Whoa Baby!!

Meet Cliff Lee. Cliff is the best pitcher in baseball. After a terrible season last year where he only made 20 starts (5-8, 6.29), Cliff is clearly feeling a whole lot better. Granted it is early, but Cliff's numbers are so impressive through his first four starts that they are worth our attention. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 0.28. That is not a typo, it is a 0, not a 1, 2, 3, or 4 (or 8 if you happen to be Eric Gagne) in front of the .28. He has struck out 29 in 31 innings, allowing 1 earned run, while only walking 2 batters and allowing 11 hits. To put this into perspective, the disreputable Eric Gagne has allowed 16 base runners in only 10.2 innings, while Cliff has allowed only 13 in 31 innings. Obviously this cannot last, he will probably go out and pitch terribly on Wednesday against Seattle, but it is worth noting.

To Juice Or Not To Juice...

After blowing another save yesterday against the Not-So Crappy Cardinals, Eric Gagne has now blown three of nine save opportunities this season and has an ERA of 8.31. Right now, he is so inept that he makes the injured Joe Borowski seem like Rollie Fingers comparatively. This guy needs a shot in the arm at this point in his career. Literally, he needs an injection of those steroids that fooled many into believing he was a legitimate big league closer between 2002 and 2004. And not those B-12 shots that Miguel Tejada was passing out in the Orioles clubhouse or that weak flax seed oil that the same trainer gave to both Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield. He needs the hard stuff, the kind that took Lyle Alzado's life prematurely. Gagne's 84 straight saves and 2003 Cy Young Award are as legitimate as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds' combined 1,345 home runs. During the aforementioned period where he was consistently injecting himself with steroids, Gagne converted 157 out of 163 save opportunities, appearing in an average of 75 games a year over this three year span. Since the 2004 season, Gagne's right arm has broken down about as often as my old 1984 Chrysler LeBaron used to. Since the juice has run dry, Gagne has converted 31 of 38 save opportunities and appeared in only 80 games total. For those of us that were on to this guy from the get-go, it is nice to watch him struggle now that he is playing at the same level as others.