I promise I do not plan to make this a daily occurrence. I
also promise that I don’t place the team’s near collapse last night on the
manager even a little bit. Clay Buchholz has been brutal this year and when
your second best bullpen pitcher is a guy who should really just be a lefty
specialist (Franklin Morales), it is hard to critique bullpen decisions. But
last night’s bullpen management in the sixth inning is another example of Bobby
Valentine’s head-up-his-own-assness and adds to my nervousness over his ability
to competently manage this team. So on to the mini-boner, the McBoner if you
will (because Irish dudes are supposed to have small wangs).
After teetering on the edge of disaster all night, Buchholz
entered the sixth with a 7-1 lead. After striking out the first batter, he
allowed 2 singles (granted one was a bunt), a run scoring double and then a
walk to load the bases with one out. Now 7-2, Leatherface replaced the starter
with righty Scott Atchison to face lefty Joe Mauer. In a vacuum, this move is
not awful. I happen to think Atchison should not be on a Major League roster
and definitely should not be pitching in a big spot. But, as I mentioned
before, this team is bereft of solid relief pitchers so Atchison is sadly one
of the best options available in this situation. If Bobbo wants to let him work
out of this jam and finish the inning then I can’t really blame him.
Of course, Senor Sandwich Wrap had no intention of letting
Atchison finish the inning. He gave up a 2-run single to Mauer (guess what, a
lot of people have given up hits to Joe Mauer) and that was the end of his
night. And then his boner emerged.
Valentine’s next stroke of genius was calling on Justin
Thomas. I’m not sure who saw what in this guy, but there is no way he should be
anywhere near a major league roster. However, he is technically the “lefty
specialist” until Rich Hill is healthy or Andrew Miller figures out how to pitch
again. So while I do not want him on the roster, he is on the roster for a
reason and that is to get lefties out. Coincidentally (yes, coincidentally,
since it seems there is no rhyme or reason for V’s moves) the Twins had lefties
Justin Morneau and Chris Parmelee coming to the plate next. So what’s the
problem, right?
Well in case you weren’t paying attention, as Leatherface
clearly was not, Joe Mauer is also a lefty. The Twins gifted the Red Sox with 3
lefties in the middle of the lineup last night and Bobby decided to use a
specialist to face 2 of the 3. If he wanted to use Atchison to face all 3 lefties,
I would understand that since even without the platoon advantage he is a better
pitcher than Thomas. If he put Thomas in to face all 3 lefties, I would
understand that since he is technically a lefty specialist. But having the
righty Atchison face the lefty Mauer and then pulling Atchison for the lefty
Thomas to face 2 more lefties makes no sense in any universe. And if you think
that maybe Mauer doesn’t have any platoon split against lefties and righties because
he is such a good hitter, you’d be wrong because his OPS against righties is
.937 and against lefties it is .752. That’s a platoon split people.
Ultimately the Red Sox did win the game and it was only
close because Buchholz, Atchison and Thomas did not do their jobs (Thomas
allowed a double to Morneau and hit Parmalee). But the more that Leatherface puts
the wrong guys in bad situations, the tougher he makes it for them to succeed.
He needs to pick a consistent strategy and stick with it (ultimately the right strategy would be best, but at
this point I just strive for consistency). If you want to use a lefty
specialist, use him for ALL the lefties in a row. If you don’t think you need a
lefty specialist and would rather just use your best reliever, use him for ALL
the batters.
I’ll close with one more example of his lack of consistency
that really shows how crazy this SOB is. In a game a week or so ago, I think it
was the Yankee debacle, the Yankees had the bases loaded with 1 out and were
down a run. Bobbo decides to play the infield in to cut the run down at the
plate. OK. Fine. I would have played at double play depth to end the inning on
a grounder, but whatever. So the Yankees get a couple hits, score a couple runs
and load the bases again. With 1 out, still. Exact same situation. Bobbo plays
the infield at double play depth. Wait, what? You just showed a couple batters
before that you like to play the infield in and now you are playing them back
in the same situation? What is going on in that ranch dressing filled brain of
yours (a lot of wraps have ranch dressing in them I think)?
Mr. Valentine, your boner is showing. Please see yourself
out.
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