Ya know, if it weren’t for the 6th inning Tuesday night, Mark Hendrickson would’ve had a pretty good outing. The problem is, he seems to have that kind of inning at some point during every outing.
Last night, it was a 5-hit, 4-run 6th inning, complete with a Ronnie Belliard grand slam, that sank the Marlins chances at a win against the NL East cellar dweller, Washington Nationals. Not even a 2 for 4, 5-RBI night from SS1a could save the fish from Mark Hendrickson’s foibles in the 9-6 loss. (Though, Ramirez now has 3 homers in his last 3 games, and well, he’s pretty awesome.)
Dating back to May 25th, Hendrickson has given up 42 runs in 39 innings; good enough for a 1-5 record in that time and a 5.93 ERA on the season. (The lone win, of course, was courtesy of a 4-homer, 8-run offensive explosion against the Giants.)
With Scott Olsen, Andrew Miller and Ricky Nolasco holding down the top 3 spots, the team’s patience with Ryan Tucker and Josh Johnson set to join the team in the near future, it looks like Mark Hendrickson might be relegated to long relief. Honestly, it’s not such a bad thing. We kinda had a feeling Hendrickson’s early performances were a mirage, but who were we to argue with a quick 7 wins? Now he can head back to a spot that he’s more suited for, and also give the Fish another arm in a bullpen that’s gotten it’s fair share of work midway through the season.
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
Dude, I don’t even want him in the pen. I just don’t see him as a go-to guy in a bases-loaded jam. I see him as a guy who just plain sucks and shouldn’t be in the big leagues because he can’t keep his team in the game to save his life.
“Talent? Is that you down there?”
Marky Mark can be decent in middle relief. I wouldn’t want him in with the game on the line, but he can be effective for 1-2 innings.
In most of his starts, he’s fine the first time through the lineup, but by the 4th or 5th starts getting pounded like a Holland Tunnel hooker. So for 1-2 innings he could get some guys out.