I saw he hit 88 mph a few times on Gameday’s gun. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If Mussina is throwing 85-87 mph, he’s going to be in for a long, long season. If he’s throwing closer to, and touching 90 mph, he can be effective. It’s still April, and 88 mph is something I hadn’t seen from Mussina till yesterday, so maybe there’s hope. Some people will say it’s only a couple mph so what’s the big deal, well, for every 2mph you add to a pitch, it travels to the plate at .01 seconds faster. So a guy tossing 85mph is going to give a batter .475 seconds of reaction time, while the guy tossing 90mph will be at .45 seconds. A 100 mph pitch is .40 by example. It might not seem like much, but it’s the difference between fouling a pitch off, or missing it, to putting it in play. A guy facing an 85 mph pitch is able to sit on something, since his reaction time is increased. Obviously this doesn’t mean that Mussina can’t be successful. It simply points out that he’ll have to be perfect more often than not, if he’s tossing it at 85. Mussina throws strikes, but he doesn’t like to throw inside. That’s why he needs every mph he can get.

Wait & see what he accomplishes after 3 or 4 full years in the rotation. If he avoids injury, that 3-4 years could be just a good start.

Part of why I say this is because CM Wang got to 50 wins about as soon as anyone in recent years, in terms of number of games. He did it sooner than Johan Santana did. Yet still, many people are saying he’s not all that good.

Doc Gooden was an extreeeemely rare case of a guy winning so much, so early in his career, and at such a young age. Wang got to 50 wins on a game pace close to him. Will Joba have to go 50-10 over his first 2 years to satisfy everyones expectations?

Jen … I would guess that it’s from the first play of the game, where Swisher bunted and Mussina threw him out.

Posted by Mark Feinsand on April 24, 2008 12:47 PM

If Joba goes into the rotation, and just succeeds, I think at that point you can have the conversation about the guy going back to the pen and killing hitters with his fastball slider combo for years to come. But the point is that the kid has the potential to be one of the best starters in the league. That kind of pitcher does not grow on trees and should not under any condition be wasted sitting down in the bullpen until the 8th or 9th inning.

How many time sdo you think Mitch Albom or Bob Ryan want to come out of there chairs and STRANGLE him on Sunday’s Sports Reporters on ESPN?

NO MORE POLITICS !!!

Where do I send in my ‘Man-Card’ for this violation, and is it a one week or two week suspension?!?!?