Friday, April 10, 2009

Brandon McCarthy is Alive!

I was at the game yesterday and had an opportunity to watch BMac up close. He was obviously a little inconsistent, but don't we have to be pretty excited about what we saw?

Here are my observations from the game and things that might have slipped through the cracks:

* McCarthy's fastball started around the 88-89 mark...and progressively jumped up into the 92-93 range. It was opening day, so I would think that his velocity will continue to improve as the season continues.

* McCarthy struck out 7 in just 5 innings - when was the last time that a Ranger pitcher had the stuff to rack up Ks like that...especially without a dominating fastball?

* McCarthy's slurve was absolutely dominating at times. I can't remember any Indian that was able to do much with his offspeed stuff...and guys like Mark DeRosa looked absolutely helpless against it.

Yes, the walks were problematic and his fastball location was off at times, but I was ecstatic to see some of the "potential" that we have heard about actually put into action. If he stays healthy and his fastball velocity improves to the 93-95 mark, he could have a big year, IMO.

I don't know, I just thought that there would be more excitement around his start and the fact that he appears to have regained some of his dominating stuff. To me, it was a very encouraging start.

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