Hanging him out there to dry for one last batter when Wilhelmsen was ready and standing there waiting just felt like saying, "please, lose this game." We apparently ARE playing for Top-5 draft standings.
Okay, yes, we wanted to see how he'd respond to the pressure and the men on base and THIS is the time in a lost season when you get to do that. How did he? Not well.
But I think that's a problem with pitching from the stretch. He doesn't normally walk a lot of guys and struck out a ton in the minors. He looked great tonight from the windup. That change-curve was a thing of beauty and watching him pound the hands of opposing batters all night was wonderful.
I'm sorry he was left in too long, for his sake. Since I also want an early draft slot so we can draft a Trey Williams type, I can't be reeeeeally angry about it, but I was still miffed. When a guy goes 7 strong against the Angels and is hanging zeros, don't let him eat runs in the 8th for a loss.
That said, seeing his arsenal in action tonight when he had multiple pitches working gave another glimpse of why the Ms think he might be a good starter. It was a little weird seeing the guy with the typical starter's motion come in as the reliever, and the starter with a bit more arm-action and awkward falling off the mound tendencies, but Furbush threw really well.
I was pretty impressed. Can we make him pitch from the stretch for his entire next start just to get the hang of it?
~G
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