JOHN GIBBONS: A SPRING CHICKEN.
The Bluejays have taken on the attitude and approach of their manager, and I don't like it. They are, for the most part, laid back, easygoing and not prone to worry about a few bumps in the road in April. 8 wins and 13 losses is nothing to be concerned about. Or is it? I don't know how many games a manager can win or lose for a team every year, but I do know this: John Gibbons has yet to win utilizing his in-game managerial skills. Forget the fact that the Jays are playing poor fundamental baseball ( the manager's responsibility) Forget that Jose Reyes is out, which has left a big hole in the leadoff spot. The problem is the manager is afraid to take a risk. He's a spring chicken. Cluck, cluck!
When a team isn't hitting homeruns or driving the ball into the gap for extra bases, a manager has to find other ways to scratch out runs. Like using speed, which the Jays have an abundance of. And daring, which they don't have much of at all. Example: In last night's game, down 4-0, EE hits a 3 run jack and now it's a ballgame. Next batter Melky Cabrera, hits a shot to the wall with two outs. It bounces away from the outfielders and now Melky is going to try for the inside-the-park homerun. This is, without a doubt, THE most exciting play in baseball. You're on your feet, eyes darting back and forth from baserunner to baseball. From outfielder to cutoff man to home plate. Can he make it? If he scores, the game is tied and the momentum is surely on the Jays side. And just as Melky rounds third and the ball is just getting to the cutoff man and the Jays bench is urging him home from the third base dugout, HE STOPS. Held up by third base coach Luis Rivera. What the hell? You've just fought back from a 4 run deficit, and you stop the runner? The Jays bench was deflated. The next batter made out. Rally killer!
Of course, Gibbons had another chance to redeem himself. In the 8th, down a run, Mark DeRosa, pinch hitting for the shortstop Kawasaki, walks lead off. Instead of replacing him with pinch runner Emilio Bonifacio, a base stealer with an 85% success rate, Gibbons chooses to GIVE UP AN OUT by using pinch hitter Rajai Davis to bunt. This is ludicrous! Even though Matt Wieters is a great catcher, he's successful 36% of the time in throwing out baserunners. Why not give Boney a shot at stealing the base? He swiped 30 out of 33 last year. You had a chance to tie the game, and possibly win it with the meat of the batting order coming up. If Boney gets thrown out, you've still got only one out and Bautista and EE coming up. But if he steals successfully, it opens up all kinds of possibilities. You've got to take that chance. But they didn't and they lost another one run game.
Gibbons might say he didn't like the matchup, or that he had nobody left on his bench, but sometimes you've got to take a risk. Instead of sitting back and hoping something happens, MAKE it happen. As my wife so eloquently put it when the Jays went down meekly: "Gibbons is a pussy, and you can quote me on that".
Terrible article. I don't know what baseball team you were watching last season, but it obviously wasn't the Blue Jays, who ran themselves into out after out on the bases. You would be writing the same article with the opposite opinion if Melky got nailed at the plate. Keep in mind, that baserunning is controlled almost exclusively by the base coaches, not the manager. It is not Gibbons' fault that Rivera stopped the runner, and Rivera seems to be struggling as a third base coach this year.
ReplyDeleteRajai Davis was brought into this game to pinch-ht for Lind vs. the LHP Matusz. This was necessitated by the fact that Lind has been BY FAR the worst hitter in MLB vs. LHP since 2010. It's not even close. Naturally, the Orioles went to the RHP Strop. Given that this is also a terrible matchup for the Blue Jays (although not as bad as the Lind one) and Davis' speed, bunting (for a hit) is likely Davis' best option. Potentially costing Davis a strike in that plate appearance was not worth the risk. If Bonifacio (who should have pinch run for DeRosa) is thrown out, Davis now has ONE opportunity to bunt for a hit with no other benefit. With the meat of the order coming up and the chance for a go-ahead HR, the potential positive risk value drops even further.
The issue isn't Gibby but the roster construction. The Blue Jays have too many platoon players.