet to convince anyone he's ready for the assured starting role this spring.

He's let up 8 runs in just 6 innings to big league hitters to this point. My concern doesn't necessarily stem from the numbers themselves, but rather the apparent regression in mental toughness. If you read his quotes after last night's game, you can tell he was distracted by movement on the base paths and situational pitching. It resulted in not only a lack of focus, but also in multiple "spikes" of both his fastball and change up, as well as plunking two batters and three walks.

I know, it's early, he'll likely figure it out, talent will prevail etc, but if focus is an issue now, what happens when he's at Yankee Stadium in a big spot? You can't blame the current struggles on "working on pitches" or "just trying to get his work in".
Going into this season I, and many others, have high expectations from the guy people think/thought is the key piece in getting Adrian Gonzalez. While those expectations remain high, my confidence at this point may not.

He needs to find his July/August 2009 if he expects to continue making commercials for ESPN.

T-minus 10 days.