Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – April 09, 2011 – ESPN.
So, it is the seventh inning. The Braves trail 3-2. Brandon Beachy had given the Braves a quality start, and is still under eighty pitches, so Fredi sends him out to start the inning. Not too bad an idea, but Raul Ibanez leads off with a double. And then, Fredi forgets how to manage. He could have brought in O’Flaherty. Instead, he sends out George Sherrill, putative LOOGY, to pitch to Brian Schneider, a lefty batter who earlier hit a two-run homer to give the Phillies the lead.
Charlie Manuel hits for Schneider, his backup catcher, with a righty. Single, first and third. And Fredi lets Sherrill face another righthanded hitter, Wilson Valdez. (Mild defense: Manuel could have hit for Valdez.) Sherrill, who is a terrible, terrible pitcher, walks the bases loaded. Manuel has Carlos Ruiz, his starting catcher, pinch-hit, so it’s definitely a righty. Who does Fredi bring in? You would think Moylan.
No, Scott Linebrink. Who goes 0-2 to Ruiz and then gives up a grand slam. Ballgame. It’s the seventh inning of a one-run game. Why are you managing like it’s the fifth inning of a blowout? Linebrink allowed another run and Cristhian Martinez allowed two in long relief, but that’s just stat-puffing for the Phillies.
The Braves actually led 2-1 after three, when AAG doubled and came home on a Freeman single, and Prado singled in Freeman. The Schneider homer followed in the fourth. They didn’t do much else against Roy Oswalt until two out in the sixth, when Chipper singled and McCann and Uggla walked to load the bases, but Heyward broke his bat to pop up to end the threat.
Reposted from game thread:
Sherrill and Linebrink (whose salary is mostly payed by the White Sox) wouldn’t really be that expensive to fire. Bring on the AAA relief corps.
Finding out that Jairo Asencio is younger than we thought he was, but not enough that it really matters, is kind of like getting the Monopoly Card: “Bank Error in Your Favor – Collect $10.”
All my good feelings about Fredi evaporated over the course of the afternoon.
come on now…it’s one #$%$ing game in a 162 game season.
although, the results from Larry Parrish have NOT been that great so far. We missed Grienke and Marcum and we only manage 9 runs in 3 games? Come on now. Gallardo did the Maddux on us but the other two?
again, small sample size, but Parrish is MUCH more of a concern than Fredi right now.
Too early for a Free Stephen Marek?
Marek in 2010 (AA-AAA): 1.14 ERA, 10.9 K/9
As soon as Sherril came in the game and the Phillies countered with the righty, I turned it off. I already knew the outcome. Sherril should only be used to face a big-name lefty (like Howard or Fielder) after EOF has been used.
Sherrill + Linebrink = the new rally twins.
4,
He should have been up last September, so no, not too early at all.
Stupid managerial decisions are not subject to averaging out over the season.
At this point, George Sherrill is like an expensive Royce Ring.
I choose to blame John Oates.
John Oates has a really bad facelift.
I’ve felt all along that Linebrink may be decent, but Sherrill will be horrible. I think I could be wrong on the first count. I think the part about Sherrill will be right on – unfortunately.
Can I take back my AAG as whipping boy vote?
Moylan had been in 3 games since Monday, throwing 40 pitches (and not very well at all). Linebrink had been in 2 games, throwing 7.
My silver lining to the game – eventually Fredi will realize that Sherrill and Linenbrink are worthless and they’ll get cut. I’d rather have this happen in early April than June.
Bring up Marek.
so ESPN is talking about xFIP
Sherrill’s got a big fat ass.
Sherrill and Linebrink are on the team and have been good relief pitchers in the past. Both of them are past their primes and Sherrill in particular had a bad spring, but I don’t think burying them so early is a smart strategy for Fredi. He has to have a larger bullpen than Kimbrel, Venters, EOF, and Moylan, so better to give these guys a chance to play themselves off the team now. Yes, he could just put them in during blowouts, but that’s not what they signed for. Giving them a chance in close game situations allows them to prove that they’re not up to snuff anymore. In that way, this one game gives you information that you can use down the line to win further games, and perhaps get them replaced earlier (if indeed they’re as bad as they seem to be).
You can criticize the signings, but even from that perspective these are pretty low-risk moves. The key will be the organization’s willingness to make a move if these guys don’t pan out.
By the way, I went to the Friday night game, and I haven’t had that much fun at Turner Field in awhile. ATL seems to be getting some mojo back that we lost in the late 90s.
Stephen Marek is joining Joey Devine and Phil Stockman on the recent list of inexplicably underused Braves relief pitchers.
@17–That is a very reasonable way to look at it, IMO.