Back when Clint Hurdle was fired, I was ecstatic. I was tired of watching Hurdle not play his best players. But Tracy has proven to be just as bad during the playoffs, overplaying matchups, trying to counteract the Phillies left-handed starters.
Hawpe, of the .900-something OPS, is sitting on the bench in favor of Ryan Spillborghs. Ian Stewart has one AB this playoffs. Jason Giambi pinch hit for Dexter Fowler in the 9th inning, even though Fowler was 2 for 4 on the night, and Giambi has been 0 for 2 in the playoffs thus far.
The Fowler for Giambi move was inexcusable, no way a cold pinch hitter is better than one of your best players who hit the ball well that night, it's just stupid.
Showing posts with label stewart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stewart. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thoughts on Clint Hurdle
So my least-favorite manager in the league was fired last night. Clint Hurdle might have been the worst manager in the last decade. I saw an article on Yahoo! where the writer quoted someone who said that he was always in a hurry to get his second best team on the field. How else can you explain why Barmes gets played over Stewart and Fowler would sit behind Spilborghs every other night? You couldn't move Spilborghs to left and sit Seth Smith? Why was Manny Corpas closing at all this year? I don't care what he did two years ago!
This team has the potential to compete in the NL West (take my word, the Dodgers aren't that good, especially without Manny).
Speaking of the Dodgers, I saw Jeff Weaver pitch a little today. He had some really nice movement on his fastball, but then he would leave it over the plate. And then he'd leave 5 feet off the plate. Oh Jeff, I wonder what it's like to be Jered and knowing you're ten times better than your brother.
Then I caught a little of the Giants/Cardinals game later. Barry Zito threw possibly the best curve I've seen live to strike on Albert Pujols. And we all know Pujols doesn't strike out that much. If he can keep his fastball up aroudn 88 consistently, we could be seeing a 4ish ERA out of Zito this year.
This team has the potential to compete in the NL West (take my word, the Dodgers aren't that good, especially without Manny).
Speaking of the Dodgers, I saw Jeff Weaver pitch a little today. He had some really nice movement on his fastball, but then he would leave it over the plate. And then he'd leave 5 feet off the plate. Oh Jeff, I wonder what it's like to be Jered and knowing you're ten times better than your brother.
Then I caught a little of the Giants/Cardinals game later. Barry Zito threw possibly the best curve I've seen live to strike on Albert Pujols. And we all know Pujols doesn't strike out that much. If he can keep his fastball up aroudn 88 consistently, we could be seeing a 4ish ERA out of Zito this year.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Thoughts after a couple days of baseball
The season's only 3 days old, but I think a few disturbing trends have already started. Some of these moves are absolute head-scratchers, and makes one wonder why some of these managers have jobs.
Starting in Colorado, where Clint Hurdle's splitting time at 2B between Clint Barmes and Ian Stewart. Ian Stewart's proven that he can hit and can play 2nd and 3rd. There is no excuse to why this solid hitter's not getting a full time players' worth of AB's. Barmes was a one-time flash in a pan and is never going to amount to more than a utility player.
Bobby Cox proves that the players on your team are more important than managers with every single move he makes. In the season opener, Derek Lowe is cruising through the Phillies, and has only 97 pitches, and also has a 4 run lead.And in the 8th, he retired the side 1-2-3. And then he has 3 hitters before he runs into the row of dangerous lefthanded batters in the Phillies lineup. Why not let him pitch to Bruntlett, Rollins and Werth, and if he runs into trouble, then call out the lefty closer to face the lefties Utley/Howard/Ibanez? He just wasted an outing of Mike Gonzolez he didn't necessarily need. Every time he does something like this, I remember why he had very little to do with that run of division titles, and that he was just John Schuerholz.
Way for the Mets to show off the brand new bullpen on opening day. Things looking up already for them.
Yankees aren't going to win if CC doesn't pitch like an ace. They can't afford more than a few outings of him like this.
The Rays seem flat without BJ Upton. He's a sparkplug for them, they need him back fast.
What does it say about your team when Dallas Braden is your opening day/most experienced starter?
The Blue Jays look like one of those teams with a lot of overall talent, but also have massive holes in essential places.
Tigers don't have a shot at the division title if Verlander pitches like he did yesterday, even if they score 1000 runs.
Bob Melvin looks equally incompetent as Bobby Cox. I understand the importance of matchups, but Justin Upton may be the most talented player on that team. Sit anyone other than him. Playing Tony Clark over Mark Reynolds for matchup reasons is probably a good move though.
Starting in Colorado, where Clint Hurdle's splitting time at 2B between Clint Barmes and Ian Stewart. Ian Stewart's proven that he can hit and can play 2nd and 3rd. There is no excuse to why this solid hitter's not getting a full time players' worth of AB's. Barmes was a one-time flash in a pan and is never going to amount to more than a utility player.
Bobby Cox proves that the players on your team are more important than managers with every single move he makes. In the season opener, Derek Lowe is cruising through the Phillies, and has only 97 pitches, and also has a 4 run lead.And in the 8th, he retired the side 1-2-3. And then he has 3 hitters before he runs into the row of dangerous lefthanded batters in the Phillies lineup. Why not let him pitch to Bruntlett, Rollins and Werth, and if he runs into trouble, then call out the lefty closer to face the lefties Utley/Howard/Ibanez? He just wasted an outing of Mike Gonzolez he didn't necessarily need. Every time he does something like this, I remember why he had very little to do with that run of division titles, and that he was just John Schuerholz.
Way for the Mets to show off the brand new bullpen on opening day. Things looking up already for them.
Yankees aren't going to win if CC doesn't pitch like an ace. They can't afford more than a few outings of him like this.
The Rays seem flat without BJ Upton. He's a sparkplug for them, they need him back fast.
What does it say about your team when Dallas Braden is your opening day/most experienced starter?
The Blue Jays look like one of those teams with a lot of overall talent, but also have massive holes in essential places.
Tigers don't have a shot at the division title if Verlander pitches like he did yesterday, even if they score 1000 runs.
Bob Melvin looks equally incompetent as Bobby Cox. I understand the importance of matchups, but Justin Upton may be the most talented player on that team. Sit anyone other than him. Playing Tony Clark over Mark Reynolds for matchup reasons is probably a good move though.
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