The TLR Manager Thread

[ChiSox59]

1 hour ago, Dominikk85 said:

I overall don't blame the management of tlr but I wonder why he didn't pinch hit for leury and Hamilton the last two innings. I know Billy hit well that game but he still is a bad hitter as is leury and they had Vaughn and collins on the bench. 

If you carry 3 DHs on the roster then use them to pinch hit as much as you can late in the game. 

There were multiple times in this series with Leury and Hamilton had big PAs and were natural pinch hit spots.  Didn't happen once.  

[Dick Allen]

Just now, ChiSox59 said:

There were multiple times in this series with Leury and Hamilton had big PAs and were natural pinch hit spots.  Didn't happen once.  

He couldn't PH for Leury. Who else would play SS? Moncada I guess.

[Balta1701]

2 hours ago, hogan873 said:

The majority of the blame for the 1-3 start is on the players.  The manager didn't make Madrigal make a bad play.  LaRussa did not cause a fly ball to smack Robert in the melon.  TLR was not batting when there were runners in scoring position.  These are professional god damn baseball players making dumb mistakes and not executing when the damn well needed to.

If this sort of play continues, it's evidence that the manager is not addressing the shortcomings and not holding the players accountable.

1. While a substantial portion of the blame is on the players, that does not mean that none is on the manager when he makes calls that are just mistakes. "The players should have done better" does not just excuse the manager when he puts a player in position to fail and the player fails, which is exactly what happened.

2. This thread is about the manager. If you don't want to talk about the manager and want to talk about a struggling player - great, create a discussion thread on it. That does not deflect from the topic of this thread. If Hendricks comes in and blows last night's game, u think there'd be a thread on what's wrong with Hendricks and whether that signing already looks like a problem? I bet there would be. Hell I might create it! 

3. It should be far easier to change the behavior of a manager than to change the behavior of a player. Nick Madrigal cannot suddenly become good at defense. Tony LaRussa can suddenly start giving his best pitchers the chance to pitch against the heart of a team's lineup. Tony LaRussa can also be replaced more easily and more cheaply than most players.

4. Tony LaRussa should absolutely get extra scrutiny. He is a first year manager, so we are also evaluating the decision making that brought him in literally a few months ago so his failures reflect directly on the people who hired him. Furthermore, we have to sit there repeatedly in games, and even in this thread already, hearing how Tony LaRussa will make better decisions in-game than Renteria and how he was the "most revolutionary manager in the game's history" (Aroid, last night). If that is the standard we have to hear about, then that is the standard we should use to evaluate him.

[ChiSox59]

Just now, Dick Allen said:

He couldn't PH for Leury. Who else would play SS? Moncada I guess.

I said he had multiple opportunities to pinch hit for Leury and Hamilton throughout the series.  Was not referring to last night with respect to Leury.  

[Dick Allen]

9 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

I said he had multiple opportunities to pinch hit for Leury and Hamilton throughout the series.  Was not referring to last night with respect to Leury.  

One thing I don't understand is he seems to think Leury is better LH than RH.

[Bob Sacamano]

13 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

He couldn't PH for Leury. Who else would play SS? Moncada I guess.

Yeah, you gotta tie the game before you even worry about that. In that situation, Lamb at 3B with Moncada sliding over to SS.

[Bob Sacamano]

4 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

One thing I don't understand is he seems to think Leury is better LH than RH.

I said it the other night: Leury has no place on this team. He sucks from the left side and the team's strength is their ability to hit lefties. If it was reversed and he was great against righties, then yeah, you would have to play him. 

Edited April 5, 2021 by manbearpuig

[Dominikk85]

2 minutes ago, manbearpuig said:

I said it the other night: Leury has no place on this team. He sucks from the left side and the team's strength is their ability to hit lefties. If it was reversed and he was great against righties, then yeah, you would have to play him. 

Who is the alternative though? Sox have nobody else to back up short and second except for mendick (who can't really play short though). 

[ChiSox59]

9 minutes ago, manbearpuig said:

I said it the other night: Leury has no place on this team. He sucks from the left side and the team's strength is their ability to hit lefties. If it was reversed and he was great against righties, then yeah, you would have to play him. 

Well, he certainly has a place on the team right now.  He's legitimately may be their best option in LF at the moment., and only backup at SS and 2B.  Leury is a more than competent bench piece.  He is not a guy that is going to fare well with everyday at bats.  

[chitownsportsfan]

Once Engel gets back hopefully he starts a platoon with Eaton.  That's the next test.  As for playing Leury and Hamilton, what's he gonna do?  Seems like there aren't a lot of great options when TA and Eloy and Engel are all out.

[reiks12]

13 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Once Engel gets back hopefully he starts a platoon with Eaton.  That's the next test.  As for playing Leury and Hamilton, what's he gonna do?  Seems like there aren't a lot of great options when TA and Eloy and Engel are all out.

id rather Engel in left over Leury, Eaton has been productive

[Bob Sacamano]

1 minute ago, reiks12 said:

id rather Engel in left over Leury, Eaton has been productive

Yeah Eaton in his career isn't a black hole against lefties like platoon players. Just bat him lower in the lineup against lefties. At this point, I'm down to roll with Engel in the OF every day when he gets back. At least the defense would be improved. 

