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Jo Jo sets the Pads down in order in the 8th. 6-2 Redbirds. I didn’t know Jo Jo attended Yavapai college in Prescott, Arizona. Fun town back in the day. I used to go up there on weekends and stay in some little hotel called The Apache Inn…..probably not there any longer. In the 90’s movie “The Getaway” with Alec Baldwin, he and movie cast others stayed there while filming. They had this neat town square with bars littered all around it. And during summers they had this ancient fairgrounds that had real horse racing. But probably the thing I recall most about Prescott was that at night when you gazed upward, it felt like you could almost touch the stars.
I don’t love it though. Do we really want Fernandez to debut against Tatis and Machado? I have a feeling he will be a no show again tonight unless we extend our lead here.
And sure enough, it’s Helsley in for the non-save situation in the 9th against the toughest couple Padres. I’d have thrown Fernandez in the 8th instead of JoJo but at least JoJo was efficient. If you can’t put a guy in up by 4 or less or down by 4 or less, what good is he?
Helsley gets the job done…..won’t be credited with a Save, but the important thing is the 6 spot next to St. Louis on the scoreboard and the 2 next to San Diego. Now let’s sweep these guys!
109 total pitches tonight from the Cards staff. Lots of quick outs. Good game. Again, it’s nice to not be playing the Dodgers.
Why use Helsely in a 4-run game? If you cannot trust Fernandez in a 0-5 or 4-0 game, why even put him on the 26-man roster?
Game ball…Remember when they used to get a wristwatch from Hamilton Jewelers for being the star of the game?
Wow. Gibson with 7 strong innings. We should make him our king. The pen was efficient. It is way easier for a manager to look smart when the starter goes deep.
Pulling Walker for a defensive replacement late constitutes a reality based move which gives me some hope that Gorman and his 50% K rate will eventually be moved down in the lineup. There needs to be a better hitter in that slot and as of now I vote for Contreras as the best candidate. Obviously, if there was a good high average hitter to bat second, then Goldy could move down, but as of now, I do not see a better option. I don’t deny that Gorman might be a better hitter some day, but that is a different discussion.
All around a solid performance. Gibson looked good. Bull pen did their job. Donovan had a great game.
Good to get a win with our #5 starter…hopefully the start of a solid year for Gibson.
Helsley pitching may hurt us the rest of the series, though.
Helsley pitching may hurt us the rest of the series, though.
Since he threw so few pitches, it might not hurt them. However, just because you get away with something stupid doesn’t make it any less stupid.
In LA we saw what happens when the B team comes out of the pen. OlliMo didn’t want to blow another lead.
Except for those 2 Padre dingers, you have to love the way Gibson keeps the ball on the ground. Especially with this slick fielding infield, that is a very good thing. Right now I feel pretty comfortable when Gibson and Matz take the hill, but get a bit queezy seeing Mikolas and Thompson.
I agreed with using Helsley in the 9th. He was fresh and we had San Diego’s best hitters coming up. I just would have rather used Fernandez in the 8th against the bottom of their lineup. It may have blown up. But Fernandez has to be used to eat some innings somewhere or he shouldn’t be on the roster. That would have kept Romero fresh for today’s game.
But now, the preference would be to not use Helsley or Romero today since they pitched yesterday and the preference should also be to give Kittredge another off day after his back-to-back assignments. That’s most of the back of our bullpen that should be off today. If we hadn’t used Romero yesterday, then Romero and Gallegos could have formed a nice 1-2 punch today with Liberatore bridging the gap to them.
Nice win. Loved the diving catch by Walker. That should boost his confidence a ton. Donovan breaks out with a great game at the lead off spot. It seems our defense and getting back to where they traditionally are with some solid performances. I really like what I see with Winn and Gorman at the keystone. winn has such quick hands and a cannon for an arm, and Gorman handles the pivot real well and also can throw.
Seeing a number 44 pitching always makes me think of Ray Washburn. He came up as a hard thrower who looked to be the next big star for us, but injuries derailed his career. He battled back and was a good pitcher for a number of years, but had to re-invent himself somewhat as the injuries took away the flame thrower to where he became more of a sinker/slider type.
With Gibson’s fine outing against the Cubs in that last exhibition game and good start last night, that is really good to see.
Possibly using Fernandez vs the bottom of their order, with your closer backing him up, reminds me of Tony LaRussa. It was like he wanted the run scored, and then he’d proceed with his closer to get the save.
Sometimes it backfires. It can create a high leverage situation for either the reliever you were trying to rest, or a 4 or 5 out save from the closer.
Oli’s choice last night gave Helsley a clean 9th, and we needed the win, that part I get. The trickle down effect may cause another loss, as it did with King in game 4 w/the Dodgers. TBD.
Which bullpen usage chart are you using this season?
Shame that Baseball Press site shut down. Their usage chart was perfect for me. They posted lineups very early before game time too.
JJ – I’ve never used one. I just kind of keep track in my head. In general, pitching one inning every other day is about the max out point of any reliever. So if they go back-to-back days, in general they should get 2 days off. It’s a bit trickier when they throw a couple innings or a ton of pitches in one inning. To me, in my head anyway, I credit them with about a day and a half of needed rest in those instances, which ends up with them being always overworked or under worked. And if they fall into the overworked side, then they ultimately need 2 day off after their next outing. This has all been a fairly good guide through seeing about 20 years of bullpen management.
The issue then with guys who are overworked for more than a couple weeks, they nearly always become ineffective or sometimes get injured. So keeping them fresh is important. And that helps with starters going 6 or more innings, which is the strategy this season. We will see if that strategy works. I’m extremely skeptical on Lynn, but I was happy with the Gray and Gibson signings and said so many times over the offseason. I had hoped for Imanaga as well. Hopefully, Lance’s fire (and ability) hold up.
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