Catcher’s Blog

Last night was not a very good outing by Jo-Jo, which further seems to prove he needs more time in the minors… or something. Not only did we have terrible pitching, our offense only had six hits and left six men on base, which is why we only scored one run. I think after the first inning everyone could have gone home because it was fairly pointless to keep playing, but I don’t make the rules.

Hopefully, today will be a lot better, but we are facing Randy Johnson, even if he does currently have a 4.42 ERA. Jorge Campillo did blow the Mets away for the most part, so maybe he can do the same against the D-backs’ offense. Even after this blowout loss, we are still in second place because the rest of the NL lost as well, with the Nats being the exception, of all teams. Let’s hope we fair a lot better today and can pull out a win.

Some notes I’m not going to link to because they’re all on the official site or here:

- Smoltz is making his first rehab start today for AA Mississippi. He’ll either pitch one or two innings depending on his pitch count.

- Pena was activated from the DL and promptly DFA’d. He’ll either be traded, released, or put on waivers after ten days. Should he clear waivers, though I doubt he would, he will go back to the minors. Now Escobar will be lost and sad without his running partner.

Pena was widely popular in the clubhouse. Shortstop Yunel Escobar, his close friend since their childhood in Havana, appeared deeply saddened by the news, staring straight into his locker for an extended period after talking to Pena.

Escobar just shook his head to a reporter when asked about losing Pena.

- Soriano had an inning of shutout ball with one strikeout in his second rehab appearance for Mississippi with his fastball coming in at 93 mph.

- Gonzo is a week away from his T.J. surgey anniversary and will be evaluted this week, after which he should begin a rehab assignment.