’Topes start the arms race slowly
They say it’s not about how you start, but how you finish.
But the way Albuquerque Isotopes pitchers are starting this season, the game often seems finished before things get started.
On Saturday night at Isotopes Park, Brett Oberholtzer made his debut for Albuquerque’s Triple-A franchise and wasted no time fitting in with the dubious trend of his fellow pitchers.
Oberholtzer allowed three runs in the top of the first inning as the visiting Las Vegas 51s cruised to a 7-5 win, their fourth win in a row over the ’Topes.
The five-game series between the two ends today at 12:05 p.m. at Isotopes Park.
The pitching struggles have hardly been isolated to the starting staff.
“They’re just pitching bad,” Isotopes manager Glenallen Hill said when asked if he could pinpoint why the staff is struggling so much early in games.
“They’re not executing pitches. You cannot pitch around the strike zone in this league and get behind.”
After allowing one first-inning run in their first five games, the Isotopes (8-15) have allowed 27 first-inning runs in the past 18 games.
On Saturday, Oberholtzer’s first 22 pitches resulted in five hits, including a triple and a double, one walk, one out and three Las Vegas runs. The inning ended with an unassisted double play on a sharply hit line drive to third base.
Oberholtzer regrouped and threw three scoreless innings after that to finish with a ’Topes debut pitching line of 4.0 innings, three runs off six hits, one walk and one strikeout.
Then came another ’Topes pitcher who didn’t seem ready to get batters out when he took the mound.
Reliever Chris Jensen took over in the top of the fifth inning, the one inning that has actually proven more disastrous this season for the Isotopes than the first. Albuquerque has allowed 33 fifth-inning runs in 23 games.
Jensen’s first 21 pitches resulted in three Las Vegas hits, including a home run, a double and three walks. The 51s scored three runs in the inning before Jensen retired his first batter (on his 26th pitch) and took a 6-1 lead. Jensen’s final line was two innings, three earned runs off three hits, four walks and he struck out two.
So, is there something Hill sees in the preparation of his pitching staff before taking the mound that he can pinpoint as to why the Isotopes’ arms are struggling so mightily to find a groove?
“No,” Hill calmly told a reporter.
Is it now a mental block? Maybe something the staff doesn’t want to continue talking too much about so as not to make it something the pitchers think about too much?
“No. You don’t stop sending a message,” Hill said. “The message is not going to change. You execute pitches, you pitch well. …
“They hear the message. The preparation is good. You can prepare all you want to, but when you get into a game situation, you have to find your game with confidence. There are a lot of good practice players.”
The Albuquerque bats, still top three in the league in batting average, did string together four runs over the final four innings, pulling within one run in the eighth, but couldn’t dig out of the early hole.