Rockies 2, Orioles 4

June 8, 2007: Jeff Francis (COL) vs. Steve Tracshel (BAL)

Some observations from attending the game at Camden Yards this evening:

Temperature at game time: 96-degrees. It might be summer time.

Jeff Francis is 26, but looks like he's only 17. He has a disciplined warm-up routine and maintains his composure no matter what situation he's pitching in. He has great potential.

The Jeff Francis fastball seems to top out in the mid to high 80s. Which isn't overpowering. What he does do extremely well is mix up his pitches, speeds and location. I saw curve balls coming in at any point in the count. And I saw a lot of weak ground balls on his curve when batters were swinging way in front of the pitch.

Jeff Francis pitches for contact. And when some of those hits get through he can get into a bit of a jam. Also, Nick Markakis is an excellent hitter and he demonstrated what he could do when he's sitting on a fastball. His two-run home run was the difference in the ballgame.

As a left-handed pitcher, if Francis had a slightly better fastball his speed differential could be devastating. He's one to keep an eye on.

The Steve Tracshel fastball barely cracks 90. But he'll use it often. He's effective at getting the first two outs of an inning. Then he starts to nibble at the strike zone. Both of his runs allowed came after two outs.

For a veteran, Tracshel rattles easily. After allowing a run to score on a balk, he was clearly not as sharp and would not be back for the next inning.

I got to see the Orioles manager get ejected from the game. That was fun.

Oriole Ballpark at Camden Yards is a nice ballpark architecturally. It could use some upgrades. After experiencing the crispness of the video screen and wrap-around LCD at Angel Stadium the last couple of years the display at Camden Yards looks like a tiny, blurry throw-back to a bygone era. The sound system is also decidedly lo-fi.

Bad American League teams can out-hit bad National League teams.
(Win Probability graphing by Fangraphs)