Dave Johnson

Good luck to the young guns

by Dave Johnson

I know the record is not pretty. But, if you can't see the promise in having the young pitchers in this rotation go out there every fifth day, then you must just be beaten down by the losing. I understand completely. It has not been much fun since 1997.

But I look at the guys who are taking the ball every day, and I can see that it is a different path than before.

I don't have to list their names. You know who they are by now.

This August and September are going to be different. Yes, we might lose more games than last year. But, the guys we are going to lose the games with will be here next year and beyond. That means they will take their lumps and hopefully make some adjustments for next year.

The pitcher's don't know what kind of adjustments they need to make until they get here. For the guys to get 8-10 starts or more under their belts this year is huge.

Now when those same pitchers are sent out next spring to Norfolk, they know exactly what they need to improve on. It still might not happen. As a matter of fact, most won't make it at the major league level. That's just the law of percentages throughout baseball.

But unlike before, we have an abundance of young arms in our system at all levels. That is the difference from years past.

Here's to watching the young guns over the next two months and seeing them develop (or not) before our eyes.

Good luck to all of them.