Barzilla, I forgot what I predicted for Chris Sampson a long time ago in an old thread, but I believe I had him going 14-10 with a 4.50 ERA in 2008...

I'd have to go back and check, but that would be a good win-loss record and ERA for a 5th starter wouldn't you say?

He may even produce a much better ERA than I expected out of him...

I was always much higher on Felipe Paulino instead of Chris Sampson, just because Paulino was younger and he had serious heat to be a great strikeout pitcher, but sometimes the proof is in the pudding and our good friend Baqqs was right all along when it came to Chris Sampson possibly being the real deal.

I have doubted Chris Sampson in the past, but he really showed me something good today.

Barzilla, there's no question the best pitchers try to hit their spots like you say, but I don't believe pitching for contact is a load of BS either. I've heard Brian Moehler talk about this very situation during this past spring training and he said he tried to get the batters to hit the ball into play, because he'd rather give his defense a chance to field the ball instead of walking hitters.

I've also heard Roy Oswalt mention on numerous occasions that he tries to get outs on contact for quicker innings and he's not always dependant on the strikeout.

Maybe we have different things in mind when discussing what it means to pitch for contact?

I'm probably not understanding what you mean.

Why can't we simply be happy for Chris Sampson? He was awesome today and that's all that matters to me.

There's nothing to question or take away from his performance today.

To assume he's going to pitch poorly or get hit hard in the future just because he's not a strikeout pitcher is sort of downgrading his excellent performance today. I'll worry about Chris Sampson's next start when it gets here. For now I'm celebrating his good outing for today...