Padres Lose By One, Nady Watches From Bench
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Going into today's game, the Padres' five best hitters (statistically speaking, of course) were Mark Sweeney, Brian Giles, Robert Fick, Ryan Klesko and Xavier Nady. Neither Fick nor Nady started. Fick, you can understand. He's a catcher, after all, and needs the occasional day off. Nady, on the other hand, should have started. Failing that, he should have gotten a chance to hit. After Fick, he was by far the best hitter available off the bench. Also, against left-handed pitchers, he is the best on the team, period.
It's one thing to field the best team you can and lose. It's another thing entirely to refuse to give one of your best players any playing time and to lose by a margin that could have been made up by their presence. I'm sick of it.
(Lance: Until now I've avoided the Bochy-bashing. That ends today. His people-handling skills and outsized noggin aside, I can't think of any positives he brings to the team.
He makes pitching changes based entirely pre-determined formula. I am suspicious of managers who run teams in this manner, as it is evidence of a fear of making actual in-game decisions.
I won't even get into his handling of Nady. There's nothing I could write on that topic that hasn't appeared on every Padre blog on the internet.
It may be time to consider a new position within the organization for Bruce Bochy.
Like broadcaster.)
Going into today's game, the Padres' five best hitters (statistically speaking, of course) were Mark Sweeney, Brian Giles, Robert Fick, Ryan Klesko and Xavier Nady. Neither Fick nor Nady started. Fick, you can understand. He's a catcher, after all, and needs the occasional day off. Nady, on the other hand, should have started. Failing that, he should have gotten a chance to hit. After Fick, he was by far the best hitter available off the bench. Also, against left-handed pitchers, he is the best on the team, period.
It's one thing to field the best team you can and lose. It's another thing entirely to refuse to give one of your best players any playing time and to lose by a margin that could have been made up by their presence. I'm sick of it.
(Lance: Until now I've avoided the Bochy-bashing. That ends today. His people-handling skills and outsized noggin aside, I can't think of any positives he brings to the team.
He makes pitching changes based entirely pre-determined formula. I am suspicious of managers who run teams in this manner, as it is evidence of a fear of making actual in-game decisions.
I won't even get into his handling of Nady. There's nothing I could write on that topic that hasn't appeared on every Padre blog on the internet.
It may be time to consider a new position within the organization for Bruce Bochy.
Like broadcaster.)
posted by Richard B. Wade at 10:13 PM
5 Comments:
Okay Richard and Lance, please identify who you would have sat for Nady in Friday's game and why, or when you would have pinch hit him and why.
I am sure that you will keep in mind that Nady has been pretty bad against righties, and has been a terrible pinch hitter.
The "terrible pinch-hitter" thing is a matter of sample size.
As for "bad against righties," until recently he hit them rather well.
And more specifically, I would have PH for either Randa or Olivo against Wagner.
Bingo. Absolutely no excuse for leaving your best right-handed bat on the bench against a lefty reliever like Wagner.
Good to see the responses. Pinch hitting Nady for Randa is a bad idea when the other defensive 3B, Jackson, has already been used. Randa hit the ball hard against Wagner, just right at somebody. Also risky to hit Nady for Olivo with only Ross left on the bench; Olivo also had a solid at bat against Wagner.
I also doubt that Nady's pinch hitting failures are due to sample size. Pinch hitting is a specialized skill, and I doubt Nady is used to it at this point in his career.
If I was managing, I would have had Loretta (8 for 29 last 3 years as a pinch hitter) in the pitcher's spot after Olivo, and then pinch hit Nady for Roberts. Too bad it didn't get there. :(
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