Bruce Bochy Cost Us Another Game, Part II

Title Track

Today's game is the first I have ever left early. Managers can't win a game for you, but they can lose them. Bochy has certainly proven that the last two days.

Bob Fick

Fick has been very good to say the least. In 66 plate appearances, he is hitting .339/.409/.542. Compare that to the catcher who thinks he deserves Varitek money batting .280/.309/.428 in 249 plate appearances. To reach that level of performance, Ficky would need to go 0 for his next 19. Ramon's still better than Miguel Ojeda, though...

(Lance: Ted Williams be damned, Robert Fick is the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived.)

Update (6/25): Ficky would now have to go 0 for his next 22 to reach Ramon's level of performance.

BP Transaction Analysis

From Baseball Prospectus:

Placed C-R Ramon Hernandez on the 15-day DL (sprained wrist), retroactive to 6/18; placed RHP Adam Eaton on the 15-day DL (strained finger), retroactive to 6/16; recalled OF-L Paul McAnulty from Mobile (Double-A); activated RHP Tim Redding from the 15-day DL. [6/22]

Is it just me, or has this been a particularly rough year for catchers? Maybe it’s just the A’s fan in me, wondering if Jason Kendall spent all year hitting with a broken bat, but with Pudge Rodriguez hurting, Javy Lopez and Dan Wilson out, and Ramon Hernandez down, it seems like an unusually tough season on backstops. Ben Molina’s missed time, Victor Martinez has been as cold as Kendall, and this is all without bringing up the backup catchers, who’ve been pretty hard-hit as well.

So with Hernandez broken down for the time being, what did the Pads do? Something really cool: they asked Robert Fick to strap the tools of ignorance back on, giving an otherwise shame-faced pinch-hitter a chance at regaining an actual career for himself. Fick did catch five innings for the Devil Rays last season, but beyond that, he hasn’t caught regularly since 2001, that age-27 season that people felt meant that he’d arrived. Fick won’t get back to those days, but for a few weeks, it’s worth seeing if he can give you what you know you won’t get from Miguel Ojeda. A tip of the cap to Kevin Towers, Bruce Bochy and the rest of the Pad people for taking a chance, and potentially winding up with a stronger roster for it.

As for Eaton’s absence, it sounds as if he might only miss the two weeks he’s already missed a good chunk of, so that he’ll be back in the first few days of July. Darrell May did a good job finishing up Eaton’s injury-ruined start, and then taking Eaton’s turn the first time out. Because there aren’t any off days for the rest of the month, May will get two more turns, against the Mariners and Dodgers, neither of whom look like the sort of opponents you’d want to instead spot Redding against. It shouldn’t be the sort of thing that will cost them their hold on first place.