http://0rz.net/661te

 Jim Bowden, The Examiner
 May 17, 2006 7:00 AM

 WASHINGTON - Our dismal start can be directly blamed on pitching, one of the
most difficult areas of a baseball team to predict.


Our Opening Day starter, Livan Hernandez, is 1-4 with a 6.52 ERA despite
being healthy. This is the same pitcher who won 11 straight games at one
point last season and would have won 20 if not for his knee injury.

Our No. 2 starter, John Patterson, is 1-0 and on the disabled list. We hope
to have him back in early June.

This offseason, despite criticism, we decided not to match Oakland’s $22
million offer to Esteban Loaiza, our No. 3 starter last season. Does that
decision haunt us? No. He is 0-3 with an 8.35 ERA and on the disabled list.

Our No. 4 starter this season was supposed to be Hector Carrasco. But we
decided not to match the nearly $8 million deal he received from the Angels.
By the way, Carrasco has yet to win a single game for them.

We took a low-risk gamble on two other free agents: Tony Armas, Jr., who is
now 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA and has been our best starter; and Ramon Ortiz, who
is 0-4 and has been our worst starter.

Of course, we also have had our share of injuries to starting pitchers with
Brian Lawrence, Ryan Drese and Pedro Astacio all going down for long periods
of time or the whole season in the case of Lawrence.

Zach Day was claimed off waivers from the Rockies and has had two pretty good
starts. Mike O’Connor was called up from Class AAA New Orleans and is 2-1.
He would have won a third game if the bullpen didn’t blow a ninth-inning
lead.

Oh, and what if A.J. Burnett had accepted our four-year offer? Like Loaiza,
Burnett hasn’t won a game for his new team, the Blue Jays, and is on the
disabled list ... again. Remember, he got close to $55 million for five years.

Starting pitching is never a sure thing and always the most difficult to
trade and sign. We have used nine starting pitchers and it’s only May 17th.
Who’s next to look for? Probably Shawn Hill, who is throwing well at Class
AA Harrisburg. Reliever Jon Rauch is always a possibility, but we hate to
move him out of the bullpen right now with the success he’s having and how
quickly he is developing in that role.

Let’s now look at the bullpen. Our closer, Chad Cordero, has given up six
home runs in 17 innings and his ERA is 4.58. Gary Majewski has allowed 12
walks in 22 innings. Luis Ayala is out for the year after undergoing Tommy
John surgery. That trio was primarily responsible for all our one-run wins
last year and first place status last July. Mike Stanton has been solid, as
has Rauch. Felix Rodriguez’s ERA is 6.33. Joey Eischen’s is 10.45.

Who is next for our bullpen? Saul Rivera, Bill Bray and Santiago Ramirez are
making big statements in New Orleans and are being watched closely.

You win with pitching. For us to turn this season around and become
competitive again, our proven pitchers must step up and be accounted for. If
not, major changes will begin to happen, sooner rather than later.

Most of our emphasis on all trades, free agents and the upcoming draft will
be on pitching. For now, our priority is to get our own young talented
pitchers back on track.