This Carmona kid is pretty good

[consigliere]

Just an outstanding game today. I got to go to the game, and actually took in a game from the dugout suites for the first time ever. Was great peeking over into the Twins dugout looking at them shake their heads going back to the bench after an at bat wondering what the hell Carmona was throwing.

And, talking with some of the guys I was there with, Wedge has changed a lot this year as a manager. It hasn't been mentioned much, but he has been starting runners a lot this year, which is something he rarely ever did in the past....and for the most part the results have been positive.

But, today, he STUCK WITH Carmona in the 9th inning. At 102 pitches, in previous years, Wedge would have took him out and gone to the pen no questions asked. But, for once, I see Wedge MANAGING. We were all in agreement you send Fausto back out there, but have someone warming up to have ready at the first signs of trouble (which they did since Borowoski was warming up).

Also, that was a great move leaving Fausto in when he came out to talk to him. Some disagreed with me, but I said Wedge needed to leave him in. It would go a long way at boosting Carmona's confidence.

Anyway, Carmona was unbelievable. He was hitting 97-98 MPH in the 9th inning. Just sick. This kid is going nowhere, and is staying in the rotation. If anyone suggests he go back to Buffalo or the Indians put him in the bullpen I will hunt you down and shoot you no questions asked.

Sowers is pitching for his life the next 3-4 weeks.

[lovsgrady]

only pretty good. Two amazing outtings against Santana and the Twins....now if that is only pretty good, than, wow. Carmona rocks.

[consigliere]

Yeah, "pretty good" is just me being a wee bit sarcastic. Looks like Peter Gammons was spot on in his spring assessment that Carmona looked like the best young pitcher in the game and was ready to go.

The Indians have the best 7-man rotation in baseball. Or, close to it. And, all seven are under contract through 2008 at least.

Right now, I think Byrd and Sowers become our two best trading chips. Don't trade both, just one. Use them and a prospect or two and see what you get, maybe we can get an everyday RH bat in the outfield, or a frontline young closer. Then, whoever remains among Byrd/Sowers they are your 5th starter, and Adam Miller is your 6th starter. Let others like Stanford, Perez, Slocum, etc fill the 7th man role.

[mattvan1]

"That dude is filthy. ... If you've never played the game, listen to me, I'm a hitter. Right-handers have no chance unless they get lucky and get a hit on a broken bat."
-- Torii Hunter on facing Carmona.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270517105

[consigliere]

"It's not normal," Torii Hunter said of Carmona's go-to pitch. "He's not even human. It was so scary, I thought I was hung over."

"That dude is filthy," Hunter said. "We've been struggling, but even if we had been playing good, we wouldn't have beaten him. If you've never played the game, listen to me, I'm a hitter. Right-handers have no chance unless they get lucky and get a hit on a broken bat."

"I couldn't believe it when they sent him down," Hunter said. "Everyone in the league was saying, "Did you see Carmona got sent down?"

[lovsgrady]

how can you say to trade Byrd. So far he has been an amazing pitcher for us this year. I have become a Byrd fan from what he has done this year. If you asked me before FEB. I might have said yeah, but not now.
1) when I went to spring training three or four players drove by me when I was walking back to my car, Byrd was one of them. He was the only one that waves at me, without me waving frantically at him. He acknowledged that I was a fan, and waved nicely. I thought that was cool.
I then saw Perez, Luna, and Carmona in a van, we pulled up next to eachother at the light, and waved at eachother for about 30 seconds, making funny faces and all that. Carmona was the most animated if you can imagine (another cool, PRETTY GOOD quality)
2) for Byrd he worked on his pitching really hard so that he can help his team, and that has paid off
3) when Westbrook went down, he was the only pitcher to volunteer to come in for him.
Why would we trade him. And Sowers are you $#itin me. We saw what he could do last year. This is his sophomore season...how many players have had sophomore season slumps. I can't see trading either.

