Add new comment

...I've backed off on my positive assessment of Jakubauskas. His first several appearances made me think if he learned to pitch a little less predictably, his great command would make him a winner...but having watched him over the longer term, I actually think we were overstating his command, especially with his offspeed stuff. To be effective, a guy like Jaku with mediocre stuff needs a 3-pitch mix that he can throw for a strike at any time...what he has is a FASTBALL that he throw for a strike at any time, a nice curveball that he can't hit the broad side of a barn with and a change-up that appears to bounce more often than it finds the plate.
Last night was a prime example of this for Jak. When he got behind and needed something besides a well-located fastball, he tried throwing the curve six times...once for a foul ball strike, once for a called strike, twice well out of the zone for laughing balls, once in the dirt wide of the plate that Quiroz barely got in front of, and once about 54 feet for a massively wild pitch that cost the team a run.
He can trick his way around in the bullpen, but he'll never last as a starter unless he can learn to command that breaking ball and change-up.
As for Olson...I'm down on him for mostly mechanical reasons...but we shall see...maybe he'll fool me.