Jesus Colome left tonight with some kind of injury, the second time that has happened this season. Supposedly he was healthy before when he came off the DL but anyone who watched him could tell there was obviously something wrong. His velocity was down and really inconsistent and his fastball wasn't moving much.
Tonight was even worse, his velocity was there at times but he was just grooving straight fastballs down the middle. They need to put him on the DL again, find out EXACTLY what is wrong with him, and not bring him back until they are positive he's fine. That means a rehab assignment in the minors because there's no way they can just bring him straight back to the majors again.
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You know things are getting bad when even I get discouraged about it. I'm starting to run out of rationalizations, the bullpen is just inexplicibly bad. I still feel that things have to get better, there are some really screwy things going on, but there's no way to tell how it will turn out. In a way it's like the way Oakland started off for the first two months, but Oakland started with more talent and a higher ceiling to reach. Improvement is coming but who knows how much. It may not be enough.
This is why we need someone like Gomes more than ever. The team can't keep hoping that players like Alex Sanchez, Damon Hollins, Toby Hall, and Nick Green (though I think Green has a chance of maintaining his level of offense) will continue to carry the offense and produce runs. It's going to fall on Huff and Crawford to start pulling their weight and they're going to need help from the front office to maintain a good offense all year long.