Given the talent on the team I've held judgment on Porter and whether or not he is the right guy for the job. I understand the philosophy of letting your starting pitchers learn to work out of jams and not looking in the dugout for help. Teaching them to dig down deep, and if you want to stay in the big leagues you better learn how to get out of trouble. That said, it was VERY obvious that Lucas Harrell didn't have it the other night, and thus why in the world would you keep him in there for as long as you did? He gave up 11 runs in one inning and by keeping him in there I think you destroyed any confidence he was holding on to. A pitcher either has it that night or he doesn't, and he OBVIOUSLY didn't have it that night and why you decided to keep him in the game makes me question your judgment. Porter what were you thinking? Please explain?
I think this year is worthless in determining whether or not Porter can manage. Sure, that was probably not the best decision to leave Harrell in, but even the best managers have some head-scratchers. For the most part, I feel he's made good decisions on when to go to the bullpen. It's not his fault our bullpen couldn't get out a 12 year old softball team. All that being said, his reaction to Stassi's HBP tonight makes me think he has what it takes. You gotta believe these guys want to go to war for him.
I don't think it matters with Harrell. He's 27 years old. If his lack of success is confidence related then that's something he has to get through on his own through adversity at this point, not through protecting him. If I recall he did the same thing with Lyles a while back and Porter praised him for handling it well.
I'm a proponent of the job Porter is doing so far. It seems like he understands what the goal of this season is, and that he's got a really young locker room that is full of guys who want to make it in the league. There's something to be said for playing for a manager who you know will give you every opportunity to work yourself out of a jam. While the Harrell situation itself might have been stretching that to its limit, I think Porter is just trying to establish consistency with his managerial style, and letting his players know that they never have to fear the quick pull (even if it's justified).
All year I've been extremely impressed with the job Bo Porter has done by keeping a smiling face with this club
Regardless of your feelings for Porter and how he handled Harrell, Harrell "only" gave up 7 of those runs in the 11 run inning. Not only that, when he left the game he had only given up 4 runs in that inning, so it's not like he was left in to suffer. Also, the runners he left on scored on two subsequent errors, aided by a walk from LeBlanc. In other words, had Villar and Dominquez handled their chances, this thread would probably not have been started. Harrell has been pretty bad this year, but there was nothing wrong with the way his outing was handled the other night.
It was just a full out sprint out of the dugout. He was by Max's side before Max knew what happened. Every manager will go check on an injured player, but Porter's reaction reminded me of a Little League parent when their kid gets injured. It just seemed very genuine, although I could be overanalyzing.
While I'm not a fan of a lot of his moves, he is really hamstrung. You have to go to the pen eventually and aside from Veras our pen has been a catastrophe all year. This team doesn't have a lot of leads to begin with. I'm fine moving forward with him, but I honestly believe MLB managers are extremely replaceable aside from a chosen few who do seem to make a difference.
They are tied for 5th in the AL in save opportunities, so they have had a reasonable number of leads to protect. Obviously, they also have more blown saves than any other team.
let me say that I never said he wasn't the right mgr for the job. I think he's done a good job thus far. I just questioned how he handled Harrell the other night. Feel free to disagree. The only way to see if he's the Mgr for the future is to give him some more talent to work with.
As far as Harrell goes, that game was already lost. Leaving him in there couldn't save the game and might save some innings for the bullpen. Additionally, while this year is a lost one for him, we still need to determine whether he deserves to be around after this year. Handling difficult situations is one way to measure both his character and poise. But I will agree that most of the time, I get mad when a manager leaves a starter in there when he is clearly spent or ineffective. As for Porter, squeezing out a win here or there isnt the priority this year and isnt the criteria for judging his managerial skills. The energy he gives the club plus his ability to win over the players and lead them are far more important at this juncture.
Jeez! Give the guy a break. You arent in the dugout so you have no clue whats going on! The man has a crap bullpen to work with.
Regardless, they have had just as many save opportunities as most AL teams (i.e., late leads in games).
