Hanshin's Williams hot, Pote not

Lou Pote appeared for Hanshin last night in what was supposed to be a spell of long relief. However, he gave up a HR, balked in a run, and generally had a terrible day at the office.

Hoshino-kantoku says it's a mental thing, and that Pote just needs to relax and get over that hurdle. With words to the effect of "That wasn't the real Lou Pote," Hoshino intimated that there isn't a lot holding Pote back from showing the good form he displayed in his first couple of times at the mound.

Hope to see him back with the 1st team soon.

Did you see the Tigers-Swallows game last night? Bottom of the 5th, score 3-1, Tigers losing but still very much in it. Pote comes on, gives up an infield hit that he realistically should have fielded, failed to field Miyamoto's bunt, got a break when Inaba didn't tag from second on Betts' deep fly, but then gave up a double to deep right to Ramirez, goes 1-3 on Suzuki Ken, who is one of the more disciplined hitters on the planet, who proceeds to rip the next offering to Osaka.

Oh, and he committed a balk somewhere in there.

Hoshino must be fuming. After all the praises about Pote... what's going on? His control was all over the place. The announcers kept going on and on about how high his pitches were, and he has no fundamental skills in the field. Somehow he settled down after practically giving up the game and retired the next two batters.

Any thoughts on Pote's future? I know it's early, but Hoshino is not the most patient of men and suketto are usually on a pretty short leash to begin with. See ni-gun action for Pote anytime soon?

Meanwhile, Ramirez of the Swallows really impressed me with the double the other way. He stayed back on the ball and played the hit-and-run beautifully. He's really developed into a good solid hitter.

Yup, 2-gun it is. Hope he can turn it around and make it back up. After he coughed up four runs, the last two outs were actually fairly impressive. He's got good stuff, just needs some control and fundamentals.

I think all the pitcher in Hanshin i guess that i like Hideki Irabu~because he has play so much game in NPB and MLB!i also a Hanshin Fans!then i want Hanshin Jersey but I live in Malaysia so how can i buy?

Of all the pitchers on Hanshin, I guess that I like Hideki Irabu ~ because he has played so many games in NPB and MLB! I am also a Hanshin Fan! I want a Hanshin jersey, but I live in Malaysia so how can I buy?

[Edited by: Admin on Apr 18, 2003 7:39 AM]

This from SanSpo:

Pote a mistake. Hanshin looks for new right-handed reliever

Acquiring Lou Pote as the team's closing pitcher was a big miscalculation. In 7 appearances this season, Pote has 0 wins, 1 loss, 1 save, and an ERA of 9.35. He was sent to the farm on the 16th of April. Says Hoshino kantoku, "He'll be there at least a month. He might not even make it back [before the All Star break]."

While Jeff Williams is covering the gap left by Pote, Hanshin's only right-handed relievers are Kanazawa, Fujikawa, Ando, and rookie Iyono.

[Hanshin are looking at relievers from the USA, including one Jim Mecir,] however there remains one problem: Hanshin have filled all 70 allowable positions on their roster, and will have to release at least one person in order to acquire a new reliever.

[Rumor: Shinji Taninaka is said to be in the firing line.]

Williams continues to baffle all batters at the end of the game.

Last night again, we saw just how much angle Williams gets on the ball: to a right-handed batter, left-handed Williams pitched, the batter swung (and missed), and after he had swung, was hit on the hip by the ball. That is to say, at the point when the batter decides whether it's hittable or not, the ball looks like it's heading for the strike zone, but Williams throws from so wide out, and angles the ball in so sharply, that it's actually heading for the batter's belly.

As of last night, Williams had an ERA of zero, with six saves (0 wins, 0 losses).