Sometimes You've Gotta Take The Long View
Ryan Drese, Tomo Ohka, and Junior Spivey are demonstrating why one game isn't nearly enough to evaluate a roster move.
Ohka got knocked around in his second start and I'm not quite sure if Spivey has had a hit since that big homer in his first game.
Last night was Drese's chance to show that his 8 shutout innings against Anaheim weren't a fluke.
He failed.
But, he did win a Lame Duck!
He lasted just three plus innings, giving up five runs. Drese got the Frank Robinson Special; He was yanked mid-count to the pitcher.
It's not the first time Frank's done that. And it won't be the last. No matter when it's done, it's an obnoxious move by the manager.
Drese stunk last night because his sinker didn't have the movement it did against the Angels. Supposedly Randy St. Claire got him to throw from a higher angle, which would create more downward movement on his sinker.
I wonder if he reverted to form last night, throwing from a lower angle, eliminating most of the movement from the pitch.
And when the sinker isn't moving, it gets well acquainted with the outfield wall.
Frank Senior Moment
In the middle of the game, when they were down by just two, the Nationals had runners on first and second with nobody out. Cristian Guzman was at the plate.
What does Frank do?
If you guessed bunt, you'd have been right in every game but this.
Frank didn't even have Guzman fake a bunt. He swung away and grounded into a rally-killing double play.
The decision to bunt or not to bunt is debatable, I suppose. (For the record, I would've bunted -- and I said this ahead of time in the game thread -- especially because I don't have much faith in Guzman despite his recent hitting.)
But, what irks me about it is the inconcistency of Frank's decisions. I realize you don't want to become completely predictable, but Frank was so overly bunt happy early in the year that he was bunting in situations where it (according to the charts) cost the team runs. That AB was a situation where your team comes out slightly ahead even with an average hitter, which Guzman is decidedly not.
There has to be a line of thinking behind these decisions. What is it? And laughing about computers and management by gut isn't the right answer.
Just as we can't take one outing by Drese as signs he's turned it around or a failure, we can't judge the bullpen by one outing either.
But, there are warning signs. Gary Majewski and Luis Ayala have thrown a ton of innings in a ton of games, especially lately.
Unless the offense starts letting them back off the pace a little bit, that might present a large problem come August and September.
Hopefully last night's burp was just a fluke and not a warning sign of fatigue. Majewski has had a few shaky outings over the last month. And Ayala has already had a few rough weeks this season.
We're going to need them to have some healthy arms and hope that Joey Eischen can pitch effectively when he returns.
Road Trip Record:
4-4 (See! I told you nitpickers!)
Road Trip Goald:
5-4
It's an early game today: 12:30
That off-day tomorrow is going to really come in handy for them.
Ohka got knocked around in his second start and I'm not quite sure if Spivey has had a hit since that big homer in his first game.
Last night was Drese's chance to show that his 8 shutout innings against Anaheim weren't a fluke.
He failed.
But, he did win a Lame Duck!
He lasted just three plus innings, giving up five runs. Drese got the Frank Robinson Special; He was yanked mid-count to the pitcher.
It's not the first time Frank's done that. And it won't be the last. No matter when it's done, it's an obnoxious move by the manager.
Drese stunk last night because his sinker didn't have the movement it did against the Angels. Supposedly Randy St. Claire got him to throw from a higher angle, which would create more downward movement on his sinker.
I wonder if he reverted to form last night, throwing from a lower angle, eliminating most of the movement from the pitch.
And when the sinker isn't moving, it gets well acquainted with the outfield wall.
In the middle of the game, when they were down by just two, the Nationals had runners on first and second with nobody out. Cristian Guzman was at the plate.
What does Frank do?
If you guessed bunt, you'd have been right in every game but this.
Frank didn't even have Guzman fake a bunt. He swung away and grounded into a rally-killing double play.
The decision to bunt or not to bunt is debatable, I suppose. (For the record, I would've bunted -- and I said this ahead of time in the game thread -- especially because I don't have much faith in Guzman despite his recent hitting.)
But, what irks me about it is the inconcistency of Frank's decisions. I realize you don't want to become completely predictable, but Frank was so overly bunt happy early in the year that he was bunting in situations where it (according to the charts) cost the team runs. That AB was a situation where your team comes out slightly ahead even with an average hitter, which Guzman is decidedly not.
There has to be a line of thinking behind these decisions. What is it? And laughing about computers and management by gut isn't the right answer.
But, there are warning signs. Gary Majewski and Luis Ayala have thrown a ton of innings in a ton of games, especially lately.
Unless the offense starts letting them back off the pace a little bit, that might present a large problem come August and September.
Hopefully last night's burp was just a fluke and not a warning sign of fatigue. Majewski has had a few shaky outings over the last month. And Ayala has already had a few rough weeks this season.
We're going to need them to have some healthy arms and hope that Joey Eischen can pitch effectively when he returns.
4-4 (See! I told you nitpickers!)
Road Trip Goald:
5-4
It's an early game today: 12:30
That off-day tomorrow is going to really come in handy for them.
posted by Chris Needham at
9:12 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home