It’s been a while since we dipped our toes in the Ryan Franklin hate pool, so shall we? 
Last night the closer nee mop up nee bullpen/team drain @Franky31 followed up his only promising inning of work in 2011 with… drumroll please… 2ER, 3 hits, a walk and the L.
Still, the Cardinals soldier on with Franklin.
TLR’s loyalty to veterans has long been a sore spot with a faction of fans that would want his head on a stake even if the World Series permanently was housed in Busch Stadium (WHY can he win it in 4!!). But with the DL’ing of Kyle McClellan, the bullpen is about to be taxed. Meaning that the situations where Franklin can come into a game and not have any bearing on the outcome of the game are about to get very, very limited.
His ERA is 7.52. The WHIP is a robust 1.72. The confidence is at an all-time low. But Franklin is still being summoned from the pen. And he’s still getting rocked.
Fernando ‘Tossed’ Salas blew the save last night. We’re not glancing over that. But a 90% close rate over the course of the season is at least average. You’ll live with that. Everyone gets a mulligan if you’re working 3-4 nights a week.
But this Franklin nonsense needs to stop. And since TLR and the Cardinals seem to have some sort of blind loyalty to Franklin, he needs to be the one that shuts it down.
Now maybe that’s a trip to the DL. Maybe that’s a retirement. Maybe that’s a leave of absence. But in a season that’s shaping up to be, if not special, at least competitive – he needs to do SOMETHING. And figuring it out while giving up 2 runs in an extra inning tilt with the defending NL and World Champions is not that time.
So here’s an open invitation for somebody to do something about Franklin.
Anyone.
Because there are so many losses a team can take when they don’t have to before it starts to make a difference.
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