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Brain Freeze in 5th Leads to Yanks Loss
By Frank Negron Jr. on June 21st, 2008 8:17 AM |
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One thing that makes baseball so great is second guessing. It happens almost on a nightly basis, and some situations prove to be more vital than others. Over at Peter Abraham’s Yankees Blog, the always informative Abraham breaks down a play during last night’s Yankees-Reds game that probably cost the Yanks the contest. Let the second-guessing begin!
Situation: It was 1-1 with two outs and a runner on third.
Jay Bruce: The rookie had driven 12 runs in his first 23 games and was 7 for 19 with RISP. However, Bruce was 8 of his last 43 with one RBI as he came to the plate. He had yet to be intentionally walked. He was 1 for 2 against Mussina in the game, hitting the ball hard both times.
Jolbert Cabrera: He was 2 for 2 against Moose to that point and 3 for 5 in his career. One of the hits last night was a bunt, the second a clean single. But he had only 15 ABs against RHPs all season. He had not yet had an AB with RISP.
Other factors: Bruce is a lefty. Lefties are hitting .235 against Mussina this season. Cabrera is right-handed. They are hitting .308 against Mussina.
The decision made was to let Mussina walk Bruce to get to Cabrera, who was already 2 for 2 on the night. The problem was Moose didn’t get to decide what to do in this situation.
“I didn’t get to choose. It was the path they chose. That was it,” Mussina said. “You saw what I saw. Held up four fingers; I throw four balls.”
Earlier in the year, the infamous Manny Ramirez at-bat during a Saturday afternoon game at Fenway, Mussina was given the choice to pitch to a red-hot Manny or to walk him. Mussina chose to pitch to Ramirez and that decision led to a Yankee loss. Last night’s decision also led to a Yankee loss. Seems like Joe Girardi doesn’t have the right touch yet.
It’s also interesting to note that Johnny Damon misplayed a line drive in left field to start the rally. It was a ball that appeared he could’ve caught, it did hit off his glove. But Moose decided not to place blame on that. In any event, the Yanks and Girardi will learn from their experiences and hopefully make better decisions down the stretch.
I feel that the right move goes according to the gut feeling you have in that situation. Girardi, who is a by the numbers kind of guy, will no question go for the intentional pass. Right move, but when you’re in the heat of battle, you have to look at the situation. If Girardi looked at the numbers above then I don’t think he calls for the intentional walk. I understand it’s probably impossible to have those numbers on the spot like that but the fact that Bruce is a rookie and struggling and Cabrera was hot last night, it should’ve made it a no brainer. I’m not faulting either Girardi or Mussina for what happen, but sometimes you should go with your gut (if only I went with my own advice….).
Good job by Peter Abraham for the breakdown, bad job by the Yanks in that situation. What do you think was the best thing to do in this situation?
There are currently 3 responses to “Brain Freeze in 5th Leads to Yanks Loss”
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I think Moose was not thrilled with being told to walk a guy – but that’s more an issue of etiquette than strategy. In terms of whether it was the right or wrong decision, I think that’s a “classic” second guess. I don’t care what the numbers say – with the right hander on the mound, you don’t want to face a lefty bat with pop like Jay Bruce. Bottom line: with the righty-righty matchup in his favor, and friggin’ Jolbert Cabrera (Jolbert!) at the plate, Mussina needs to get that out. The pitcher didn’t execute his pitches, and that’s why it’s even a topic.
i tend to agree the righty righty matchup is better. but the fact that cabrera was 2 for 2 off moose shows he saw the ball well last night from mussina. bruce is a powerful lefty but is still pressing right now and moose couldve used his aggressivness against him. but its true, if mussina executed his pitches or damon wouldve made the catch of the line drive, this wouldnt be an issue. there is no right or wrong answer here. Girardi went by the books, nothing wrong with that…just maybe this was one of those instances he shouldnt have gone by the book but again..im not placing blame on either moose or girardi. just an interesting situation that occurred.
it’s not simply righty righty – it’s that one guy is Jay Bruce and the other guy is named Jolbert. Cabrera is a 35-year-old bum with 18 major league at bats this season. i’d venture to say that had Girardi pitched to Bruce instead of Cabrera, he should lose his job.
again, i think the issue here – and the point Pete Abraham was making in his blog – is that a veteran pitcher felt insulted by having that decision made for him. moose probably feels he’s experienced enough that he knows he can pitch carefully to Bruce and still have that open base as a parachute with a bum on deck. but the decision itself – to pitch to Cabrera rather than Bruce – is a no-brainer.