Hard to watch.

I don't know if Rich Harden is hurt, but if possible, today's line . . . Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA R Harden 3.2 5 4 4 6 5 1 94-53 4.72 . . . was probably kind, even tossing in the two hit batsmen, compared to how off he looked. When he missed, either in the strike zone or out, he usually missed badly, without nearly enough stuff to overcome his mistakes. Frankly, it would be a little reassuring if there was some sort of minor physical issue that might explain what's going on with Harden. As it stands, he's not giving his team a good enough chance to win. Three and a half baserunners per inning isn't going to cut it, whether he's guaranteed $7.5 million or making the league minimum. Speaking of which, Derek Holland just threw an eight-pitch (six-strike) first in Memphis, keeping Oklahoma City and the Redbirds scoreless. Holland came into the game with this line through two AAA starts: Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA D.Holland 13.2 10 1 1 1 9 1 180-119 0.66 Pacific Coast League lineups aren't Toronto, Cleveland, and New York, but if Harden is dealing with some sort of physical issue, there's an interesting alternative right now in a guy on the same pitching schedule. * * * ADDENDUM: Derek Holland has been relieved after six scoreless in Memphis, with Oklahoma City ahead, 3-0. Don't read too much into that. Holland had thrown 93 pitches (57 for strikes), after throwing 82 and 98 in his first two starts. Could he have given the RedHawks another inning? Probably. Was he denied the seventh because he's going to pitching in Arlington in five days? No. If a decision had been made to get Holland up here in five or six days, and if the organization decided he needed to be lifted early from today's start to protect him and the club, he'd have been gone from today's start before getting through six. In other words, don't read anything into Holland's Sunday afternoon other than the obvious: it's another tremendous effort for the 23-year-old, who now has an ERA of 0.46 in three RedHawks starts (19.2 innings, one run [a Mike Restovich solo home run in the season opener], 17 hits [.236 opponents' average], three walks, 15 strikeouts). It's less meaningful than the fact that Josh Hamilton, as Eric Nadel pointed out on the broadcast, has one hit to right field this season, and just one other ball hit hard in that direction (the line drive that Mark Teixeira snared going up today). But it's a good development, as have been the minor league starts that Brandon McCarthy and Michael Kirkman and Guillermo Moscoso and Omar Beltre and Justin Smoak and Max Ramirez and Matt Brown and Craig Gentry and Chad Tracy and Tanner Scheppers and Alexi Ogando have gotten off to. There are several reasons that strong starts by those players can be huge, given their chances to help in the big leagues this year. One of those reasons, and the easiest to get our heads wrapped around, is the idea that players like Holland could make the Rangers better right away. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, even though I wouldn't discourage you from getting fired up about what the lefthander is doing in an effort to force his way back into the big league picture. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com Twitter @newbergreport