Referendum on John Farrell

[Spudboy]

I have always liked Farrell.

 

Of course. There is good reason to.

 

He is a doofus but I like him.

 

Classic Talksox commentary.

 

As if there could be any question of who the King of Talksox is!

[cp176]

I saw this earlier today.

 

Major points scored with me.

 

 

He is the man!!!

 

Maybe this is why some of the "old school" guys seem to hang around. For all his apparent politically correct responses, he has a solid tough assed side to him. Good to see! Drinking another "American" to him tonight.

[Bellhorn04]

And the genius Buck Showalter just left Zach Britton twiddling his thumbs as Edwin Encarnacion ended their season

 

It's kind of hard to believe Britton never got in that game.

[SoxnCycles]

It's kind of hard to believe Britton never got in that game.

 

Yup.

 

“No one has been pitching better for us than Ubaldo,”

Really, Buck?

Pretty sure Britton has. Particularly in those situations.

 

Not that I'm upset about it.

I'm looking forward to more fireworks between the Rangers and Jays.

Hopefully, they beat the crap out of each other, while the Sox play the Tribe.

[Slasher9]

it was a hard game to pick someone to root for. the yahoo in the stands made the decision for me when he chucked the full beer at Kim while he was making a play. Eff Toronto and Eff their fans.

[SoxnCycles]

it was a hard game to pick someone to root for. the yahoo in the stands made the decision for me when he chucked the full beer at Kim while he was making a play. Eff Toronto and Eff their fans.

 

Really? I missed that!

The idiot.

 

The Rangers should take care of them.

[sk7326]

I thought that he explained his decision quite well.

 

I'm sure he knows much more about his team and the game of baseball than some "fan".

 

Barring injury any explanation was gobbledygook ... align your best pitcher in the spot where the best pitcher is needed the most ... that didn't happen. Now - as Pedro said on the postgame, intentionally walking Encarnacion to load the bases would have been a more sensible move anyway - but imagine if there was a pitcher who could have induced weak contact into the ground ...

 

If you don't want to bring him into that spot - why activate him for the wild card game?

[sk7326]

Also, give a solid 7.5 out of 10 on the bat-flip

[mvp 78]

it was a hard game to pick someone to root for. the yahoo in the stands made the decision for me when he chucked the full beer at Kim while he was making a play. Eff Toronto and Eff their fans.

 

Yup, Toronto fans are s*****. That's two playoffs in a row marred by them throwing s*** on the field.

[sk7326]

It's kind of hard to believe Britton never got in that game.

 

Amazing a legitimately good manager made a mistake an average internet poster would never have done.

[oldtimer]

Amazing a legitimately good manager made a mistake an average internet poster would never have done.

 

Was he in some way injured. The things fans don't know.

[mvp 78]

Was he in some way injured. The things fans don't know.

 

Buck said he was not injured and was ready to go.

[illinoisredsox]

Buck said he was not injured and was ready to go.

 

He was warming up in the top of the ninth (I assume in case the O's took the lead).

 

It's the postseason, some of the "rules" have to go out the window.

[sk7326]

He was warming up in the top of the ninth (I assume in case the O's took the lead).

 

It's the postseason, some of the "rules" have to go out the window.

 

it does not mean he is not a good manager - or does not know how to use his bullpen. he made a mistake - and while it is impossible to prove a counterfactual (since we don't know what Britton would have done), the odds of succcess were lowered by not having your best reliever out there.

[a700hitter]

It's kind of hard to believe Britton never got in that game.

Buck blew it. He needed to go to his best with elimination staring him in the face at 3B with no one out. Ubaldo blows and Cy Young was available. This just reinforces my generally low opinion of the intelligence of major league managers.

[Dojji]

It's kind of hard to believe Britton never got in that game.

 

Baltimore was the road team. They needed their closer in reserve in case they suddenly started winning. Playing Britton would look mighty silly if they scored in the next half inning.

 

This is just one of those judgment calls that you can never get 100% right. At the end of the day you've got to count on your bullpen depth to hang up the donuts in an extra inning game.

