Thinking about Kim. After reading this thread, I want Kim to remain the closer. Last night, he got the first two guys (Blake and Gerut) easily. Kim seemed pissed at Gerut for not getting out of the way of an inside pitch earlier in his at-bat and when he drilled Martinez in the thigh, I was sure he had done it on purpose. It certainly looked that way. But because it brought the tying run to the plate, it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Kim's next pitch barely grazed Hafner's shirt and that was that.

Kim has had trouble with LH hitters this year, as his slider has a tendency to sail way inside. All 10 of the batters he has hit this year have been left-handed hitters. In 2000-02, there was little difference in who he hit. Fans have mentioned his flat fastball and decreased velocity. He could be tired. He has pitched 20 more innings this year than in any other season and 34 more than last year:

2000:  70.2

2001:  98

2002:  84

2003: 118.1

There is also the question of why every single relief pitcher handed over to Grady and Dave Wallace has caused such headaches. One poster in the thread above wrote: "We've seen way too many pitchers underperform their established career levels to call this a fluke. My question is, what exactly are they doing wrong? ... Are our pitchers not getting help fixing mechanics? Are they unprepared for the batters? ... [W]hat goes on behind the scenes that is negatively affecting the pitching?"

Kim since the ASG: 31.1 IP, 26 H (2 HR), 8 BB, 33 K. Opp. BA .210. That's not bad. ... Kim's ERA by month: April 4.00, May 1.29, June 4.50, July 0.96, August 5.75. So he should be due for a strong September (0.00 so far)! ... Since his recent bout of overuse ended September 3, he's pitched in 5 games and faced 21 batters: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 runs.

Eric Van looks at Grady's "criminal overuse" of Varitek. ... Terry Mulholland will start for Cleveland instead of Lee tonight. After 6 innings in Oakland, Seattle leads the A's 5-2.