Thursday, August 11, 2005 |
19952: A's 5, Angels 4
Good starting pitching followed by a giveaway that exposes the Angels' shallow bullpen, not to mention just plain lousy play, all accompanied by managerial inattention to detail are all combining to run this team into the ground. You may recall that I predicted a bullpen collapse this year, and boy has it. But it's not just the bullpen that's exploded: credit Orlando Cabrera for booting a ball in critical games in nearly every series where the Angels had the lead. His defense is simply atrocious and getting worse by the day, it seems.
Today's loss, though, was just pathetic, and one in a long series of games featuring crappy play, and this time there was no 18-inning marathon game the night or weekend before to excuse it. The bullpen -- except for Shields, who continues to get overworked -- was fairly well rested.
Donnelly is no longer trustworthy, and shouldn't have faced the top of the A's order.
Somebody needs to kick some ass over there. Unfortunately, Scioscia isn't the man to do it.
Update: Some good commentary on this at Pearly Gates:
- Richard: It was Bill Stoneman's job to find someone [to help out in the bullpen]. If you need to someone to blame, it's him.
- Matt: Scioscia is managing like he still has the best bullpen in the AL. He doesn't.
Positives 1: Phenomenal starting pitching {Lackey, Santana and Byrd 19 innings, 1 ER} 2: Vlad is back, injury concerns asides, he is getting back is stride
Concerns 1: mental lapses {obannon, frankie, etc. these players do not have a history of such mistakes in key situations} 2: offense other than Vlad {Finley still belongs on the bench...} 3: Relief other than Frankie and Shields 4: Clutch hitting
All aside, concerns 1, 3, 4 are only recent, and should sort themselves out, yet the offense must show more consistency.
: 8/11/2005 06:58:00 PM : 8/12/2005 08:22:00 AM : 8/12/2005 01:36:00 PM : 8/13/2005 11:41:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
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