7-13, Game Notes

This was one of those wins that, while nice, isn’t all that encouraging, as Felix and Adam Kennedy were truly the only real bright spots. Most of the lineup was completely silent, but that’s to be expected when you take an already mediocre lineup and remove it’s two biggest producers not named Ichiro. Fortunately though, the one run that they did muster was enough, meaning Felix will rightfully be the focus, rather than the lack of offense.

• Speaking of Felix, he was excellent tonight. He didn’t make mistake pitches, he induced groundballs, and he missed bats – many of them with a stellar looking curve. While there were some deep counts and a few walks, he spread them out over eight innings and threw enough strikes to still be successful against a relatively weak lineup. This wasn’t Felix at his absolute best, but it was pretty close, and a good sign after a couple of not-so-great starts.
• Adam Kennedy, through 38 plate appearances, is sporting a .314/.342/.486 slash line, good for a .357 wOBA. Granted, it’s an extremely small sample size and his .345 BABIP is inflated, but the high line drive rate and ISO are encouraging. At 35, Kennedy isn’t a guy who’s likely to randomly bust out as a hitter, but this is a guy who was a 1.8 win player as recently as 2009, despite an uncharacteristically bad UZR that year. I don’t want to prematurely sing his praises too much, but he is someone who may end up being more valuable than any of us expected.
• Jamey Wright‘s last two outings: 1 IP, 2 pitches thrown

That’s all I’ve got tonight. It will be really nice when Justin Smoak, Milton Bradley, and Guti are all back in this lineup.