WEEK ONE RECAP

Opening week is in the books, and the Fake 66ers go down 9-7 in a close matchup with division rival, the Hickory Crawdads.  This series could have swung either way.  It’s apparent from the boxscore (http://games.espn.go.com/flb/boxscorefull?leagueId=152232&teamId=11&scoringPeriodId=19&seasonId=2012&view=matchup&version=full) that pitching is gonna be an issue.  66ers won six of eight hitting categories but lost seven of eight pitching.  The pitching really didn’t seem to be that bad though so hoping to win a couple of the close categories that were lost to the Crawdads.

Upon closer examination, it’s the starting pitching that lost the series week one.  The bullpen of Robertson, Downs, Thornton, Reed, Veras, Rodriguez and Loe gave up just four runs in 28.33 innings.  That’s a 1.58 ERA.  And of the seven, only the Brewers trio gave up the runs.  With Tim Hudson set to return to the Braves rotation next week, and Andy Pettitte close behind for the Yankees, the rotation will be getting a big boost shortly.  Losing the first week sucks, but it could have been much worse.

One bright spot in the early going is the play of SS Zack Cozart.    I still contend this guy has a shot at Rookie-of-the-Year honors in the National League, and his play week one bears that out.  A .351 AVG, .995 OPS with a homer and five extra-base hits in all.  If he stays healthy, I’m expecting big things on top of that potent Reds lineup.  I was the last team to draft a SS and early indications are it was a good strategy.

Next up, the Savannah Sand Gnats, who won their first matchup 14-1-1.  Need that pitching to come around to contend in this one.