It was odd that he removed Rodriguez when he did. 64 pitches in 5 innings was an answered prayer and then Davey goes and F's it up. I also would have burned Adams and let Reynolds face Biddle in the 8th last night. Adams was so overmatched in that at bat, and Reynolds got a chance to face a lefty. I realize that may be hindsight 20/20, but the Rodriguez removal was just plain dumb.
Nah, with the heart of the Braves order due up, including guys who had hit him pretty well the last time around, that was the right time to pull him. And I’ll take Adams any time over Reynolds; Reynolds has these offensive explosion games that cover up an otherwise Meh batter. He’s got 15 hits (and 14 strikeouts) in his last 54 PA, a span of 20 games; but all those hits are in just 7 of those 20 games. If you remove te 5-hit game against Miami, he’s got 10 hits in his last 49 PA.
What was he supposed to argue on that call?
This. People want to see Martinez get all riled up and kicking dirt, but he’s not going to do it when it’s not warranted. I was at the day game yesterday and he was out of the dugout on that play, was engaged and questioning the umps, etc. He did his job. He’s just not going to make a spectacle unless the umps have done something egregious. This is not a bad thing; a rookie batter who argues balls and strikes ends up with a strike zone the size of a metro bus, and a rookie manager who throws a fit at every weird call isn’t going to make any friends either. You have to have a decent relationship with the umps or your team will be playing every game uphill before they even take the field.
Martinez does still do plenty of stupid crap and he’s not my favorite manager but he’s not completely incompetent either.
