Originally posted by Comebakatz3:
Originally posted by CatsFanGG24:
Originally posted by Comebakatz3:
Once again Henderson shows that he has no real feel for the game. Salow has no one out in the top of the 9th and strikes out the first hitter. He pitched the inning before and while he did give up a walk, he didn't give up a single hit. Plus, as I said, he started the 9th of very strong. Salow would have been facing the 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup, so it was not as though Henderson needed to go to his closer to get some real hard outs. I know Salow has struggled, but so has Jack, so either way wasn't that good of a call, but Salow looked to have a hot hand and Henderson took him out.
This can all be true - but hard to know if you weren't there (which I wasn't - so I cant say)...I will say that he always gets blasted for leaving guys in too long, so I cant fault him for manning up and making a tough decision. didn't work out...doesn't mean Salow would have shut them down either (he also could've mowed through them, will never know)
That is very true. It is hard to really say. I was watching the game on my computer, but wasn't paying a ton of attention. However, I think one of the most important parts of a game manager is to know their pitchers limits, know when they have good stuff, and know when they don't. Those things are the feel for the game I was referring to. Henderson, IMO, struggles with actually knowing his pitchers and what they are capable of. Last night it appeared that Salow was throwing some good stuff. He just got a strikeout, had not given up a hit, and had worked a clean slate the inning before. Yet Henderson yanked him. Maybe it was the right call, but it doesn't look like it. Had Salow struggled and thrown a lot of balls in the first at bat of the inning, or had given up a deep fly ball that was almost a home run then it is understandable to go to the pen, but after a 4 pitch strikeout? The adverse of that is that Henderson doesn't seem to really be able to pick up on when his pitchers begin to tire and miss the zone. When they tire and leave the ball up is when big innings happen. If you know a pitcher may be coming up on his limits then it is typically good to prepare and mitigate the damages. Henderson doesn't seem to do this too often.
So, yes, I seem like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth, but I think it is really just one general issue of Henderson having no feel for the game and/or his pitching staff.
Our recruiting has been solid with good individual talent, and I really agree that our team has no direction. Last year we were a home run team. This year we're supposed to be a small ball and pitching (hahaha) team. We've had several years where we haven't had people to fill roles. Bernal was a 1st baseman last year and basically had to move to third out of necessity. Kuhn was there last year, but really struggled defensively. We also seem to often use pitchers kind of strangely. Andrew Nelson was a pretty decent weekend starter last year and yet he didn't even get his first start this year until yesterday, and it was only a few innings (injured?). Dwyer was used for 56 innings last year and this year he has only thrown 19. Combs was used a lot last year and so far this year has just one appearance. Could probably list a lot more things that make me scratch my head. Still, I think the individual recruiting is pretty decent. However, the lack of direction and development really drive me crazy.
