Sometimes, you get lucky. When I published my analysis of Josh Stinson last week, I had no idea that he would be called up to make an emergency start. While it would have been nice had Stinson been brilliant in his start, making me look foolish in the process, he did close to what I expected. He was the get-the-ball-over Stinson, resulting in few walks and strikeouts but more hits and (this time, at least) home runs. Immediately after the game, he was optioned back to Norfolk, which made a great deal of sense considering that he would be unavailable for the next few games and that the Orioles were going to Oakland.
The Orioles promoted Zach Britton to take his place. Almost all of you know about Zach Britton's pre-2013 past; and, while I did see him make one 2013 start, he was suffering from a blister on a finger and his control was way off. Therefore, my observations on his 2013 performance wouldn't be relevant, except to say that if he can't grip the baseball effectively, he can't pitch effectively.
Norfolk is completing a twelve-day, eleven-game road trip. They begin an eight-game homestand against Toledo (Detroit) and Syracuse (Washington) tonight (April 27). I'll be scoring five of those eight games, and I'll be paying particular attention to the second-base options at Norfolk. The Tides have used Yamaico Navarro, Niuman Romero, and Jonathan Schoop at second base, and it will be interesting to see exactly what they are. (Russ Canzler has also played a game at second base, but he was obviously an emergency fill-in.)
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