Loading ...I had to break out the “Dusty Was Misconstrued” tag for this latest bit of nonsense.
FireJoeMorgan.com points out something dumb that Dusty said on Tuesday:
“Everybody’s wondering why I didn’t pinch-hit for Corey,” Baker said. “Corey, in his career, has been better against left-handers than right-handers.”
Corey Patterson, career:
Vs. RHP .260/.302/.423
Vs. LHP .240/.273/.375
Frankly, I’m used to that sort of nonsense. But the rest of Dusty’s quote from that game story really stood out after today’s game:
“Everybody’s wondering why I didn’t pinch-hit for Corey,” Baker said. “Corey, in his career, has been better against left-handers than right-handers. I was limited in the outfield and didn’t have Junior today.”
The only outfield options would have been starting shortstop Jolbert Cabrera and Andy Phillips. Neither had played much in the outfield and Phillips hadn’t at all since Spring Training.
“I didn’t want to put a guy out there that hasn’t played out there,” Baker said. “It’s not fair to them, either. That ball will find you.”
That was Tuesday. He didn’t want to play Cabrera in the outfield, where he’d played 297 career major league games. He didn’t want to play Andy Phillips out there – okay, he’s only played there once.
Then today, this nonsense:
New York – Bottom of 8th
Mike Lincoln pitching for Cincinnati
J Keppinger at shortstop.
J Valentin at third base.
No, of course he’d never played there.
What can you even say about this stuff?
Just Dusty being Dusty unfortunately….
Of all outfielders with 100 or more at bats, Corey Patterson has the lowest OBP and he has almost 200 at bats. Walt, pull the plug on the Corey Patterson experiment. BTW, he ranks 125th among MLB outfielders with 100 or more at bats. Bruce and Dunn? 14th and 15th.
Yeah, it’s crazy. Not that we don’t all do contradictory things, but it’s frustrating.
you know who shoulda been at 3rd
Votto
he came up as a 3B!
then put javy at 1B!
idiots… just idiots… or idiot
Votto, or Hopper, who used to be an infielder. At least it didn’t do any damage.
But it is things like that that have damaged the Reds and caused key losses. Clearly Dusty Baker is either a slow learner or has early Old-timer’s Syndrome. I say that Walt needs to pull the plug on the Crusty “The Clown” Baker experience and then Patterson will go too.
I don’t have a problem with Valentin at third, it was kind of the way it worked out, but that isn’t Chris’ point. The point is he is a big fat liar when it comes to Corey Patterson and he clearly doesn’t know his team. It is time for Walt to pull the plug on Dusty and Patterson.
And who did Valentin hit for with the game on the line?
Janish. Batting .180
So you figure, already trailing, one inning for Valentin isn’t going to kill you. Whereas in the prior example of putting Phillips or Cabrera in the outfield with you LEADING could cost you the game.
C’mon. These examples are not close to the same because of th egame situations. But yes, Votto at third would have been a better bet. Guessing not a single person on-staff knew Votto came up as a 3b.
I think the point everyone that is a Reds fan would like to make is that Dusty Baker has made some foolish mistakes that even a rookie manager would not make. They have been key mistakes with little rationale for why. Mark Sheldon on mlb.com just did his Mailbag write up and said:”As for what’s wrong, I think a lot of it goes back to May 25. That was the day of the 18-inning loss at San Diego where Harang worked four innings and threw 63 pitches in emergency relief. Overall that week, he pitched three times in eight days and never really got a chance to recover — not just his arms but his legs, too.
One longtime scout told me Harang’s mechanics haven’t been the same after that relief outing. In his last five starts since, he is 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA. That Padres game could have more lasting effect on the Reds than any game this season.”
The Reds have the best young talented team I have ever seen in 25 years of following them. Hopefully Dusty Baker’s foolishness and pride won’t ruin it. Jocketty has to grow some balls soon.
Mr. Redlegs, the Reds were losing in both games. Valentin\’s bases-loaded groundout off Beimel cut the Dodgers\’ lead to 2-1. A successful pinch-hit would\’ve given the Reds the lead, but you certainly don\’t avoid making a move because it might work, and give you a lead that might be hard to defend.
I\’d say the two games were pretty comparable:
*Patterson\’s .190 isn\’t measurably better than Janish\’s .180.
*There was a reasonable platoon-appropriate option off the bench (A.Phillips vs. Beimel; Javy vs. Rivera).
* And there was an acceptable, if not ideal defensive option. Remember, Cabrera has played nearly 300 games in the OF. That\’s much, much more than Hairston had played at SS before he was named the regular, and obviously more than Javy had played at 3b in his life.
There\’s really no way to explain the move on Tuesday, other than to nod to Dusty\’s wildly misplaced faith in Corey Patterson. Dusty\’s after-the-fact attempts to explain himself simply don\’t gibe with a pattern of moves as recently as Sunday afternoon.
I suppose we can look on the bright side and say that Dusty learned his lesson and changed his ways?
Both situation were against the Yankees, not Dodgers, right? One Saturday, another Sunday.
You can’t defend the decision to let Patterson bat.
No, the first instance that Baker is discussing was in the Dodger game on Tuesday (Cueto’s last start).
Bottom7: Torre brought in Beimel with the bases loaded 1, out, and the Reds down 2. Valentin hit for Cueto (questionable, since he can’t hit RH at all, but I can’t recall whether the PH was announced before the pitching change). Javy chops one to Loney, the run scores, and the runners go to 2nd and 3d.
Now you have Patterson up with the tying/go-ahead runs in scoring position, vs. a tough lefty. Both A. Phillips and Ross are on the bench at the time.
Welsh, Marty – everybody was shouting about “where’s the pinch hitter?” It was a big deal, and when asked about it, Dusty gave that crazy answer quoted above.
I just checked — Patterson was 1 for 13 against Beimel, going in. Unreal.
Then I don’t think we’re talking about the same incidents. I missed some of the Dodgers series but there was something in the Saturday Yankees game. I’m 139 years old. Whaddya expect? Billy Werber memory? Bah.
I don’t recall anything (complaint-wise from the broadcasters) with Patterson on Saturday. 0-0 bases loaded w/2 out in the top of the 7th…Encarnacion singles to make it 2-0. Yankees bring in RH reliever to face Patterson. Patterson hit the 2-Run HR.
The incident that everyone (including George Grande) was questioning Baker was the at-bat earlier in the week vs. a LH reliever.
So, the bench for these AL games is 2 catchers, Janish, and Hopper or Patterson?