When Edwin Jackson pitched for the Cubs, I had an epiphany. It wasn’t even during a meaningful game, in fact it was near the end of spring training, after he gave up a run or two and I made the mistake of entering that hive of scum and villainy known as Twitter (follow me, @evenloserswin!). As the twittering masses rushed to their keyboards and whipped out their thumbs, gleefully howling that he the worst pitcher who had ever pitched a baseball, if not the worst person on the face of the planet for daring to cash paychecks from their favorite team, a thought crystallized.
How does it feel to know EJax is better at baseball than most of us will be at anything, ever? I just blew your mind, right? #Cubs
— Even Losers Can Win (@evenloserswin) March 24, 2015
It’s difficult for people to comprehend how much better the worst major league player is than the average person, to see an athlete struggle in that setting and not reflexively think, “Well, they sure suck.” Would you do this to a world renowned neurologist or aerospace engineer? Probably not. I guess it’s because most people can’t even comprehend what those jobs involve, but many people played baseball. They just forget that they did it poorly. The vast majority of high school players never play in college, just as the vast majority of collegiate players never play professionally, and the vast majority of professional players never reach the major leagues. The difficulty level as you climb each rung of the ladder increases exponentially. It’s important to remember that perspective, lest you find yourself @’ing someone with a pitchfork in your hand.
I bring all of this up because the Towson pitching staff is struggling mightily this season, racking up walks, hit batters, and wild pitches at an incredible rate. It would be easy to scream, “Just throw strikes!” But that wouldn’t do justice to how difficult that is at this level. Every player on the Towson roster was a great high school player, but so were every one of their opponents. Just throwing it down the middle and over-matching the competition is no longer an option – those pitches are going to get hard almost every time. This is D-1 and to get these guys out you have to hit your spots, set up the batters, and refine pitches that will get swings and misses. And all of that stuff is hard.
Six Towson pitchers gave up 14 runs on 16 hits and 14 walks today. Of those six, two were true freshmen, two sophomores, and two red-shirt juniors. Of the two juniors, one only started pitching last year and the other pitched 1/3 of an inning each of the last two years due to injury. And so, I’m going to try to blow your mind again. Today was a good day for Towson pitching. Because these guys pitched. They got experience and that is the only thing that will help them get better.
Watch List
Richie Palacios, SS – Ten games into the season, Palacios finally went hitless. Of course, he walked three times and scored a run. Such is a bad day for the Tigers shortstop.
Andrew Cassard, OF – Leading off for the second straight game, Cassard reached base three times, once each via hit, walk, and hit by pitch. He scored one of Towson’s seven runs.
Bo Plagge, OF/P – DNP
David Marriggi, P – DNP
Dirk Masters, 2B – Masters went 1-3, scoring one run, and continues to show an impressive eye by drawing two walks. His OBP is up to .457.
Other Performances of Note
- Charlie Watters, the big (6′ 6″, 240lb) first baseman had his best day in a Tiger uniform, going 3-5 with a double and his second home run of the season. He scored and drove in two runs.
- Noah Cabrera, a sophomore infielder from New York, entered the game in the fourth inning and ended up 2-4 with an RBI. Cabrera put up big numbers in high school, it would be great to see him emerge as the year progresses.
- Freshman RHP Jake Pecilunas had his best appearance of the year, pitching 1.1 hitless, scoreless innings, striking out two and walking one. Sophomore Alex Parker had his second consecutive scoreless outing, though he had to work around two hits and two walks in his 1.2 innings of work.
UP NEXT
Towson returns home for a three game series against the Ohio University Bobcats. Ohio is 6-6 on the season and have pitched well all year, though they don’t have a ton of pop in the line-up. Hopefully it is the kind of match-up the Tigers can take advantage of and get a couple of wins, at least.