[chitownsportsfan]

2 minutes ago, reiks12 said:

id rather Engel in left over Leury, Eaton has been productive

I think Eaton will play an ok RF in the cell.  I don't know about many other parks.  He looks to have lost more than a step out there, he looks to have lost a few.  Even on the plays he makes he looks shaky.  I'd feel a lot better with Engel out there frankly.  I do like what Eaton brings at the plate against RHP.  Certainly more than Engel.

[Vulture]

Why cant Eaton play left with Engel in right?

[Dick Allen]

5 minutes ago, Vulture said:

Why cant Eaton play left with Engel in right?

He probably can. He played a little LF last season.

[SonofaRoache]

7 minutes ago, Vulture said:

Why cant Eaton play left with Engel in right?

Because you have no power in the corners. 

[South Side Hit Men]

3 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

Once Engel gets back hopefully he starts a platoon with Eaton.  That's the next test.

No, they are not playing Vaughn regularly in LF, while Engel and Eaton take turns platooning.

4 hours ago, ChiSox59 said:

Well, he certainly has a place on the team right now.  He's legitimately may be their best option in LF at the moment., and only backup at SS and 2B.  Leury is a more than competent bench piece.  He is not a guy that is going to fare well with everyday at bats.  

Mendick is with the travel taxi squad, and eligible to be brought up today.

6 minutes ago, Vulture said:

Why cant Eaton play left with Engel in right?

^ This.

[chw42]

FanGraphs had an in-depth look at TLR intentionally walking Pujols to put Hendriks in the game.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/forgoing-evan-marshall-a-tactical-analysis/

 

TLDR: it was a move that actually hurt the Sox' chance of winning by 2%.

Edited April 5, 2021 by chw42

[ChiSox59]

6 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

Mendick is with the travel taxi squad, and eligible to be brought up today.

Ok?  Mendick may be on the taxi squad, but he's far from a solution for this team.  

[South Side Hit Men]

1 minute ago, ChiSox59 said:

Ok?  Mendick may be on the taxi squad, but he's far from a solution for this team.  

With the roster and minor league depth Hahn assembled, it beats playing Garcia everyday at SS until Tim returns, or putting Mercedes at SS, or whatever other cockamamie idea they come up with to cover yet another position with no viable depth / backup.

[ChiSox59]

1 minute ago, South Side Hit Men said:

With the roster and minor league depth Hahn assembled, it beats playing Garcia everyday at SS until Tim returns, or putting Mercedes at SS, or whatever other cockamamie idea they come up with to cover yet another position with no viable depth / backup.

Has there been an update from the Sox to indicate that Tim is anything different than day-to-day?  

[South Side Hit Men]

14 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Has there been an update from the Sox to indicate that Tim is anything different than day-to-day?  

Mendick needs to be brought up, whether for one day, one week, or one month, until Tim is able to play SS. No further replies to this, just addressing your “there are no other 2B / SS backups beside Leury” statement.

Getting back to the topic of the thread, beyond the negative win expectation decisions (Intentional Walk of his BFF Pujols) and obvious missed pinch hit opportunities with one of he worst hitters in MLB, I still haven’t heard an answer regarding Tony being literally asleep at the wheel last night having no pitcher ready in the bottom of the ninth.

Did he intend to have Ruiz face the heart of the order? If not, and since he stated he was “saving” Hendriks for save only opportunities, why the hell wasn’t Foster or anyone else available not warming up? Was he surprised someone reached against the great Ruiz?

If another manager did this, this board would have lost their mind over it. Anyone have an answer, beyond a knee jerk “It’s Ruiz’ fault for allowing a base runner.”

[tray]

8 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

If you would like to make a thread about the pitch calling, that is...totally appropriate! That could be on the pitching coach prepping those guys for the game also. That Tony LaRussa is getting called out for his moves doesn’t mean no one else made mistakes. It also...doesn’t excuse them.

Listen, pitch calling is minimally the responsibility of the Manager and Pitching coach. That is the responsibility of the  pitcher and catcher. They should study and respect scouting reports.   However, a glaring mistake should have been called out so that it would not be repeated, but it was, and it cost the game.

 

[tray]

26 minutes ago, ChiSox59 said:

Has there been an update from the Sox to indicate that Tim is anything different than day-to-day?  

I have not  seen an update about Eloy post-surgey, i.e., the standard line that surgery went well and he is recovering well.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

59 minutes ago, chw42 said:

FanGraphs had an in-depth look at TLR intentionally walking Pujols to put Hendriks in the game.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/forgoing-evan-marshall-a-tactical-analysis/

 

TLDR: it was a move that actually hurt the Sox' chance of winning by 2%.

wow, look how smug and snarky fangraphs are! how dare they say something was a bonehead move and substantiate it statistically. Don't they know some posters just exist to blow off steam and use the forum as a venting tool?!?