Lee Cleared; Set to Start May 2nd
There may not have been much of a case at first, but the points about Lee’s recovery from foot surgery, the abdominal injury, and his lack of work at that point in spring training, placed the errant pitch enough doubt to clear him. Because, you know, headhunting in a meaningless game between two teams that aren’t even in the same league made a whole lot of sense to begin with.
The result is a boon to the M’s regardless, but it will come at a good time too. Lee will be scheduled to face the Rangers on the 2nd, and then the Angels on the 8th, and then Tampa Bay on the 14th, which gives him enough room to work his way in against some of the weaker teams in our own division, while at the same time setting him up to be ready to face a legitimate challenge in the Rays. Our May schedule isn’t daunting, but it’s not the cakewalk April was set up to be either.
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I love baseball. Good for Cliff. Good for us.
Great news. Just bought May 2 tickets!
I’m not so sure that Anaheim and Texas are “weaker teams.” However, those are two Safeco-aided starts, so that’ll be good for him.
Oh, and a rehab start Sunday in Tacoma. I wonder if I can talk the wife into going…
Thank god they opened their eyes and ears. Lee didn’t deserve anything except maybe a ‘warning’ from the ump. Felix and Lee coming soon to a ballpark near you!
My next tickets, by a very nice coincidence, are May 2. This is going to be fun.
To this point, Anaheim has scored 54 runs, putting them at seventh in the AL, and Texas is only two runs better than Baltimore. Part of that is scheduling; the Yankees, Cleveland, and Minnesota have all pitched stingily so far (I can’t say “well” because the Indians are third in the league in walks, to the Yankees and the Twins at the bottom), but there are definitely holes in that particular lineup, Wood being the glaring one at the moment.
The Rangers have less of an excuse, facing off against the Blue Jays, and should get an opportunity to get some confidence back in the series with Boston, but they also have guys that are scuffling and Nelson Cruz is the only one that’s started out the year particularly well. No one in the lineup is really walking.
Crap, I already made plans to go see the games from May 4-7 because I figured our best 4 pitchers would be pitching after a day off on May 3rd. Guess I’ll miss Lee if they give him the extra day. Oh well, at least I won’t miss Felix or RRS.
Gives us an extra arm in the ‘pen for those five days! Thank you MLB for exercising common sense!
Me too!
I’d guess Dave was thinking that the best teams in the East (like Tampa) are better than some of the teams in our division.
Dave isn’t the only one posting…
Jay, in your runs comparison, the Rangers have played two fewer games. Makes a big difference this time of year.
It certainly does, but even adding another two games at the current pace, they’d still be below average, and in the same place as the Angels and M’s are, roughly.
It’s weird to think of Texas as an offensively-challenged team; even weirder to concede they have some good pitching. Speaking of which, what kind of bad scheduling luck is it that the M’s are probably going to miss facing Harden in that homestand? Granted, if he continues to be as hittable as he has been he may be out of the rotation altogether, and if he pulls it together to stay in the order we may be happy to miss him, but I’d love to see the M’s face the version that is currently sporting a 6.72 xFIP.
So Baker now says Lee’s going on April 30th vs Texas. Which means May 6th vs. the Rays, 12th vs. Baltimore, and 17th vs. Oakland. That may be better from the team’s standpoint, but it’s a risk.
Of course, I find this out AFTER I book tickets for May 2nd.
You could see Lee in Tacoma on Sunday?