ocaladick

I have never seen such managerial incompetence. By the time he decides that a pitcher just doesn't have it, the game is so far gone, they can never come back. 11 runs in 2 innings? He needs to be Captain Hook, not Captain Wishy-Washy. Why can't we ever get hitters? Or is it that we don't have a hitting coach? I love Duran, but keep him batting leadoff, CWW - and sit your saviors Anthony and Durbin. Oh wait - I know - lets have our closer come in when we are behind 6-0. that's always smart......

It seems that the opposing teams know what pitch is coming. They are hitting the ball squarely with the barrel of the bat. Our "hitters" tend to just wave at pitches outside the strike zone. WTF? Are they intercepting our pitch signals (ala Houston a few years back)? We spent a lot of capital on players like Durbin who could easily be replaced by a player on our farm team. Forget the trades - use our farm system. That is where the future is. These traded-for guys suck.

I was overjoyed last night to see Cora's choices. What goes through his mind? I think I will play Wilbur in right field. He hasn't played in 30 games, but he was a part time starter, so he doesn't need to go down to the minors to get used to real pitching. Yessiree - what? He struck out 4 times? Every time up? Well, that's not too depressing - after all its just another in a string of bad Cora decisions! We're used to that now, aren't we? SAD, SAD, SAD. What goes through Cora's mind? Or what doesn't go thru his mind, like real thought maybe!

Bases loaded with nobody out and then 3 strikeouts? WTF! Tie the game in the 9th with our new 1st baseman - should have been a tremendous boost to the team's morale, but what happens in the 10th? Our closer is gone - not closing a game again, only prolonging it - so how about another run scoring opportunity situation in the bottom of the 10th? Good thing we have a bunch of people who can't even hit a sacrifice fly! Finally Anthony hits a fly in the 11th to score the tying run - but wait - the 3rd base coach is so scared, he holds the runner (sure could have used Hamilton as a pinch runner if only he was here).They suck - dump them all and bring up a AAA club - they can do as well. I am done with them - they are toast.

Why else would he waste games with Hicks and a pitcher who just doesn't have it that day? Hicks is a loose cannon who just gives games away - walks, hit batters, wild pitches - good Lord. He belongs in the minors. This isn't the "Major League" movie. If a pitcher does not have it that day, yank him. Quickly - not after it's too late. You have plenty of pitchers in the bullpen - use them! And get a batting instructor!

He still cannot evaluate a pitcher. I guess he keeps hoping that the pitcher will somehow find a way to throw the ball into the strike zone. I think the only thing he believes in is that Hicks will gain control of his pitches - before his ERA baloons to double digits. My two biggest complaints: 1. He must hire a hitting coach who can teach these young players how to hit. 2. He just won't leave he closer on the bench until we have a lead in the last inning. Apparently, he uses him and then hopes we can get a lead in the near future. He should look up the definition of CLOSER!

Give me a clue - how can we have 15 strikeouts in a game (Saturday)? Why does Cora-mea-mi keep using his magnificent closer as a setup man? Doesn't he know the definition of CLOSER? I wish somebody would tell him - its a pitcher who closes out the game. It's not a pitcher who allows you to lose the game in the next inning! And BTW, manager, when a pitcher walks 2 men in a row, it might be time to remove him - I don't care what inning it is - the dude has lost his control. After the next 2 walks (bringing in 2 runs with 1 hit - a leadoff single) it might well be time to bring in a pitcher with superb control - Hicks. Right! What is Hicks doing in the majors? He couldn't throw 3 balls over the plate if his life depended on it.... Get a hitting coach and dump these pitchers with no control. The major league is not a place for training!

Seems like nobody mentioned Hicks when talking about pitching. That's good - lets send him to the minors to learn how to throw a strike instead of a game and then forget him. Why is he in the bigs?

Two things - first, why do we have a major league pictcher walking the first 2 batters before giving up a gopher ball? What is he doing in the majors if he can't throw a strike whenever it is needed. Second, all this talk about trading Duran is total idiocrasy! If you want to get rid of an outfielder, dump Abeau (Mr. strikeout king). I guess Toro was so happy that he finally got a hit, that he left his brains at home plate..... I HATE WALKS FOR THEM AND STRIKEOUTS FOR US.

I fell in love with his speed and hitting last year. He is not that far off in the field, although I saw the error in SanFran - he should have called off the 3B player (maybe he did and the 3B did not hear him) but that is just not playing with him enough to know his capabilities. I believe he will be fine - but you could move him to right field and dump Abreu - I have no confidence in him. Duran will go with the pitch, Abreu just wants to pull it. If the team starts playing as a team, they can be really good. Sacrificing yourself by hitting to right field to move a runner from second to third, doing what you have to do to win instead of building your batting average would be great! Mainly, these guys have to learn how to hit a curve ball - or a slider - and stay off the ones outside of the strike zone. Reminds me of "Major League" when the big gy could not hit a curve ball. Sad...

I cannot believe what must go thru Cora's mind. Buehler, with a 3 run lead in the first inning, walks 2 men with the bases loaded, then hits the next man to force in another run. I was yelling after he walked the first 2 men to pull him out. I don't care if you want to save our bullpen or not - when your pitcher cannot throw a strike, why is he in there at all. Demote him or trade him immediately! A couple of days ago, one of our pitchers (forget who) threw 12 balls out of 13 pitches and loaded the bases. Yet, no replacement pitcher. Last night, there wasn't anybody warming up in the bullpen while Buehler blew our game for us. Get him and Cora the hell out of there!

I don't agree with your premise. Major League baseball has many purposes, none of which are being nice. If Devers would not have sulked and tanked his first 19+ at bats, he would probably still be with the team and the sox would have won enough games to be right on the Yankee's tail. If a person worked for me like Devers worked for the sox, he would have been fired.

I don't care who is calling the pitches - if a pitcher can't pound the strike zone consistently and issues walks like some of our relievers do, they are not going to win. We can't afford to give up free passes that lead to runs - our hitters can only make up for it in 1 game out of 10. I have never seen so many strikeouts by so many mediocre pitchers and when we face some really good pitchers, we look like a little league team. We can't even move a runner by hitting behind him. "I just have to hit a home run and be a hero". There is no team in I! Can we possibly play to win?

16 strikeouts! My God, how did these guys ever get to the majors? Is there some reason why they are waving at balls below their knees? Why do these prima-donners think they can pull an outside pitch? Guess nobody ever told them to just put the bat on the ball - sometimes it falls in - actually, more times than not, it falls in when hit to the opposite field. Yet they keep waving at these pitches. When I was playing, we choked up on the bat and hit it wherever it was pitched. When are we going to hire a bating instructor? This is embarrassing.