Thoughts on this move? Has such a move happened at any other time this year? Does Robin know more than the rest of the baseball world? Is he going to single handedly bring bunting back in vogue?

Bunting has been proven to be completely inefficient and Ventura not only decides to call for one, but he decides to do so with our most consistent hitter at the plate. Just ridiculous. The Hawks and Bulls are done and the Bears don't start for a while, so we're stuck with this garbage for the summer. Fantastic.

You don't bunt with your best hitter up.

Bunting is always terrible unless it's your pitcher or if the guy is trying to and is actually capable of bunting for a hit.

 

Totally incompetent managing. Totally incompetent organizational philosophies. This team is done. They won't be good again until Reinsdorf is gone and someone comes in and cleans house, and even then they still might not be good.

The only way it could have turned out worse would have been the Mets intentionally walking Frazier and then Shuck, just up from the minors but for some inexplicable reason thrust into the 5 hole (he's LH, therefore he should hit Harvey, who is right-handed I guess) rolled into a double play...

 

Fireable offense. (Trademark pending, temporary copyright issued to Greg.)

 

Rollins playing against a RHP (despite his career numbers against Harvey) who's throwing 95-98...not good. Saladino actually has shown an ability to hit some of the better pitchers in baseball (oddly enough) during his brief time in the big leagues.

Thoughts on this move? Has such a move happened at any other time this year? Does Robin know more than the rest of the baseball world? Is he going to single handedly bring bunting back in vogue?

bad

Ventura has limited skills.

 

It's pure comedy considering one of the 2 hitters who had a chance to knock him in was Shuck.

Edited May 30, 20169 yr by GreenSox

The only way it could have turned out worse would have been the Mets intentionally walking Frazier and then Shuck, just up from the minors but for some inexplicable reason thrust into the 5 hole (he's LH, therefore he should hit Harvey, who is right-handed I guess) rolled into a double play...

 

Fireable offense. (Trademark pending, temporary copyright issued to Greg.)

 

Rollins playing against a RHP (despite his career numbers against Harvey) who's throwing 95-98...not good. Saladino actually has shown an ability to hit some of the better pitchers in baseball (oddly enough) during his brief time in the big leagues.

And to add to that Tony, if Frazier doesn't get it done, you set the stage for Mr. -76 wRC+

Some of the Sox bloggers are going off on twitter that Hahn should be on his way to NYC to fire Ventura. I haven't been a fan of this team for whole Jerry's tenure, but I absolutely don't see that happening.

Edited May 30, 20169 yr by Knuckles

Would love to see what half the people here can do managing. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy

Would love to see what half the people here can do managing. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy

 

Most of these moves of late were second guessed before (bunt, pitching to Hosmer). With that said, even the moves that make sense have back-fired. Team is just mentally weak. Once something bad happens in a game, they fold.

And to add to that Tony, if Frazier doesn't get it done, you set the stage for Mr. -76 wRC+

And to add to that fathom, Frazier was in like a 1/22 slump coming into that at-bat.

Has it been confirmed that Ventura made this call or did Cabrera decide to do it on his own? Not to ruffle anybody's feathers, I just haven't heard who actually "made" this decision. Either way, it was garbage. But if it was Robin, just further evidence that he should be on his way out...taking the bat out of Cabrera's hands in that situation with a slumping Frazier on deck and a guy just called up in the hole.

Agreed on the mental part

Yeah, the biggest concern for the Mets was Harvey the third time through the order. (If he made it that far).

 

Before those first two runners reached that inning, only 2 of the previous 45 or 46 batters the White Sox sent up against him in 2013 and 2016 had reached.

 

I don't know what his numbers are the 3rd time facing a line-up, but I'm guessing the BAA has to be .350-.400 with a correspondingly high OPS number as well.

 

Has it been confirmed that Ventura made this call or did Cabrera decide to do it on his own? Not to ruffle anybody's feathers, I just haven't heard who actually "made" this decision. Either way, it was garbage. But if it was Robin, just further evidence that he should be on his way out...taking the bat out of Cabrera's hands in that situation with a slumping Frazier on deck and a guy just called up in the hole.

Like Morrissey wrote, it looks like he's trying to be fired. Put likeable Robin out of his misery, JR. He's a failure. No harm in that. Not everybody can manage.

Today wasn't just about the bunt though. Robin also batted Shuck 5th, started Rollins over Saladino against a RHP, pulled Albers for Duke when the batter had stronger splits against LHP (plus burned two relievers late in a one run game), & pinch-hit in the 9th with Navarro over Avi & Saladino. Just an absolutely horrific display of managing today.

I can 100% in all honesty say I had two people text me when Melky tried to bunt, asking me "WHY?". I had the same thought.

 

I agree for the most part when I see people say "I could draft better than this GM" or "I could do this so much better." It's annoying.

 

In a case like this, it was just a horrible call that pretty much everyone was in agreement with at the jump.

OK I get you. But what if Melky would have grounded into a 4-6-3 DP? What would have been the reaction

You don't bunt with your best hitter up.

+1

Seriously, Billy Heywood would NOT have approved.

 

 

Anyone that quotes that movie gets an applause from me!!

OK I get you. But what if Melky would have grounded into a 4-6-3 DP? What would have been the reaction

Anger, but not at the decision. Outside of two posters, the entire board strongly objected the idea of bunting before it happened.

Harvey gets hit hard the third time around. It has happened all year. That was exactly what was happening in the 7th and then Ventura gave up an out. That's inexcusable.

Today wasn't just about the bunt though. Robin also batted Shuck 5th, started Rollins over Saladino against a RHP, pulled Albers for Duke when the batter had stronger splits against LHP (plus burned two relievers late in a one run game), & pinch-hit in the 9th with Navarro over Avi & Saladino. Just an absolutely horrific display of managing today.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/...ng3/neil-walker

 

You might want to give him a break on that one...over a THREE year time period, a 200 OPS differential is pretty darned significant.

 

That's over 280 ab's against LHP and 1253 against RHP.

 

 

37 at-bats in two months of one season vs. that consistent track record, SAMPLE SIZE SAMPLE SIZE SAMPLE SIZE.

 

That's why baseball is so hard. Has Walker really become a different/better hitter in his early 30's and figured something out? Perhaps. The same thing definitely happened with Moustakas last year, where you'd pretty much learned by the end of the season that he was taking a completely different approach offensively and driving lots of balls to the opposite field instead of pulling into the shift.

 

 

Thing is do we really think this team will do any better with someone else? I dont think so. I agree the team is weak mentally.I think its an organization thing. Proof is against the royals. The royals are the new twins. And BTW ozzie managed those teams

Anyone that quotes that movie gets an applause from me!!

 

http://www.foxsports.com/north/story/littl...rs-later-072614