How bad of a manager is this guy you ask? Pretty damn bad. I understand his concept of trying to manage hard, but sometimes he manages too hard, and screws up. He caused us 2 wins last week when he didn't leave in Oswalt, and the next day Reynolds. The thing that gets me is what he said in the paper after the game he pulled Oswalt and they lost. It was something along these lines, If Oswalt had a good, short 7th he would have stayed in the game, but it was a long inning, so I had to pull him. Alright Jimy I agree with you, that if he had a long 7th to pull him, but HE DIDN'T. He went 3 up, 3 down, and was by far his best inning. I really wish Drayton had baseball knowledge, so he could have hired Felipe Alou.
He caused us 2 wins last week when he didn't leave in Oswalt, and the next day Reynolds. This is a dangerous way to judge managers. I think ANY manager you have is going to do things that cost the team games. Its much more difficult to identify the games the manager won by making certain moves, so the manager will always look bad. I also think we have give him way more than 2 months before making any judgements on him.
Another thing people always complain about is that Jimy should only bring in relievers like Dotel and Wags with the bases empty because they can't pitch out of jams. So, what if he had trotted Roy or Shane back out there for the 8th and they gave up 2 quick hits and then Jimy had to go to the pen? People would be saying he should have just brought in Dotel to start the inning with the bases open. Once in a while the responsibility has to fall on the pen to finish out ball games for us, not on Jimy's decisions...
People would be saying he should have just brought in Dotel to start the inning with the bases openPeople would be saying he should have just brought in Dotel to start the inning with the bases open Your probably right people would say that, but I think some of the better managers in Baseball, Torre, Valentine, Cox, LaRussa, Piniela(s/p), hell even Howe, trust the Starter to get them that complete game. I think you need to let the starters go longer. Espicially with the Oswalt deal, he pitched a great 7th. I'm a firm believer that it's going to take a reliever a couple hitters to get warm, so I'm a firm believer to sink or swim with the Starter. I understand your point though Rice Rocket, but I haven't liked Jimy Williams since he was in Bean Town, should have went with Fergusi, Alou, hell even Pena.
Though my first post may not have seemed like it, I agree with you that I think Jimy should be throwing the starters deeper into the game when they are going well like Roy obviously was in the game in quesiton. I was just pointing out that the relievers should be able to come in and get three outs without giving up a bunch of runs all the time which they actually did quite well yesterday. Another thing to consider is where we are in the batting order. In general I don't mind pinch hitting for our starter in the bottom of the 7th or top of the 8th (home or away) if it can give us some insurance and then hopefully the pen does its job. In fact, I think it's the right move to try to get another run or 2 up and then trust the pen.
Espicially with the Oswalt deal, he pitched a great 7th. I'm a firm believer that it's going to take a reliever a couple hitters to get warm, so I'm a firm believer to sink or swim with the Starter. Unfortunately, today's game demonstrates the opposite side of this. Roy was doing great through 7, so Jimy lets him pitch the 8th where he promptly gives up 3 runs. In general, I do agree with you that our starters could and should go longer. Unfortunately, it just seems to work out bad whichever way we go.
LOL, I ask this, Can there be a worse game right after I tell Jimy Williams to use his starters deeper . Oh well, that's Baseball for you, but I think if Jimy did what he did today using his Starters deeper, in the long run it will help. I hate to turn this into a Blast Williams rant, but I think Williams needs to be blasted. What was he thinking, I can't recall the inning, but Ausmus gets a base knock, Oswalt gets pegged. Why in the blue hell is Lugo not bunting, you get runners at 2nd and 3rd w/ 1 out. Instead Lugo nearly grounds into a DP so now its 1st and 3rd w/ 1 out, Biggio then grounds into a 1-6-3 DP. I mean if they bunt they aren't for sure going to get that run, but atleast another batter goes to the plate with a chance. Ironically, the very next inning, Berkman leads it off with a homer. Lets hope Miller pitches well tomorrow, and becomes our savior, we need one.
Bunting costs you a precious, precious out. In general, I agree. But for a team that can't even score 1 run and consistently loses games by 1 or 2 runs (we've lost 7 of our last 8 games by 1 or 2 runs), it might be worth trying to just take the 1 run if we can get it. The wait-for-the-big-hit approach apparently isn't working!
Well, technically, 6 of our last 7 losses have been by less than two runs, but the point still stands. The thing I don't really like about bunting is that I feel its overused, I really, really, really, really, really(you get the point) don't like bunting to advance runners from first to second. It just seems wasteful of that out, without moving the runner significantly closer to home plate. Second to third is a different story, but I don't like bunting runners from first to second.
Second to third is a different story, but I don't like bunting runners from first to second. Agreed. BranJ was talking about a situation moving the guy to 3rd with 1 out though. That would have at least made Biggio Strikeout instead of grounding into a double play. Anything to keep that runner at 3rd from scoring!! Well, technically, 6 of our last 7 losses have been by less than two runs, but the point still stands. Don't forget to add today's game to that list. 5 of the 6 on the losing streak, today, and the last one before our winning streak. We're also a ridiculous 3-18 when scoring 3 or fewer runs (or something like that -- it might be outdated). The ratio is not really surprising, but the fact that we've scored 3 or less 21 times sucks.
