shimrod

Sano has looked great - today 4 Ks. By the time I got home from work they were in extras - so I only saw one Sano AB. The second strike (called) was both low and outside and it wasn't even close. The third strike (swinging) was also low and outside but hell, if the ump called the first one a strike who's to know the second won't be as well? No player in the league could do anything productive with either of those pitches. The umpires are either crooked or incompetent (and I'm not ruling out "both"). The electronic strike zone can't arrive soon enough. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the umpires are opposing the electronic strike zone due to the impact it would have on their off-the-books income.

Wasn't able to watch the game last night, but it sounds as though they played the same game(s) I watched last week so I guess I didn't miss anything. Looking for a silver lining here....Can we credit this team for at least being consistent?

I'll go with all of the above. See what we can get for Falvey and Rocco while we're at it.

I like watching La Tortuga play, but it's frustrating to see his bat-to-ball talent and think what a productive hitter he could be with a smidgeon more discrimination at the plate.

"...were two for thirteen with runners in scoring position." Still a little high. Get that down to 0 for 13 and they'll be ready to fit in with the big club.

"Was I the only one expecting Rocco to pull Happ after 5 innings?" No. He's supposed to be a smart guy - if he can learn from his mistakes and repeat them less he could be fine. I've been critical of him; he's formulaic and with the recent troubles it appeared he was flailing as much as the players. Still, he's a relatively inexperienced manager. His first year the bats exploded and he was probably thinking the job isn't that hard. Last year was a cluster for everyone, hard to conclude anything. This year we'll find out what he's made of.

The one excuse I haven't seen yet that might actually fly is the loss of the former bench coach. I don't know what that interaction looks like in practice, but if the manager typically receives opinions from other coaches (bench, bullpen, pitching, etc) and decides which opinion to implement I can see the sudden loss of that coach having a big impact on his performance. We had a traumatic disruption to the staff before the season and that could explain a lot. That said, it's still on Rocco to turn it around.

"There is a massive difference between "Rocco is bad at his job" and "Those two plays weren't his fault". Massive." If two fielding plays were the only issues with this club we wouldn't be trailing in the ALC and there wouldn't be so much angst in the comments.

"You only have to read a few posts up to see he gets little credit for the last two years....somehow. Really, all I see on this board is that the players won the last two years, despite Rocco, so I don't know what you are reading....." There are plenty of posters who say Rocco either was dealt a bad hand or isn't responsible. "MLB players need to hit and make plays - the manager doesn't hit or field" condenses the sentiment. Those are the folks I was responding to. If you manage people - not just baseball, but if you've ever supervised employees - you know you're responsible for the results. You can't point at the folks who work for you and pass the blame. You're getting paid to get them to do the job properly. It doesn't matter why they're failing - poor training, poor attitudes, poor working conditions - it's on you to make it work. Right now it's not working and it aggravates me when I read posts absolving Rocco of most or all of the blame. Yes, there are plenty of people criticizing the manager right now. I was addressing the others.

"Baldelli is still the best manager for this ballclub..." I saw no justification for this statement. Why? Because he's the guy under contract? I want his job. He gets the credit for success and every failure is someone else's fault. Rocco was touted as a genius from the day he was hired. It's time to earn the accolades by turning this club around, pronto.

When every aspect of the team is failing it's time to look at the manager. You can't manage people (or games) by reading a spreadsheet and trusting the numbers. The metrics are an imperfect measurement of reality that should be used as an input into decisions, not a deterministic guide to action. This team couldn't handle TK.

It was interesting hearing the booth guys praising Rocco for his demeanor. Doesn't matter if they win by a walkoff or lose on a walkoff, Rocco's the same guy. Perhaps a manager who gives a damn whether they win or lose could get a little more focus out of the players. At least they didn't kick this one away; it was just lousy pitching. That plus another failure to produce hits (or even productive outs) when the game is on the line.

"A couple brain farts and a mis-handled ball and 2 of those 3 loses likely don't happen." I agree with this, but I don't have confidence this team won't continue to lose with brain farts and mistakes. If there's any accountability for poor play it's way, way behind the scenes. What appears to be lack of focus in the field and poor situational awareness both in the field and at the plate are a constant with this team.

1. The home team only gets that advantage if they stop the visiting team from plating the same runner in the top of the inning. So it's not a neutral advantage in that scenario. Well, yes. But your strategy for plating that runner changes when you may need more than one run to win the game. Are you going to bunt that player to third and give up an out if it's not a sure win? Maybe, maybe not. If you know that single run wins it's much easier to give up the out to put your runner on third.

this should be one of the best defenses in baseball. I agree, it should be. They looked disinterested today. Even the best players have bad plays, or bad games. Multiple players looked like they thought they were still in spring training. I can't imagine Tom Kelly putting up with this for long.