Some managers live and die by the book, some follow their gut, and some do a little of both. The great thing about sports managing is knowing when to follow a hunch and go out on a whim, and when to follow the protocol. Not that I know anything about managing a professional sports team, but I know a little about managing a franchise on Xbox.
Anyway, on Monday night, Jim Leyland lived primarily by the book, but when it came down to the biggest situation of the game he followed his gut — and failed miserably.
In a game where the Tigers had three sacrifices (two bunts and a sacrifice fly) and timely hitting, they needed more of the same with 1-out in the bottom of the 8th and runners on second and third. After Magglio lead the inning off with a double off the Monsta’ and Brandon Inge got plunked, Leyland called for Laird to lay down a sacrifice bunt to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Laird executed as the Tigers had done all game and the table was set….
For the intimidating, Adam Everett.
I know the immediate thought is, “pinch hit for him.” The Tigers had Ramon Santiago, Ryan Raburn, and Alex Avila on their bench at the time. The next thought from most (non-baseball savvy) fans is “Put in that Avila kid who has played amazing so far.” To that I would probably say, no. Avila is a young kid and any confidence he has could be ruined by failing in that isolated spot. Not only that, and most importantly, the roster only has two catchers usually, so putting in Avila to hit for Everett means the Tigers would be left with no back ups should Laird get hurt and/or the game goes into extra innings when a back up might be needed.
The next thought would probably be Ryan Raburn. In fact, ESPN announcers were speculating that Raburn was grabbing a bat in the dugout. This seems like a pretty smart move if Leyland were going by the books. Raburn is 8 for his last 22 (.364) and on the season is hitting .273 with RISP. Meanwhile, Adam Everett, before that at bat, was just 6 for his last 35 (.171) and is hitting a modest .239 on the season with RISP. Now in that spot with one-out, you may not be necessarily looking for a hit as much as your asking the hitter to put it in play so a run can score and tie the game. However, Adam Everett has struck out more than Raburn recently. Also, Raburn has provided the Tigers with their most dramatic pinch hit of the season with a walk off 2-run bomb, despite the fact he’s just 1-8 in PH opportunities. Raburn should have gotten the nod over Everett in that situation — and trust me, it pains me to say that because I don’t like that Raburn possesses a roster spot on this team in the first place.
However, the name that nobody seemed to mention as a potential pinch hitter, and instead was talking about as a replacement for Everett at short, was Ramon Santiago. He’s hitting better than Everett lately, 6 for his last 23 (.261), and hasn’t struck out any more than Everett of late. But the two big things that stick out to me are that he’s a lefty bat that matches up better against the right-handed Ramon Ramirez and is hitting .283 on the season with RISP. Ramon was also probably the best option to pinch hit there because he’s a straight substitution for Everett and the Tigers do not need to bring anyone else off the bench should the game go to extras.
But Leyland ignored the book and followed his gut by sticking with Everett — and it backfired. Everett saw three pitches and whiffed on all three, turning in probably the worst at bat in the history of baseball in the given situation. On the first pitch he was about a mile behind an inside fastball. The second pitch bounced around the 50 foot mark, and the third pitch was about two feet outside the zone that Everett was presumably trying to reach to protect the plate with two strikes he should not have had on him. It was pretty miserable, if I don’t say so myself.
Granderson followed that up in his familiar fashion (.189) with RISP and 2-outs) by getting out. He popped out to the catcher to strand Clete (who pinch ran for Magglio) and Brandon Inge.
Even with Granderson’s continued futility in big spots staring me in the face, I can’t stop thinking about Leyland’s indecision to pinch hit for Everett. Maybe I’m overreacting, but I think he definitely should have done what he had done all game — live by the book and go with the guy who was going to give the Tigers the best chance to bring in a run in that key situation.
Now don’t get me wrong by this post. The Tigers played an all around pretty good game on ESPN for once — they did the small things right (for the most part) and battled their asses off despite an uncharacteristic poor start from Edwin Jackson. Luckily the White Sox could not handle the Mariners tonight and Detroit will maintain their three game lead in the Central.
Anyway, Kid Rick Porcello (10-7) takes the ball tomorrow hoping to get the Tigers back on track. He’ll be facing rookie, Junichi Tazawa who is coming off a relief outing where he gave up the only runs in a 15 inning affair with the Yankees — a walk-off bomb to A-Rod (that can’t be good for a kid’s morale).
Go Tigers!
UPDATE: According to Jason Beck’s blog, Leyland thought Everett was going to put the ball in play and, at the very least, ground out to second and bring home a run. Perhaps Leyland was living by the book as he states that Everett was 1-2 off Ramirez and Ramon and Raburn were both 0-1. Small sample size there, Jimmy. I would have looked at the bigger picture and probably gone with whose bat is the hottest at the time. Then again, I’m not a skipper in the bigs. (via Bless You Boys)
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