Saturday, June 09, 2007

Since my last post, we've seen Koji Uehara participate in two contests for the Giants as the closer. The season of intrigue continues as the impending free agent works from the pen to put opponents to bed. Don't mess with success must be the motto of the Yomiuri braintrust, and Uehara hasn't disappointed. Here are details of his two recent appearances:

June 3rd vs. Seibu

Uehara entered the 9th inning against Seibu with a 4-1 lead and the bottom half of the lineup coming up. He induced shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima to fly out to left before giving up a line drive double to third baseman Norihito Ishii. That was all she wrote for Seibu as pinch hitting Oshima grounded out to the pitcher and center fielder Sato grounded to short.

1 IP, 1 hit, no walks, no strikeouts, no runs, SAVE

June 8th vs. Rakuten

This one is simple. Uehara faced "Rick", Ramirez, and Teppei and struck out "Rick", Ramirez, and Teppei. The first two were swinging and the final out was looking.

1 IP, no hits, no walks, 3 strikeouts, no runs, SAVE

Now, on the season, Uehara has appeared in 13 games and has the following line:

13.2 IP
9 hits
1 walk
15 strikeouts
0-1 with 7 saves
3.29 ERA
0.732 WHIP
5.9 hits/9
9.87 K/9
15.00 K/BB

posted by Mike Plugh @ 2:11 AM

3 Comments:

At 12:43 AM, Blogger Goro Shigeno said...

I guess the question for Uehara as the season continues is if he'll ever start this year considering his efforts at closer.

This could be a benefit to Uehara as well as we have seen in the majors this year trouble with many teams in having a healthy or stable closer. He could be a more successful Braden Looper in being able to play either as a starter or as a reliable closer depending on the team's wishes (although it's probable that he'll be paid more as a starter).

 
At 5:56 AM, Blogger Mike Plugh said...

I think there's no way he isn't a starting pitcher in the Majors next year. He's still too good to move to the pen. He just doesn't walk anyone. He's the anti-Igawa.

 
At 9:54 PM, Blogger Goro Shigeno said...

Hey! You just coined a new term! The "anti-Igawa"!

Seriously though, it seems to be that while it is a little easier for batters to position players to transition over here, it's a little different for pitchers. But Uehara (and probably Saitou) are in that upper echelon that can succeed here. Not necessarily dominate, but definitely be better than average.

 

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