Most of the coverage of yesterday's loss to the Padres focused, as I did, on Felix Hernandez' first pitching performance. Reviews were mildly positive to uneasily inconclusive, not unlike his results in the first and second innings. Felix' good innings raise hopes that he's coming back; his bad ones quickly dash them.
I had missed something. He pitched out of a stretch the whole time, abandoning his wind-up. He told reporters afterwards that this approach "felt good," as though he was going "straight to the plate." Again, it's too early to conclude anything, especially when a pitcher is using spring training to try out something different.
One play in particular haunts me, so I went to the archives to review it: Narvaez' passed ball. Later Felix took the blame. There was a lot of movement on the change-up, but Narvaez's glove was there. He was over the center of the plate and slid his arm to his left, but he just didn't turn the mitt, so the ball struck the bottom of a facedown glove and shot away. A catchable ball if Narvaez adjusts... sloppy play, a legit passed ball. These are the kinds of mistakes he makes the coaches are trying to correct, this was a catching error to make one wonder if Narvaez is learning.
......
Bellarmine lost, they couldn't overcome Lewis and Clark's ten three-pointers, but they still qualify for the state 4A tournament, playing Hazen (Renton) Wednesday afternoon in the Tacoma Dome. Go Lions! Go Larkin!
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