Joe Torre’s Not Helping Right Now
April 11, 2010 at 10:26 am | Posted in Joe Torre, Jonathan Broxton, Russ Ortiz | 11 CommentsI suppose I have only myself to blame for actually going out on a Saturday night rather than watching the game, but as I was following the action on my phone, all I could think was, “if not for the foolish usage over the last few games, Jonathan Broxton could be available today.” Clearly, I was not alone in this:
The Dodgers held a 6-4 lead entering the ninth inning, but with closer Jonathan Broxton unavailable, George Sherrill coughed up the lead, giving the Marlins a 7-6 comeback victory. How did we get to this point, you ask? Let’s go back in time to Wednesday night in Pittsburgh…
- Wednesday: Tied 3-3 entering the 10th inning, Torre saves Broxton for a save situation that never comes, rather than use him to help keep the game tied. Ramon Ortiz gives up a run in the 10th, giving the Pirates the win
- Thursday: Now that Broxton hasn’t pitched for six days, he “needs work” and is inserted into the finale in Pittsburgh with the Dodgers leading 10-2.
- Friday: Russ Ortiz began the ninth inning in Pittsburgh leading 7-1, but was pulled with one out and the bases loaded. In comes Jonathan Broxton to get two outs, entering a game in which the Dodger win expectancy was already 98%.
- Tonight: Now that Broxton has pitched in two straight games, he is unavailable tonight to protect a 6-4 lead
That, my friends, is the vicious cycle of incorrect bullpen usage. Over the last four games, Broxton was unavailable in the two games he was needed most, both which ended as Dodger losses. Both losses may have ended differently with a few bounces going the Dodgers’ way, but it would be nice if our chances of winning would have been maximized. With Hong-Chih Kuo on the disabled list, Sherrill struggling, and Ronald Belisario still a couple weeks away from returning, the bullpen is really thin right now. It would be nice to use out best reliever when he is needed most.
But losing isn’t why a lot of fans, including me, are frustrated with the chain of events. Getting beat is one thing, but shooting yourself in the foot is another.
-The usage pattern of Jonathan Broxton is just puzzling. Three days ago, Joe Torre refused to use Broxton in a non-save situation because it was a tie game, and the Dodgers eventually lost that contest in extra innings. However, Torre saw no problem with using Broxton in the very next game in a non-save situation with a 10-2 lead and then again last night in another non-save situation. Those wasted appearances left Broxton unavailable for tonight’s game, and you’ve already seen how that ended.
Yep. These, exactly. Of course, Tony Jackson points to the real culprit: Russ Ortiz.
In part, then, it was the ripple effect of Ortiz’s failure to carry out his assignment Friday that led to the Dodgers’ ninth-inning woes Saturday — although that could hardly be blamed for Sherrill’s personal implosion because he hadn’t pitched since Wednesday night at Pittsburgh, when he turned in a scoreless eighth inning and appeared finally to have found his long-lost mechanics.
It always goes back to Russ Ortiz!
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i turned off my phone in i think the 7th when the doyers had two on one out. turned it back on after the show i attended to see the 7-6 final. instantly i knew without even checking the box score that sherrill was the culprit.
that said, my nervousness about padilla has become full-on distrust. it looks like the padilla from the phillies came out this year. i know it’s obviously still early, but this is exactly what he did as a philly. he lets bad calls get under his skin. any runners on base and he loses his cool. he absolutely cannot maintain composure in the face of adversity (see: 10 minute foul pole padding delay, next pitch 3-run dinger), and he doesn’t pay attention at the plate (see: blown suicide squeeze). i think the best we can hope for out of him is his maddening tendency to last 4 innings one start, and then go a stellar 8 the next.
Comment by brooklyndoyer— April 11, 2010 #
Just one more prime example of Torre’s ineptness. He uses Brox to pitch Thursday with an eight run lead, uses him in a non-save situation Friday, and then he’s “unavailable” Saturday with a two-run lead in the ninth. The man is 26 or so years old, strong as an ox, big as a bull, and he can’t go three games in a row for an inning. Sherrill has been a complete disaster all spring. He couldn’t even complete an inning in any of his ST games against minor leaguers. Yet Torre entrusts him with the fragile situation last night and blows the game.
I’m ready for a billboard with Grady Little’s picture on it saying, “Miss me Yet?”
Comment by SamAdams— April 11, 2010 #
Sam, I can’t disagree with a single thing here. Just insane.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 11, 2010 #
I’m wondering if Sherrill will go on the DL with a “phantom” injury when 1 of Kuo/Belisario comes back.
Comment by troyfromwv— April 11, 2010 #
Unless they’re really ready to dump BOTH Ortizes, I have to think this is a given. But probably only when Kuo comes back, because they won’t go with a righty-only pen.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 11, 2010 #
Won’t it be awesome to watch Sherrill implode this year while Josh Bell turns into Carlos Santana? Speaking of Santana, it’ll also be good to watch Blake hit .230 during the last quarter of the season and the playoffs.
On the bright side, even though it’s only been two innings, I hereby officially anoint Charlie Haeger as the official successor to Tom Candiotti, whatever that means.
Comment by johnclevenger— April 11, 2010 #
Slightly off-topic, yet slightly related…I just read the following Joe Torre quotation from Dylan Hernandez’s recap of last night’s game:
“‘He’s been a closer,’ Torre said of the former All-Star [George Sherrill], who was acquired on the eve of the trade deadline last year. ‘Because someone has a bad spring, I won’t ignore his history. I’ll continue to send him out there.’
Really, Joe? So will you likewise take the position that because someone has a good spring, you won’t ignore their history? (See: Ortiz and Ortiz).
Comment by Harrison— April 11, 2010 #
Hah.. that’s a quote that’s going to bite Joe.
Re: Sherrill, I at least see why he’s not ready to trash him publicly. At least, not until Kuo is ready.
Comment by Mike Scioscia's tragic illness— April 11, 2010 #
The Dodger feed was not on MLB Extra Innings, and the Marlins telecast put up a quote from Torre in the middle innings which said something to the effect that if my starter can go six innings, then I only have to manage the seventh and eighth. Apparently, he forgot to manage the ninth even though Padilla didn’t last six. The man is a walking, talking, contradiction.
Comment by SamAdams— April 11, 2010 #
But he’s got rings!
RINGS I tell ya!!!
Comment by KempKershaw— April 12, 2010 #
[...] April 11 (from Tony Jackson, on why Jonathan Broxton‘s usage was questionable): In part, then, it was the ripple effect of Ortiz’s failure to carry out his assignment Friday that led to the Dodgers’ ninth-inning woes Saturday — although that could hardly be blamed for Sherrill’s personal implosion because he hadn’t pitched since Wednesday night at Pittsburgh, when he turned in a scoreless eighth inning and appeared finally to have found his long-lost mechanics. [...]
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