Boswell has been murdering Davey lately:
Q: Da Nats Bullpen
Is it ok to panic now, or do we wait until the Phillies score 5 plus runs in each 8th inning?
A: Thomas Boswell
You don't have to panic. The manager is already doing that for you. I got an e-mail from a nice fan this a.m. who said "I don't know that much about baseball," then he gave a perfect analysis of Martinez' three questionable decisions on Sunday.
Why was Scherzer sent out for the 7th inning?
He had been hit by a liner in the 5th. At 83 pitches, with 12-1 lead, give him an easy start. Only bad things can happen by leaving him in. Max got one out, was charged with three earned runs. Ended at 100 pitches. This is a case of: You Asked For It.
Why not use Joe Ross, just up from minors and a starter by trade, to start the 7th or 8th inning. No pressure. Huge lead. Why the 9th? It's not a save situation. But it is totally unfamiliar to him. He gave up 3 runs, got hooked, Doolittle had to get last two ours.
If Rosenthal is such a key to bullpen, then why have such a quick hook with him, show little confidence, risk showing him up and embarrassing him. He had a ONE-PITCH outing earlier. On Sunday on the mound, he was begging for another hitter in his two batter outing. Why not give it to him?
If a fan who doesn't even claim to be a fan sees this many decisions which go against the obvious ways of baseball thinking, what must other (like players) think?
Martinez gave a very strong post-game press conference after the Nats hideous 9-8 walk-off win vs Phils on Wednesday. That's a big position in my book for him. But major league managers have tended to be catchers (who work with pitchers constantly) or middle infielders, plus a few ex-pitchers. OR they have managing EXPERIENCE somewhere in pro ball where they learned to habndle pitch, run a bullpen. The Nats hired Martinez with ZERO games as a manager, not even in the minors. "Pitchers" have never been his job. He's probably actually doing a good job of learning on the fly. But why did the Nats hire a manager who NEEDED to learn about handling a pitching staff on the fly at the big-league level?
It's way too early to do anything crazy. EXCEPT for the bullpen, many things have gone right. You MUST show patience. It is ridiculous to think that FIVE pitchers can all have ERA's of at least 13.50 and that, combined, Rosenthal, Seuro, Grace, Ross and Sipp have given up 23 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. That's an ERA of 24.84.
Normal for them would be 3.84. The other half of the question is: How will the Nats look when they perform even semi-normally?
— APR 08, 2019 11:23 AM
