Classic J.J. Putz

Two games into the season, and we are seeing the same old Putz. Last year he had a tendency to throw fastball after fastball, as if he could somehow overwhelm the hitter.

Worse still, the location was often the same, and while he throws hard, his fastball has little movement. Watching a hitter finally connect is as frustrating as it is certain- the longer the batter can stay alive and get his timing down, the sooner he's going to catch up and drive it.

Putz is effective when a hitter gets weak wood on a fastball early in the count. The more he sticks around, the more hittable Putz becomes. We saw this last year- what we've seen this year is a complete repeat. It would be nice if the hitting coach and catcher "put the hammer" on repeated fastballs down the middle of the plate.

Putz can be a decent reliever, but not with his current approach.

All in all though, the M's are fun to watch. No one is hitting or pitching at some ridiculous rate, yet the team is competitive against a strong AL rival. I'm not even remotely worried about Beltre just yet... give him a week, and he'll remind you again of what he did this spring.

Soon, the Washburn era begins.

Let's see what $37 mil gets a GM these days...