John Farrell's bullpen (mis)management

Kapono · Post #1 » by **Kapono** » Wed May 23, 2012 1:51 am

Absolutely brutal.

How is this guy a "pitching" manager? He should take some notes from John Maddon.. who constantly puts scrub RPs in positions in which they could succeed. The amount of money AA has pumped into the bullpen and Farrell can't manage it properly at all.

Hamyltowne · Post #2 » by **Hamyltowne** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:06 am

Letter to Farrell:

The high-leverage situations are not always in the last three innings. What happens in the fifth or sixth inning is just as often the nail in the coffin as it is in the later innings.

I don't care about how many innings are left. The odds of everything lining up perfectly are not always favourable so when the other team has it all lined up you can't bank on it still being early. You need to bring the firefighter out of the bullpen right then and then.

God damn it!

--Ham

Hamyltowne · Post #3 » by **Hamyltowne** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:07 am

I think he still experiences a residual frisson from his days as pitching coach. He spends a little time with a few of the scrubs, works with them on mechanics and after a chat or two develops sympathy and affinity and can't help but sentimentalise the decision making process that goes into bullpen management.

Emotions. Never trust them, lads.

kwamebargnani · Post #4 » by **kwamebargnani** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:26 am

Remember Tallet's blown save last year?

Waylon Mercy · Post #5 » by **Waylon Mercy** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:49 am

AA deserves some blame for having guys like Tallet, Rauch, Camp, Francisco, Crawford,
Cordero etc on the roster the last few years as well.

Attonitus · Post #6 » by **Attonitus** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:51 am

Kapono wrote:Absolutely brutal.

How is this guy a "pitching" manager? He should take some notes from John Maddon.. who constantly puts scrub RPs in positions in which they could succeed. The amount of money AA has pumped into the bullpen and Farrell can't manage it properly at all.

It's Joe, not John, big difference. Anyway, the beauty of Maddon's strategy is that he doesn't define roles and instead puts in the best fit for the situation, regardless or salary, experience, or specialty.

I agree Farrell has made some bad bullpen decisions but it didn't help that his general manager handcuffed him by defining roles before the season had even begun.

dballislife · Post #7 » by **dballislife** » Wed May 23, 2012 6:39 pm

why is evan crawford in the majors anyway?

Randle McMurphy · Post #8 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Wed May 23, 2012 6:43 pm

dballislife wrote:why is evan crawford in the majors anyway?

Because he can get lefties out.

WpgPage · Post #9 » by **WpgPage** » Wed May 23, 2012 8:04 pm

Randle McMurphy wrote:
dballislife wrote:why is evan crawford in the majors anyway?

Because he can get lefties out.

He's pretty good at it as well.

Hamyltowne · Post #10 » by **Hamyltowne** » Sat May 26, 2012 11:57 pm

Add today's game to the (long) list.

Randle McMurphy · Post #11 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Sat May 26, 2012 11:58 pm

WTF did we just witness there? It's beyond explanation.

BigLeagueChew · Post #12 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Sun May 27, 2012 12:09 am

Would have been nice possibly having Crawford against Hamilton, however, instead we have Farrell using him in the wrong spots earlier this week, and resulted him getting blasted and sent to the minors.

i say possibly because he may very well have never been used in this game.

Regardless, we already burned both lefties this game and Crawford could have been the difference. Then Farrell is left with the choice of Igarashi before Frasor tonight. Seriously?

Ignore that Igarashi threw 41 pitches last night. Frasor has been on the team all season and should be chosen before Igarashi. It really doesn't make sense.

Lastly, Igarashi was throwing 95-96mph Friday night, tonight he was at 93mph, clearly he wasn't ready or shouldn't have been pitching. /rant

Randle McMurphy · Post #13 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Sun May 27, 2012 3:01 am

It seems that Farrell made the Igarashi call that he did today because he wanted to save Frasor for tomorrow (before changing his mind after 2 hitters).

If that's the case, that's a cardinal managerial sin. You can't manage for tomorrow when today's game is still very much at hand.

Hamyltowne · Post #14 » by **Hamyltowne** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:17 am

Tonight's game deserves a mention in what should be a very long thread.

If it were not so depressing, we'd have 50 pages.

Post #15 » by **spykelee** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:21 am

The loss pisses me off, but I gotta admit, it is comical watching Coco pitch when you know he's going to fail. That has a certain allure to it... Man I'm a hardened Toronto sports fan

Michael Bradley · Post #16 » by **Michael Bradley** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:23 am

Farrell only has one year left on his deal right? Go back to Boston, John. They miss you over there.

RaptorKenny · Post #17 » by **RaptorKenny** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:25 am

Not really that surprised anymore
We have a COCO on our team every single year
Rauch/Francisco, Accardo, u name it.
I guess we grew numb

Hamyltowne · Post #18 » by **Hamyltowne** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:25 am

Hamyltowne wrote:
Hamyltowne wrote:What's the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Farrell is certifiably insane.

Post #19 » by **spykelee** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:26 am

Hamyltowne wrote:
Hamyltowne wrote:
Hamyltowne wrote:What's the definition of insanity?

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Farrell is certifiably insane.

There may be some who would suggest talking to yourself is grounds to be certifiably insane...

just sayin

dagger · Post #20 » by **dagger** » Fri Jun 8, 2012 3:28 am

I'm not going to argue that Farrell doesn't makes things worse, he does, but come on, this bullpen is awful. For the second year in a row. And I know this will anger the analytical Taliban among us, but this team has to invest in the organic development of good relievers, or, has to pay some folding money to a good free agent setup guy, assuming Santos is all that he is cracked up to be, and doesn't require surgery.