I think there's a slight difference this year though, yes it was about half full tonight but if you actually look at the crowd it's starting to trend younger and younger. This has been a trend that's slowly been building the last 2-3 years. It's probably going to take a full year of success to see consistent crowds of 25K plus but I think the dome won't be lacking in the atmosphere department. It'll be interesting to see what the crowd will be like tomorrow afternoon. Usually an early season afternoon game in the middle of the week gets about 15K but i'm hoping for something more like 20-22K.
Kyle Drabek looked pretty good tonight. He had a ton of movement on his pitches and he was overall more consistent with his delivery. His strike zone command still needs a little more work but he's a lot better than he was last year and he actually seems to be listening and taking in instructions from coaches and teamates whereas last year he'd sulk and start beating himself up emotionally. It's going to take him a while to become a complete pitcher but he's making progress which is all you can ask for.
The offense while still not totally in sync looked a lot closer to the offense this spring so that's a positive thing. You gotta love watching Brett Lawrie out there though he's been told by coaches not to go sliding at home and he still does it! In a way he reminds me of Pete Rose in that he goes all out no matter the score or situation. Hopefully that doesn't mean he'll get into injury problems. Jose Bautista is clearly struggling with his timing but I think he'll snap out of it in a week or two but if he doesn't than I think the magic may be over for him. Nice to see Edwin Encarnacion being more consistent with the bat early this season and nice to see Escobar and Lind starting to come around slowly but surely.
Tomorrow afternoon should be a dandy!
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