CampingAg said:
Proposition Joe said:
CampingAg said:
I give Bochy a pass this year. There's never more than 1 or 2 arms he can trust, if any. And who those 1 or 2 are rotates on a weekly basis. It's a historically bad and inconsistent bullpen.
Ok, so logically if you can only trust 1 or 2... and you never know who those 2 are going to be night-in, night-out...
Then after one pitches well for the 7th, another for the 8th, why on earth would you go with a new one for the 9th?
Or pull starters that could still go another inning (not the case tonight, but at least a dozen nights this year).
Again, he's leaning into our biggest weakness. He has this desire to get everything clicking before the postseason... But we're on Game 159 with what is now the equivalent of a 1 game lead. Just win the ****ing game and worry about building confidence later. A confident bullpen sitting at home in October does you no good.
Me giving him a pass isn't insinuating he's been perfect. But calling for him to be fired or wanting him to retire is asinine. We've improved by 20 games from last year while having a historically bad bullpen.
I agree he pulls pitchers too early at times. But we know his style now. So let's go clean it up in the offseason and get the arms to play to it. I don't think a 30-year manager who is known in the industry as a bullpen wizard doesn't just forget how to coach.
Eh, I'm not calling him to retire or wanting him fired, but I've been very up front about who he is as a manager since the hire. He's a 0.500 career lifetime manager. Sure there were some stinker teams in there, but overall he is a guy that is going to get his team as far as his roster. That's fine in the MLB.
Yes, this bullpen is more or less CY's fault (and the players naturally), but that doesn't absolve Bochy of any responsibility. We're seeing the exact same thing Game 158 that we saw in Game 58 -- he wants a 6/7/8/9 guy.
So he'll pull a starter at 80 pitches... Or he'll go away from a guy like Leclerc who is dealing to go with Chapman in the 9th. It's very much an attempt to get everyone in a groove come playoff time. But if 158 games into the season it is still costing you games, then it's a problem. If we're 8 games up right now? I'm all for it. Get these guys in a groove.
But the lead is now effectively 1 game. We're far past the point that sacrificing a game or two for the "greater good" is still worth it. Lean on who has got you here.
If this was a case of Heaney (the first guy out of the pen) looking bad, or even Leclerc... ok, you've got **** options not a lot you can do. But to get a guy in the bullpen to give you a good 7th? About time! A different guy to give you a good 8th? Wow!
Going with a new guy for the 9th? You keep spinning that wheel eventually you're gonna hit a whammy.
It's not Bochy's fault we don't have reliable arms in the bullpen, but it is Bochy's fault for continuing to think each of them will be reliable on any given night. This staff top to bottom should be "if you're pitching well, you're pitching until you run into significant trouble".
Instead it's been "if you're pitching well we're going to save you from getting into trouble by going to a bullpen arm that has a 70% chance of getting into trouble". It's just doing the same idiotic thing over and over.
And again, I get it... I hope come mid-October this bullpen is nails and everyone is lauding Bochy for being a mastermind and having confidence he could get these guys right even if it meant a game or ten was lost down the stretch.
But if you ask me if I'd rather win the division, get a first round bye, and roll with a shaky bullpen in the playoffs over potentially missing the playoffs entirely? That's an easy answer.