Wagner sure was good, wasn't he?

By adamg - 8/31/09 - 7:23 am

And so was Byrd, for that matter. But you know who else was outstanding in his first relief appearance? Dan Tobin reminds us.

Comments

Come on, Harry Potter

By Kaz - 8/31/09 - 9:42 am

#1

Please don't be invoking He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Gagnaméd.

Wagner unlike You-Know-Who seems to know his role and realizes he's only here as a stopping point before finding a team willing to let him get to 400 saves.

At the end of the season, we can discuss what we've seen and what Papelbon will say about his contract. He finally got paid this season ($6+ million/1yr avoiding arbitration) and I think we're seeing the result: he seems a lot more lax about letting guys on and getting guys out. I worry that he's going to his fastball WAY too much and that just lets good hitters sit on it waiting for the time that he leaves it up in the zone and they can hammer him all over the ballpark. He's not Bard, so he'd better go back to changing it up more.

In the meantime, Wagner has a lot to prove about rebounding from injury to potential next suitors whereas Gag-me knew he was here for a while. So, I don't see it as the same just yet. Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.