Two Guys Sports
Bruce BostwickIt's hard to understand managers
July 3rd 2008 18:03
Just when I think Ron Washington might not have been such a bad selection to be the manager of the Texas Rangers, he does something like this.
Rangers had won the first two games of the series at Yankee stadium, and after sixth-inning home runs by Milton Bradley and Chris Davis, the Rangers had a one-run lead, and control of the third game which had them set up for a sweep. And the Rangers never sweep the Yankees, so that would have been huge.
Enter Ron Washington.
In the seventh inning he puts in reliever Warner Madrigal. And if you’re saying I’ve never heard of Warner Madrigal, well you’re not alone.
Madrigal has an impressive 162.0 earned run average. No that’s not a typo, it is 162.0. Prior to Wednesday’s game, he hadn’t made a pitch in the big leagues.
So Washington decided to give a young pitcher his major league debut in the seventh inning of a one-run game against the world class New York Yankees. The 162.0 ERA should tell you, it didn’t go so well.
Wash said he didn’t really have a choice. Reliever Eddie Guardado was out with a shoulder injury. And he said that his other two relievers, Josh Rupe and Frank Francisco were going to have the day off because they had worked a lot earlier in the series.
WHAT?
I understand not wanting to overwork anyone, but a couple of things. Wash was just going to use Madrigal for one inning anyway. Surely one of those guys could be good for one inning. They are used to going out every day, pitch them. Second, the Rangers are off today, so those guys would have gotten their rest. And the Rangers play the Baltimore Orioles this weekend. Now past history is no indication of future events, but the Rangers have been solid against Baltimore the past few years.
And on top of that, why not leave Jaquin Benoit in? He had pitched out of a bases loaded jam when he first came in, and had 1.1 innings without a hit or run allowed.
After Madrigal got his inning in, Wash was going to go to Jamey Wright then CJ Wilson to close out the game. Wright came in much earlier, and closed out the game.
The end result was an 18-7 win by the Yankees.
And it was frustrating for the Rangers.
Frank Catalanotto, who was 3-for-3 said “We can say ‘all right, we took two of three.’ But when you have a team down like that, you want to step on their necks. We didn’t do that.”
But if the game had been played in Texas, it’s likely some fans would be wanting to step on Wash’s neck as well.
Rangers had won the first two games of the series at Yankee stadium, and after sixth-inning home runs by Milton Bradley and Chris Davis, the Rangers had a one-run lead, and control of the third game which had them set up for a sweep. And the Rangers never sweep the Yankees, so that would have been huge.
Enter Ron Washington.
Ron Washinton has the Texas Rangers above .500 but he also may be responsible for them not getting much beyond that.
Madrigal has an impressive 162.0 earned run average. No that’s not a typo, it is 162.0. Prior to Wednesday’s game, he hadn’t made a pitch in the big leagues.
So Washington decided to give a young pitcher his major league debut in the seventh inning of a one-run game against the world class New York Yankees. The 162.0 ERA should tell you, it didn’t go so well.
Wash said he didn’t really have a choice. Reliever Eddie Guardado was out with a shoulder injury. And he said that his other two relievers, Josh Rupe and Frank Francisco were going to have the day off because they had worked a lot earlier in the series.
WHAT?
And on top of that, why not leave Jaquin Benoit in? He had pitched out of a bases loaded jam when he first came in, and had 1.1 innings without a hit or run allowed.
After Madrigal got his inning in, Wash was going to go to Jamey Wright then CJ Wilson to close out the game. Wright came in much earlier, and closed out the game.
The end result was an 18-7 win by the Yankees.
And it was frustrating for the Rangers.
Frank Catalanotto, who was 3-for-3 said “We can say ‘all right, we took two of three.’ But when you have a team down like that, you want to step on their necks. We didn’t do that.”
But if the game had been played in Texas, it’s likely some fans would be wanting to step on Wash’s neck as well.
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