Chris Withrow has a long season to forget about a long night.
In his first opportunity to put a disappointing 2010 behind him, Withrow was rocked during Thursday night’s season opener at AT&T Field as the Chattanooga Lookouts fell 12-4 to the Tennessee Smokies. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in four innings.
“I told Chris that this was the worst game he was going to have all year,” Lookouts first-year pitching coach Chuck Crim said. “He went out and threw five unbelievable innings his last outing in spring training. Chris definitely showed some good stuff at times tonight, but when he missed they let him know it.”
The Smokies pounded out 17 hits in a game that followed a ceremonial first pitch by Nick Dobbs, the son of 1909 Lookouts manager John Dobbs.
Withrow, who had a team-high 27 starts for the Lookouts a year ago, began last season as the No. 2 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization according to Baseball America. He went 4-9 with a 5.97 earned run average but remains the No. 4 organizational prospect.