Shaun Marcum

On the 21st of May, I asked about the reality of Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum.  Now he is answering with six shutout innings of two-hit/six-strikeout ball against the New York Yankees.

Ths strikeouts are remaining in the one-per-inning area, and that is a good enough indicator to keep riding him.  It is more than April stud/May flameout Ramon Ortiz offered.

The bigger question for baseball, though, is whether Joe Torre should be criticized for not getting his team ready to play against the pair of newbies, Marcum and yesterday's Cy Young for a day Dustan McGowan.  As a Yankees fan, I have been under the 12-year impression that opposing teams best chances to beat the Yanks on any given day was to throw a pitcher they have never faced.

If my decades plus impression is true, isn't it another indictment against Torre as a manager?