Olsen Pitches a Gem

Had the opportunity to catch part of the Marlins' victory last night over the Brewers 3-0. Scott Olsen somehow has found his groove after being statistically the worst regular starter in the NL last season. He is now 4-1 with an excellent 2.22 ERA and a sparkling 1.05 WHIP.

I particularly enjoyed the late stretch where Olsen got fired up after failing to give himself run support. Somehow the Marlins, with a 3-0 lead, had the bases loaded with no outs and got nothing out of that situation. Olsen struck out with 1 out in the inning and returned to the dugout livid with himself. Throwing stuff, the usual. Looks like his anger problems haven't entirely gone away.

However, whatever he's done to control that anger has been working. Usually, he might have lost his focus and begun to pitch poorly. Instead he walked up to the mound and smoked Prince Fielder for a strikeout, eventually leading the team to a victory with 8 2/3 innings pitched.

With the Philly loss, this puts us back in a first place tie atop the NL East. It's a nice place to be, even if it is early May. You have to like what the young lineup and the bullpen are doing to make up for the pretty weak starting rotation.