The Schilling files

April 5th, 2007 → 11:08 am @ Seth Mnookin // No Comments

I gots to run, and there’s been several full days of baseball to mull over with nary a peep out of me. There have been some nice developments: last night Beckett didn’t seem afraid to throw his curve, and while KC probably isn’t the best indicator of what the season’s going to be like, on a night when Mike Lowell seemingly wasn’t able to hold onto the ball, it was nice to see the rest of the Hanley Ramirez trade bait step up to the plate, as it were. Tek finally got a hit (although I’m increasingly less confident we’ll see a lot of those this year…to say nothing of ’08). J.D. “Don’t call me Nancy” Drew is stroking the ball. And Youkilis is showing he’s ready to take Manny’s mantle as the premier slugger in the game.
But the real thing to wonder/worry/think about right now is Curt Schilling. Yes, it was only one start — one Schilling himself acknowledges was a sucky one (or, as Gordo puts it, dismal). But it was also exactly the type of start you’d expect Schilling to excel in — Opening Day (lifetime 3-1 record), pitching for a team that just went all-out to acquire the most heralded new pitcher in all of baseball. So what do we have here? A 40-year-old fastball pitcher who’s trying to learn a change-up and has said publicly that he wants to pitch to contact more (which he sure did on Monday).

The best piece I’ve read on this subject is Tony Mazz’s column in Tuesday’s Herald. Tony doesn’t recommend anyone line up, lemming like, at the nearest bridge, but he does make some excellent points. Such as:

* The only reason a potential Hall of Famer who has lived for upwards of 20 years off of his fastball decides to learn a new offspeed pitch is because he’s worried said fastball doesn’t have the zip it once did, and…

* “The truth? This really is not about one game, particularly in a 162-game season that undoubtedly will feature a succession of peaks and valleys. This is about Schilling wanting to pitch another season, about the Red Sox’ reluctance to give him a contract extension, about Schilling now being 2-5 with a 5.34 ERA in his last 10 starts dating back to last season.”

This will be an interesting story to follow. I’d never doubt Schilling — he’s shown time and time again that’s a loser’s bet. But right now, I don’t know how much I’d wager on him either.

Post Categories: Curt Schilling