Lance Lynn made his first appearance of Spring Training 2011 Wednesday afternoon, appearing after a less-than-stellar debut from Jake Westbrook, and did not disappoint, throwing three scoreless innings in the Cardinals' 3-2 win over the New York Mets. The result? Some classic Dave Duncan kind-of-impressed Crash Davis speak.
↵How close can Dunc get to the edge of complimenting Lance Lynn's pitching? Witness a master at work: "I was impressed with the way he handled himself... his mound presence was good... the pace of game was good... you can't argue with the results." Just as he gets to the point where he is forced to confront Lynn's results, he throws the burden of judgment on you, the viewer. Perfect.
↵The Cardinals' ostensibly youth-averse braintrust deserves no little slack for this perceived fault a year after putting Jaime Garcia in the Major League rotation less than 40 innings removed from elbow surgery, but it's clear that Lynn has an uphill battle to starting 2011 in the rotation. But maybe that's just Tony La Russa's way—I don't think he's comfortable unless there's some uphill battle to be fought.
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