Thursday, August 21, 2008

2006 Bowman - Kevin Millwood

Thursday is normally reserved for game-used or autograph cards. Obviously card number 83 in the 2006 Bowman set is neither. I didn't have any game-used or autographed Kevin Millwood though.

The reason I wanted to post a card of Millwood is to recognize his complete game yesterday. Kevin threw all nine innings and won the game 9-1 over the Tigers. This was Millwood's first complete game since August of last season.

Sadly, this is a big accomplishment for the Rangers' pitching staff this year. Texas relievers have pitched over 465 innings this year. That leads the majors. It also wears the guys in the pen down to a nub. Burning up your relief is not the way to fend off an opposing team in late innings. These guys need to be kept as fresh as possible. Rangers pitchers need to go more than 5-6 innings a night to keep the bullpen effective. It would be nice to see the pitching staff get to the point where a complete game is an interesting note, not the greatest highlight of the night.

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