Take Two

Reynaldo Lopez and Dylan Cease traded places with their second starts, bad turning good and good turning mediocre.  What to make of it?

 

On Sunday, Lopez threw 4-1/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts.  A day later, Cease gave three runs in three-plus innings.  Lopez says he was anxious his first start while catcher Yasmani Grandal says his battery mate was throwing eight different pitches for strikes in his second outing.  Less anxiety and fewer pitch types going forward, if you please, because less is always more.

 

As for Cease, he sounded more like ex-Sox Chris Bassitt than Jacob Turner, in other words, more self-critical than self-serving.  The young righty had crappy control—walking three while hitting a batter—and admitted it.  “Any time you give free passes or put them [opposing batters] in hitting counts, you’re asking for trouble,” Cease told reporters after the game.  ”If I execute pitches better, I throw more strikes, I’m not going to waste that many pitches” and things will probably work out.

 

I like that kind of self-assessment, especially if it leads to self-improvement.  We’ll see.