Vogelsong and Fogg

Vogelsong has to learn to pitch with his new strength. He's throwing harder and better than ever. Tommy John surgery seems to have improved his arm. Even when he's getting hit hard, he's still striking out a man an inning.

Playing fantasy baseball, I learned years ago to bench your starter if he's scheduled to start against a team that just rocked him. Vogelsong has had three outings. He dominated one team (Philadelphia) and rolled over like a lapdog for the other (Chicago).

Josh Fogg might be good for three innings tonight. The Reds destroyed him and the Cubs just destroyed him, so it's hard to be optimistic about his chances against the Cubs tonight. Just because I don't expect much, that doesn't mean I won't be pulling for Fogg. The back half of the bullpen has been OK lately so there's no pressing need to make our three-inning starter a three-inning reliever. With Vogelsong pitching like this, I'm less anxious to replace Fogg, a relative veteran, with someone with even less experience than Vogelsong.

It's early still. If the Bucs can win 11 this month, I'll be happy.