The New Kids

Two weeks in and the Nady/Marte trade is looking very nice. Jeff Karstens takes a perfect game into the eighth inning at Arizona after holding the Cubs scoreless for six innings at Wrigley Field in his previous start. 15 scoreless innings against two first place teams: very impressive. And the other two pitchers acquired from the Yankees, Ross Ohlendorf and Daniel McCutcheon, have both pitched fairly well for the AAA club. One of the more impressive aspects of their performances has been that they’ve consistently pitched into the seventh or eighth innings with a minimal number of walks. Very un-Piratelike of them, and I mean that in a good way. Oh, and let’s not forget young Jose Tabata, rehabbing from a hamstring injury with the Rookie level club in Bradenton. In a game a couple of days ago, he homered twice. Sure this was at about two or three levels below where he will be playing the rest of the season, but it’s encouraging nonetheless.