[User Name]

You don't use "in case you have a lead" BP management in a tie game in extras on the road, because one run and it's over. You deploy your best reliever to hold the fort as long as possible and figure out the rest afterwards. Lolwalter's strict adherence to "Bullpen roles" cost him the game, and the Orioles' season. Can't say I'm not extremely happy about that though.

[mvp 78]

You don't use "in case you have a lead" BP management in a tie game in extras on the road, because one run and it's over. You deploy your best reliever to hold the fort as long as possible and figure out the rest afterwards.

 

Yup.

[sk7326]

You don't use "in case you have a lead" BP management in a tie game in extras on the road, because one run and it's over. You deploy your best reliever to hold the fort as long as possible and figure out the rest afterwards. Lolwalter's strict adherence to "Bullpen roles" cost him the game, and the Orioles' season. Can't say I'm not extremely happy about that though.

 

The move is to walk Encarnacion to load the bases and then bring in Britton - your best bet to get the strikeout or a weak grounder. A smart manager clearly overthought this.

[User Name]

The move is to walk Encarnacion to load the bases and then bring in Britton - your best bet to get the strikeout or a weak grounder. A smart manager clearly overthought this.

 

Britton had an otherworldly GB rate (over 70%) and actually sported a reverse platoon split this year. Even when pitching well Ubaldo has been susceptible to the long ball, and he was pitching against the premier power threat in the AL East (Trumbo's year is an anomaly compared to his career averages). Showalter was playing with a lighter next to an open container of gasoline and hoping he didn't get burned. The result was predictable.

[Slasher9]

showalter is an idiot for not using Britton.

 

btw - i blame JF for finishing first in the ALE....

[a700hitter]

showalter is an idiot for not using Britton.

 

btw - i blame JF for finishing first in the ALE....

Lay off Farrell. I like him. Right now, he is my favorite stupid manager. Edited October 6, 2016 by a700hitter

[sk7326]

Britton had an otherworldly GB rate (over 70%) and actually sported a reverse platoon split this year. Even when pitching well Ubaldo has been susceptible to the long ball, and he was pitching against the premier power threat in the AL East (Trumbo's year is an anomaly compared to his career averages). Showalter was playing with a lighter next to an open container of gasoline and hoping he didn't get burned. The result was predictable.

 

totally forgot it was 1st and 3rd (not 2nd and 3rd) so could have let Britton pitch to EE anyway

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Does Farrell have to speak this way to a Red Sox fan:

 

The fan was just making a point about trying to secure the second seed.

Edited October 7, 2016 by Fan_since_Boggs

[mvp 78]

That fan is an *******. Taking video of himself confronting the manager during the game. f*** that guy. Perfect reaction by JF there.

[S5Dewey]

Managers, players, umpires are usually quite thick-skinned when it comes to (ignorant) fans. My guess is that this wasn't the first time the "fan" had heckled Farrell and Farrell had had enough. I say good for JF!

[sk7326]

Last night was frankly pretty good tactical work across the board - really Porcello stunk and that was the extent of it.

 

Francona clearly managed that game like a man betting on his ace in Game 2. We'll see if it works. He pulled Bauer before the Sox big bats got that crucial third look at him - and used his best reliever to get through the most vulnerable stretch of the game.

[S5Dewey]

I thought Tito did an excellent job of managing. Of course having a lead helped too.

 

It made me wish we had him back in Boston - but OTOH I never wanted him to leave.

[sk7326]

I thought Tito did an excellent job of managing. Of course having a lead helped too.

 

It made me wish we had him back in Boston - but OTOH I never wanted him to leave.

 

He did - but he is also placing a very large bet on Kluber (I don't blame him - if you are going to wager, do it on your ace). Using Miller and Allen for stretches which limit their availability tonight.

 

Also a quiet hat tip to Pomeranz who allowed Farrell to keep the pen on schedule ... you could see right away Porcello was in trouble - strikeouts yes, but everything was high in the zone

[User Name]

The strategy tonight should be to work on getting Kluber out of the game as soon as possible so we can get to the soft underbelly of their BP.