Wednesday, July 09, 2008

After the split

Following up on a recent comment about last night's doubleheader...

I understand the logic of playing Witter at catcher in Game 2 and Sandoval at first, but I agree with Hondo in saying I don't like it. Not because Witter shouldn't hit. In fact, why not play Witter at first, but because Sandoval has demonstrated a better arm. The other part of the equation -- which I don't know -- is maybe Brooks McNiven and Sandoval haven't gotten on the same page yet. I need to go back and see if Sandoval has caught McNiven since he arrived here two weeks ago.

What I do agree with is Sandoval getting to rest his knees here and there. If the Defenders truly climb back into the playoff race, then down the stretch Sandoval will be behind the plate every game. It's really not the unusual, no matter the situation, for two different catchers to start doubleheaders. At the end of the day, I can't take exception to the move. Yes, Witter's throwing error proved costly as it let the game's only run to get to third base, but the lineup also failed to produce and is as much at fault as Witter's throw.

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