What a great first day of baseball.  As predicted, Josh Johnson and Jair Jurrjens showed some good stuff- fun to watch.  Jurrjens struggled mightily in the first inning, and perhaps that could be a sign that he doesn’t warm up well.  He couldn’t get his pitches down, and gave up several very good hits to fringe type players.  It was a struggle for him the entire first inning, and even some of the second- though then he had some luck that the hitters at the bottom of the Marlins order were swinging a little more freely.  Finally, in the third you could see his command and he went one, two three.

Josh Johnson looked like he is fully back to form, and was hitting some good numbers on the radar gun.  At one point, Joe West, the umpire at first and I assume the crew chief had a few words with Johnson, and a coach had to find out what the issue was.  My guess, without the ability to read lips, is that Johnson had some hitch in his delivery that could be called a balk by some and the umpire was giving clear warning that it was the case- particularly since he chose to speak up as the Braves got a runner on first.

There were a few other memorable moments during the game.  Billy Wagner entered and was throwing mid-90s, then reared back and came up with one that read 101 on the radar gun.  Now, the gun might have been dialed a bit high, but he certainly threw it 6 or 7 miles faster than any other pitch.  He then came back with an 84 mph changeup for the strikeout.

Lastly, there was a young pitcher named Craig Kimbrel who came in for the Marlins last time at bat and was very very good.  He had some velocity, but he also moved his pitches around.  Looking at his baseball-reference.com page, he seems to be on the fast track up to the big leagues- though he isn’t on the 40-man roster yet so expect him to start at AA this season, and then either move up to AAA mid-way through.  In his two years he has risen by at least two levels each year.  He was a small guy- very much a Billy Wagner type.  I also thought Scott Strickland, though not a very similar throwing style.  He won’t bother the Mets or the Phillies this year, but look out soon.

Lastly, I sat with a very nice family that had two sons that seemed very interested in baseball- at least the 8 year old who plays first base.  He was following right along and we had some great baseball chatter.  For me, sitting in the stands talking baseball is one of the best things in life.  We wish so hard to be that guy on the field, but really I am glad I am who I am doing what I do.