[tribefan333]

And, talking with some of the guys I was there with, Wedge has changed a lot this year as a manager. It hasn't been mentioned much, but he has been starting runners a lot this year, which is something he rarely ever did in the past....and for the most part the results have been positive.

I didn't get to catch todays game so this is from last nights. Not to take anything away from Carmona, but Grady is 14-14 in SB chances...

[lovsgrady]

Carmona is good, but Grady has stolen my heart 14 times, and yet I still can't catch him, as long as he keeps stealing bases that is just going to be so cool. I dig it. 14-14, the is pretty good. wink wink

[tribefan333]

Neat little quote from Hunter.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Fausto Carmona's sinker dropped, it dipped, it dived, and it devastated the Minnesota Twins.

"It's not normal," Torii Hunter said of Carmona's go-to pitch. "He's not even human. It was so scary, I thought I was hung over."

Throwing sinkers and almost nothing but sinkers, Carmona pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout and beat Johan Santana for the second time in less than a month as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Twins 2-0 to finish off a three-game sweep.

Carmona (5-1) dominated from start to finish with a 121-pitch performance that was still being discussed across the clubhouse dining tables as the Twins dug into their postgame buffet.

"That dude is filthy," Hunter said. "We've been struggling, but even if we had been playing good, we wouldn't have beaten him. If you've never played the game, listen to me, I'm a hitter. Right-handers have no chance unless they get lucky and get a hit on a broken bat."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt= ... 05&prov=ap

[lovsgrady]

Haaaa, that's funny. Torii hunter drunk. I don't really like him. I just got sick of hearing him complain about all the people wearing Robinson's number. It was all over ESPN, and for the most part, that is what I watch at work, until there is an Indians or Cavs game. He just comes off a little arrogant to me...but I could just be overreacting. he is a good baseball player, but Grady is still better...no argument about that. But it is good that Hunter is honest, and funny. I didn't really like the "listen to me, I 'm a hitter" thing...that annoyed me a little. Buy Carmona did amazing. I'm proud of that boy.

[FUDU]

Do we now have 2 of the top 5 pitchers in the AL on our staff? Not talking about numbers, talking about the fact that they appear to be 2 of the best pitchers period right now.

[consigliere]

We very might well have a Santana-Liriano type duo like the Twins had last year.

Some more quotes from yesterday's game:

"In all my years of baseball, I haven't seen anything better than his stuff today," Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer said. Considering that Cuddyer gets a chance to watch Santana pitch every five days, that was pretty high praise.

"I don't remember seeing a ball move like that," said Twins outfielder Jason Kubel, who grounded out to second base three times. "I was able to see the pitches. They'd come in and look pretty good, down the middle. And I'll take a good hack. When I made contact, the ball is almost out of the strike zone. It was crazy."

"It was a 95-mph sinker - that's pretty tough," said third baseman Nick Punto, one of the more successful Twins on Thursday because one of his ground balls rolled through the infield for a hit. "It wasn't real hittable."

"We were sitting here talking and we were saying, 'Well, at least we got Carmona out of the way. When you face someone like that, everyone else seems easier.' " Hunter said, "but we'll see."

[swerb]

Seems like yesterday I was watching this kid hurl in Eastlake for the Captains.

[ArtGold]

As some of you who have been to other boards may know I have been very supportive of him the past four years. I couldn't believe they were using him as a relief pitcher last year, and was disgusted when they sent him down this season.

Pitching depth is great, but I hope we use this depth to both win today and acquire other assets. I favor trading Byrd at mid season if we get a great offer of a plus corner outfielder and/or super prospects. This doesn't mean I don't think he is a decent starter, it is an age and contract issue. If we don't get this kind of offer, I hope we keep him and pick up his option, we still can use him as a pitching and/or trade asset next year.

Meanwhile, if we don't appear to be able to sign Sabathia, I would start to look around for offers during the next offseason.

I think Carmona, Lee, Westbrook, Byrd and Sowers would be a plus rotation next year, and I believe Sowers will become a very good major league pitcher, he is just having some adjustment problems now (especially with throwing too many first pitch strikes).