Inevitability: the Farnsworth edition (plus some Minors notes)

Because “learning from mistakes” is a very high-minded type of skill, today was another flipping day where EVERYONE knew how the Royals game would end, except the guy who sent in the wrong pitcher. Why bother warming Joakim Soria up, Trey, when you’re just going to send Kyle Farnsworth in to do what Kyle Farnsworth does?

Ugh. The ONE time Hillman deviates from those stupid, set-in-stone inning roles, it’s to give the bottom of the 9th of a tie ballgame to a guy who should not be in at all with less than a 4-run cushion. And  he’s in a hitters’ park, against a potent offense.

I listened to the late innings on the radio after attending this afternoon’s Omaha Royals game, which Brian Bannister started. He was really good, allowing zero hits, striking out one, and walking zero. He threw less than 15 pitches per inning….but the weird thing was, he was taken out after just two innings (29 pitches). I poked my head into the dugout to ask someone why that was, and was just told that it was a pitch count issue.

That presents a couple of different scenarios. We can rule out injuries, so we’re left with explanations like this:
1) The most likely scenario: the team was trying to give some different pitchers game work, or is re-working the order of the starting rotation. Josh Newman, today’s eventual winner, hadn’t pitched since Wendesday. Lenny DiNardo, who picked up the classic 4-inning save, last pitched on Thursday. (Both Newman and DiNardo, by the way, were also great today. The Royals shut out the Isotopes, and limited them to just 3 hits and 2 walks. It was a pleasure to watch on a sunny Sunday afternoon!)

2) Bannister will be called up, and was being limited to only 30ish pitches in order to fit him into the KC schedule more  easily. With an off day tomorrow and Sidney Ponson scheduled to go on Tuesday, perhaps there’s an opening for someone to start in Horacio Ramirez’s place on Wednesday in Cleveland. Whether Bannister is that “someone” is not clear though, because I have a semi-verified report that Hochevar will go up after an abbreviated Monday start. 

3) He was traded after the game started. I’m pretty sure this wasn’t the case, given that it was a day game and it is now 10:30 at night. I was pretty nervous about that idea all day, though.

I doubt I would fret so much about this if it had been any pitcher besides Brian Bannister, and it’s probably something from category #1. But if #2 or #3 happens, I want to be able to point to this post and say I saw it coming.

Also notable from the Omaha game: After an uninspiring start to the season, Kila Ka’aihue hit a BOMB into right field this afternoon, into the wind. It reminded my brother and me of his MLB home run last September. He’s still not quite looking like the same Hawaiian Punch we saw last season – one thing that I noticed is that he has struck out as often as he has walked so far: 10 times in 11 games. Very un-Kila-like, at least compared to last year. We’ll see how that goes. 

And now, your Disco Hayes update:
Hayes is 2-0 in four appearances for AA NWArk. He has struck out four total, walked only one, and didn’t give up any earned runs in his last three appearances, keeping his ERA at a delightful 1.35. 

Related posts:

1. Yipee! (Oh, and Kyle Farnsworth)
2. Farnsworth, after the smoke clears: Still a thumbs-down
3. Immediate Dissent: the Game 1 edition