Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Taiwanese Lobbyists Back Kuo for Closer

I suppose with Chin-Lung Hu gone from the Dodgers, it was inevitable that attention would quickly shift to Hong-Chih Kuo for the Taiwanese fan contingent. Thus quoth the Taipei Times:

Taiwan’s Kuo Hong-chih could be the closer for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year as the club enters the season with an unsettled bullpen while hoping to avoid back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 1986-1987.

Kuo was assigned the job when Jonathan Broxton blew some save opportunities in the second half of last year.

On the question of whether Broxton could still close, an official Web site article said Broxton’s fastball last year lost a few ticks on the radar gun, but management believed his second-half collapse was mostly mental.

“A closer with doubts is a very dicey proposition, so even though he comes to camp with the job, the assumption is that his leash will be short,” the article said.

No mention of what article is being referenced there in the last graf. And this is how rumors get started (for what it's worth, I don't think this is such a bad idea, however I am concerned that Kuo's arm is held together with twine and rubber bands and overuse could cause it to snap irreparably).

3 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

That's from Kenny G, so not exactly an official team position

Steve Sax said...

if that's where they took the Kuo point, that's really a stretch.

Like Kuo's elbow tendon.

Josh S. said...

"Hoping to avoid back-to-back losing seasons..."

Now THAT'S a rallying cry! Put that shit on a free t-shirt!