March 10 Game

 Normally, I can find something positive to say about a game.  However, after watching today's game, I don't think if you put 7 of the world's most positive, magical unicorns together that, between them, they could come up with a way to put a positive spin on today's game.

It was simply a stinker.

The problem is, we have had way too many of these games recently.  I know, I know.  This is just spring training.  But....really?

• Triston McKenzie was all over the place.  He left his fastball (up to 94 mph) up when he could get it in the strike zone and it looked like he was searching for his breaking pitches all day...and wasn't finding them.   Although the box score won't show it he gave up two fly balls to the wall in the first inning, the only inning they didn't score on him, in addition to the double and the walk.  The unicorns asked me not to put Mckenzie's pitching line for this game in this post.
• To make McKenzie's day worse he was replaced in the 3rd by Mason HIckman who promptly let an inherited runner score, followed by 3 runs that were his responsibility
• Karinchak followed the next inning and while he didn't allow a run he gave up a hit and a walk, Toussaint gave us a AAAA inning, Oviedo was clean through his inning, Kelly and Sharpe combined for 4 walks and a run in their combined inning and Simpson gave up 2 more runs in the 8th before Francona pulled the plug on him to get Brett Daniels in the game to close out the 8th inning before the 10-run mercy rule could be enforced. 
• On the hitting side Brennan had two hits, a double, a run and an RBI, Pries legged out an infield hit and Fry gave the unicorns a highlight to talk about when he crushed a HR in the 8th.  Four hits....that's it.
• On the catching side Lavastida, with all apologies to his family for saying it, had a really bad game.  He gave up 3 stolen bases, had a throwing error on one of them and allowed a wild pitch on a ball I thought he could have blocked.  On offense he hit into a double play in his only AB.  I really hope he rights the ship soon because I can now see a scenario where they DFA him to create a roster spot for a backup catcher.   Let me say that I LOVED Lavastida as a prospect last spring.  I didn't think he was ready at the time but I could see a spot in the future where Naylor was the #1 and Lavastida was the #2.  I want that to happen but he just looks so lost and so bad right now I am not sure anymore.

That was it.  Almost all lowlights with few highlights.  The unicorns asked me to stop typing now.  In fact they asked me just to delete the whole thing so they could make magically make the game never happen but I said there were MLB rules against that sort of tomfoolery, or at leaste that's what the Houston Astros told me.

File it and flush it and come back strong tomorrow.  It seems I have been saying that way too much lately!

Repeat after me: it's only spring training...It's Only Spring Training...IT'S ONLY SPRING TRAINING