Why Eddie Shoudn't Pitch Everyday
Over on South Side Sox (a lesser Sox blog) today, there's some carping, in the wake of the eighth inning meltdown last night, about how Ozzie Guillen uses his bullpen. "With the exception of Jenks, who he has bizarrely used in a couple of less-than-three-out save opportunities, nobody has a defined role," the blogger complains. "Part of the success of last year's bullpen was how quickly everyone settled into their given role." This year, the blogger chides, Guillen simply hasn't established stable roles for his relievers.
I find this an odd complaint - my takeway from last night's game had nothing to do with Ozzie's handling of the bullpen, which, considering how badly almost everyone in our pen has thrown this year, has been nothing short of remarkable (I can only recall one game, before last night, in which our pen surrendered a lead), but with the other manager's handling of his bullpen, which stood in stark contrast to how Ozzie does things, and cost his team the game.
To wit: Eddie Guardado, Seattle "closer," entered the game with 8 runs allowed in 8.2 innings pitched. He had already blown two saves this year, one against the Sox. His numbers include 13 hits, 7 walks and one home run to Brian Anderson. Guardado has been even worse than his stats: only once this year has he recorded a 1-2-3 inning. In 10 outings after last night, he has been scored upon 6 times!
So, what does Bob Melvin do with a 1-run lead in the 9th? He calls on Everyday Eddie. Now, this would be one thing if he had no other options (as, for instance, would be the case if Jenks started faltering for the Sox right now). However, Bob Melvin is privileged to have two absolutely dominant right-handers in his bullpen right now. Rafael Soriano (2.30 ERA, 18K/15.2 IP), to be fair, had already been used. J.J. Putz (2.30 ERA, 22K/15.2), on the other hand, had been brought in with two outs in the eighth, when he quickly dispatched of Paul Konerko for his 22nd strikeout of the year. Putz, in contrast to Guardado, has pitched in 15 games this year and been scored upon...once! He also hadn't pitched in 3 days.
I submit to you that had Ozzie Guillen been managing the Mariners last night Putz would have finished the game and the Mariners would have held on to their lead. Guardado, on the other hand, would have stayed locked away in the bullpen until he could be used in a couple blowouts and get his confidence or stuff back (or not - in which case he would get shipped off, ala Shingo Takatsu). Instead, a manager likely obsessed with fitting his relievers into proper "roles" brought in his "closer" and allowed him to lose yet another game for his team, which is sinking like an anchor towards the cellar in the American League West.
When the Sox hired Guillen two years ago, I was skeptical about his ability to handle a pitching staff. It has turned out that his lack of conventional wisdom has made him an excellent manager of pitching. He has occasionally made errors (he stuck with damaso Marte in pressure situations for too long last year), but for the most part Guillen has operated on a simple premise: a reliever who is struggling is not going to be allowed to blow a game for him if he can help it. The blogger who speaks of last year's role stability perhaps forgets that Takatsu gave way to Hermanson who gave way to Jenks at closer. Hermanson gave way to Politte as setup man. Marte eventually gave way to Cotts as left-handed late inning specialist. That said, it's easy to fit guys in roles when everyone's pitching well, as was the case for much of last year. The situation this year has been much more challenging. Guillen has had to manage through horrific stretches by Politte, Logan, Cotts and now McCarthy. Who was he supposed to use last night instead of Thornton (who pitched well) and Politte (who pitched okay, but did give up the lead)? McCarthy? Logan? He used Jenks admirably, I thought, to keep the game tied in the ninth and tenth and give the Sox a chance to win. And they won, again. It's actually remarkable we've won as often as we have, given how bad our bullpen currently is.
By the way, I count two games Pablo Ozuna's won in the last week. Jake, how did Borchard make out with Seattle?
I find this an odd complaint - my takeway from last night's game had nothing to do with Ozzie's handling of the bullpen, which, considering how badly almost everyone in our pen has thrown this year, has been nothing short of remarkable (I can only recall one game, before last night, in which our pen surrendered a lead), but with the other manager's handling of his bullpen, which stood in stark contrast to how Ozzie does things, and cost his team the game.
To wit: Eddie Guardado, Seattle "closer," entered the game with 8 runs allowed in 8.2 innings pitched. He had already blown two saves this year, one against the Sox. His numbers include 13 hits, 7 walks and one home run to Brian Anderson. Guardado has been even worse than his stats: only once this year has he recorded a 1-2-3 inning. In 10 outings after last night, he has been scored upon 6 times!
So, what does Bob Melvin do with a 1-run lead in the 9th? He calls on Everyday Eddie. Now, this would be one thing if he had no other options (as, for instance, would be the case if Jenks started faltering for the Sox right now). However, Bob Melvin is privileged to have two absolutely dominant right-handers in his bullpen right now. Rafael Soriano (2.30 ERA, 18K/15.2 IP), to be fair, had already been used. J.J. Putz (2.30 ERA, 22K/15.2), on the other hand, had been brought in with two outs in the eighth, when he quickly dispatched of Paul Konerko for his 22nd strikeout of the year. Putz, in contrast to Guardado, has pitched in 15 games this year and been scored upon...once! He also hadn't pitched in 3 days.
I submit to you that had Ozzie Guillen been managing the Mariners last night Putz would have finished the game and the Mariners would have held on to their lead. Guardado, on the other hand, would have stayed locked away in the bullpen until he could be used in a couple blowouts and get his confidence or stuff back (or not - in which case he would get shipped off, ala Shingo Takatsu). Instead, a manager likely obsessed with fitting his relievers into proper "roles" brought in his "closer" and allowed him to lose yet another game for his team, which is sinking like an anchor towards the cellar in the American League West.
When the Sox hired Guillen two years ago, I was skeptical about his ability to handle a pitching staff. It has turned out that his lack of conventional wisdom has made him an excellent manager of pitching. He has occasionally made errors (he stuck with damaso Marte in pressure situations for too long last year), but for the most part Guillen has operated on a simple premise: a reliever who is struggling is not going to be allowed to blow a game for him if he can help it. The blogger who speaks of last year's role stability perhaps forgets that Takatsu gave way to Hermanson who gave way to Jenks at closer. Hermanson gave way to Politte as setup man. Marte eventually gave way to Cotts as left-handed late inning specialist. That said, it's easy to fit guys in roles when everyone's pitching well, as was the case for much of last year. The situation this year has been much more challenging. Guillen has had to manage through horrific stretches by Politte, Logan, Cotts and now McCarthy. Who was he supposed to use last night instead of Thornton (who pitched well) and Politte (who pitched okay, but did give up the lead)? McCarthy? Logan? He used Jenks admirably, I thought, to keep the game tied in the ninth and tenth and give the Sox a chance to win. And they won, again. It's actually remarkable we've won as often as we have, given how bad our bullpen currently is.
By the way, I count two games Pablo Ozuna's won in the last week. Jake, how did Borchard make out with Seattle?
posted by jb | 10:49 AM
4 Comments:
Bob Melvin has as much control of the Mariner's pen as Jerry Manuel does of the Sox.
'Lesser Sox blog' must have something to do with this blog being above getting it's facts straight.
Mike Hargrove? Don't they look kind of similar though?
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Good Luck!
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