Questions about our Closers.....

[Ramblin'Man]

Seems CDH is almost completely incompetent when it comes to managing the bullpen, but has he finally realized that:

1) English needs to be the permanent closer for important games? I think we would have 3-4 more wins if he had been the closer instead of Hughes or Gibson early on.

2) How does Hughes start out so dominant and now he's turrible? Is he injured? I thought we found our guy early in the season but he has done a complete 180 and I have zero confidence in him finishing the job now. How long will it take CDH to realize this?

3) How has Gibson gotten so many chances to continuously blow games this year? Does he have some black mail pics of CDH that he's holding over his head to continue to get the nod? We would probably be ranked in the top 10 right now if not for Gibson playing, ugh!

4) Why doesn't Cort become a closer if Amos is going to be the midweek starter? Seemed like he was pretty effective when he started but hasn't been used in a couple weeks if I recall correctly.

If we could figure out the closing pitcher situation then I think we could really have a legit chance to host and win a regional, come on CDH get your head out of your arse ......

 

[MWBATL]

Generally agree. Hall has his favorites and is very stubborn or loyal (however you want to look at it), but we clearly need at least 1 if not 2 more solid, dependable arms in the bullpen.

Jake Lee seems like a decent option to me, although situational. I don't know who Cort is, but surely there must be some other guys who should get trials?

 

[FredJacket]

Listening to Hall pregame... I got the message English is not close to 100%. Hall was a little ambiguous but I interpreted his comments to mean English simply cannot pitch as often as we may think. Like only 1 appearance per weekend... & that is probably a decision in the moment depending on how he feels.

 

[65Jacket]

Listening to Hall pregame... I got the message English is not close to 100%. Hall was a little ambiguous but I interpreted his comments to mean English simply cannot pitch as often as we may think. Like only 1 appearance per weekend... & that is probably a decision in the moment depending on how he feels.

I read the same thing into Hall's comment. To me, Hughes tightens up in the clutch. He has a confidence problem.

 

[MWBATL]

To me, Hughes tightens up in the clutch. He has a confidence problem.

Hughes's stuff is all about control. If he can paint the corners he is unhittable...if he is missing and has to come across the plate.....well.....some other guys have stuff that is good enough that they can challenge hitters in the zone (X comes to mind), but Hughes isn't like that.

 

[GTJon]

One of the problems I think is that we're having problems finding time to get guys work. Think about it. We only have one mid week game each week now and the starters as a whole are going so deep in the game, it's hard to bring anybody in unless it's a tight, high-leverage situation late in the game. That seemed like part of the problem Sunday. When Hughes was struggling and English wasn't ready in the middle of the inning, there really didn't seem like a great option to come in with 2 outs and the bases loaded (especially with Lee and Bartnicki already used).

That's why I was kind of disappointed with the rain out at the end last night. Before the rain started, I was hoping the last 2 innings were going to be a good time with nice lead to use some more options like Roedig, Chapman, Carpenter, Gibson, etc. Most of those guys won't have pitched in 2 weeks when this weekend rolls around. Now partly this is a good problem to have because starters are pitching well and you're not having to have guys go out there in mop-up duty in big losses. But hopefully guys like Roedig or Chapman can get some quality work in soon to enter Hall's "Circle of Trust" in the bullpen and be options in the late innings, even if not able to close.

 

[senoiajacket]

Cort Roedig is a freshman so a bit of an unknown commodity. He has a 2.25 ERA in 12.0 inning but also has 8 walks and 9 hits given, so almost 1.5 WHIP. Gibson started out pretty good before Meltdowns against NW, Miami and UVA. We really dont have anyone reliable. Chapman has been pretty good in limited innings. Lee can be effective but not overpowering. Winborne, Brace and Mannley have hardly been used. Do we have any position players (beside T) who may be able to help us? One of the Wilhite's has thrown some.

I guess we just need CG from our starters from here out.