Ed Eagle has a report on tonight's game that focusses on Benson. He'll be fine tonight I think. Here's the rest of the game post I wrote up this morning. Today's many new posts pushed it way down the page.
Tonight it's Bartolo Colon against the Bucs. He's been mediocre for more than a month but better on the road than at home. Righties and lefties have been pounding him equally hard so far. The closest match, in the 2004 stats, to Colon's .323 / .389 / .598 numbers vs. right-handed batters is Vlad Guerrero; in other words, put together, all the right-handed hitters have hit like Vlad off Colon so far this year. We know he's better than that so he's probably due for one of his signature complete-game two-hitters.
Mac will also know that Colon was rough on righties the last three years, but I guess he favors righties over lefties since the lefties played last night. I'm anticipating a lineup that includes Bay, Castillo, and Stynes. Simon is 6-for-8 off Colon - must have seen him as a Tiger I guess - so maybe he plays first again. I expect the Pirates will continue to play Simon so long as he's on the roster. He's not going to ride the pine like J.J. Davis; he'll just go away when his time comes. That's what I expect at least.
Bay or Mateo might play center tonight, replacing Redman with a more powerful righthanded bat. Mateo deserves a good long look. With seven Ks in his last eight ABs, Bay is the prime candidate for extra pine time. Mateo had 99 games in centerfield in his travels through Cincinnati and Texas. Daryle Ward will probably get another start in the outfield - how can they sit him after the big home run last night - probably in right. This makes our predicted lineup something like Kendall - Wilson - Ward - Wilson - Simon - Mateo - Stynes - Castillo with some variation likely in the specific order. Hill or Mackowiak could also start at third, and would probably provide more offense than Stynes.
Another wildcard is Jack Wilson's knee. He might have to sit out tonight after yesterday's tumble at first.
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