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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Typical bad managing by a bad manager…
Giants are winning 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th with their starting pitcher, Sanchez, leading off the inning at bat. He has already thrown over 100 pitches. Sanchez is a good but not great pitcher. Somewhere around league average.
They let him bat. Nothing happens in the inning for the Giants. In the top of the 9th, he walks the leadoff batter and they immediately take him out. What was the point of letting him bat? Either you think he is still good enough to pitch the entire 9th, whether he gets the first batter out or not, or you don’t. Not to mention the fact that the next batter (after the walk) is a lefty (Gonzalez).
IOW, if you plan on taking him out if the first batter gets on, then obviously you think that he has little or nothing left in the tank. If that be the case, pinch hit for him and then bring someone else in in the 9th.
Bochy’s decisions were clearly of the “I’ll do whatever it takes to avoid criticism,” rather than actually think about what are the best moves to help his team get into the post-season.
First, “I won’t take my starter out while pitching a shutout, lest my relievers blow the game and I get lambasted for that.”
Second, “If the first batter gets on, I’ll take him out, lest I be accused of leaving him in too long.”
Third, “I’ll bring in my closer, Wilson, against the lefty batter, Gonzalez, even though my closer threw over 30 pitches the night before, lest I lose the game without bringing in my stopper.”
The other reason for bringing in the lefty to pitch to Gonzalez, or even leaving Sanchez in, is to keep Fowler from stealing (a generally underused strategy - bringing in a lefty to keep a runner from stealing second).
Needless to say, it all blew up in Bochy ‘s face, and they lost a game that they could ill-afford to lose…
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