Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
July 26, 2005
A Pitcher for Every Batter

Felipe Alou must have needed some exercise last night, as he kept making trips to the mound in the eighth inning of the Giants-Cubs game:

Alou tried to play his trademark brand of matchup baseball. He used five relievers in a bid to get three outs in the eighth before the Cubs could score the tying run. The plan failed. Ultimately, Alou summoned closer Tyler Walker to face Neifi Perez with the bases loaded and two outs.

One pitch later, the game was tied 2-2 on a Perez single. Walker had his third blown save in his last four chances and blew a Schmidt win for the second time in six nights. Walker then allowed singles in the ninth to Ronny Cedeņo and Todd Walker. After an intentional walk to MVP front-runner Derrek Lee, Jeff Fassero replaced Walker and got Jeromy Burnitz to line out to center.

Cedeņo tagged from third. Jason Ellison unleashed a terrific throw, but Cedeņo made a better slide, getting his hand around Mike Matheny's block attempt. The game was over, and Alou confessed he is starting to worry about his closer.

Two things here:

  1. Why not let Hawkins or Eyre pitch as long as they are doing okay? Eyre's been successful against both lefties and righties this year.
  2. We're going to start hearing Neifi Perez compared to Pat Tabler. That's two days in a row he's come through with the bases loaded late in the game.

There are times when matchups are important. But I believe those situations aren't as widespread as some managers believe. Every time you bring in a new pitcher, you're rolling the dice. Maybe this guy doesn't have it today. Why leave in the guy who has shown he can get an out?



Posted by David Pinto at 09:19 AM | Strategy | TrackBack (0)
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