David Ohno mentioned in yesterday's game thread that he didn't know why Cook needs to have a breakthrough season, as Troy Renck has been consistently pushing during the spring. Well, sure enough, Renck has this:
For a team playing as poorly as it did at any point a year ago, Cook established a sense of normalcy. This is the kind of outing that can define a pitcher looking for a breakthrough season.
So, is Cook going to have a breakthrough season? If he follows his own comments we'll get out of him what we always expected:
"One thing that has been a problem for me has been something happens in the first inning and gets away," Cook said. "After I gave up that run, I stepped off the mound and told myself, 'Let's get going here.' "
Breakthrough season? What we always expected out of him? Whatever you want to call it, we definitely want to see more outings like last night instead of trips to the DL.
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Troy Tulowitzki's response upon hearing about Mark Grace's remark on Manny Corpas and vaseline during Sunday's game:
"So does he say the same thing when (baseball's best sinkerballer) Brandon Webb pitches?"
Zing!
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Let's hope U-Ball will also heed the advice Cook gave himself last night and get things going tonight. Less walks, fewer hits, and an inning or two more than last outing and maybe we'll see the start of a breakout for U-Ball.