I usually try to refrain from calling people morons, but this guy takes the cake.Sure, they only have about three viable pitchers at the moment, but can you really argue that Greg Maddux is worse than Joe Blanton? They could have started Maddux, but Torre and the Dodgers took a chance. They needed a win, and Lowe has been the stud all year. Why not go to him? Then, I believe Lowe pitched pretty well through 5 until Torre inexplicably took him out of the game. You don't bring him back on three days rest and give him a pitch count. Lowe was only up to 75 pitches when he exited the game. That was after a 1-2-3 inning. If he was just starting to get into a rhythm, then why take him out? He could have gone at least two more innings. To blame the starting pitching is not the right answer.
On to the bullpen, the Dodgers had the 3rd best bullpen ERA in the majors. How is that bad? When you look for depth, Beimel, Kuo, Wade, and Saito had ERA's under 3, and Broxton and Park were barely over 4 (Park's was 3.40). How is that not having depth? Okay, Kuo and Saito have been recently injured, but that's not management's fault. There was nothing they could do. How many teams in the playoffs have six solid options out of the bullpen. Add in Maddux and Kershaw, and the bullpen should be just fine. Sorry, Plaschke, but the pitching depth is again not the problem.
The problem more or less comes down to Torre. He's been notorious for misuing his bullpen, and in this game, there was no reason to take Lowe out and put relievers in. It almost makes me think something happened to Lowe, but Lowe says he was ready to go. Why pull him? As for the relievers blowing it, there was no reason to believe they would. They've been solid all season. It was just a bad night. In all honesty, I refuse to blame Torre too much because he's won so much that you really can't question his intelligence. It was just one of those nights, but Plaschke didn't realize that. I have to hand it to him though, he does write well. There's no content, but the style's good.
2 comments:
Of anyone on Around The Horn, you hate Plaschke the most? Jay Mariotti has to be the most irritating human on the planet, followed by marble-mouthed Woody Page. I often catch part of this on Sirius if I leave work at a normal hour. I can handle Plaschke much more so than those other two ass-clowns.
I agree. Mariotti is much worse. But I like Cowlishaw and Adande because they seem to understand that its all a big show/joke and don't seem to take it, or themselves, too seriously.
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