GDT #15, 4/17/'14: Braves (Wood) vs Philthies (Burnett); Gattis day off

[jpx7]

Last night Fredi was praised for leaving Teheran in the ninth. Today he gets criticized for leaving Wood in. At least it looks like the two groups don't intersect. Or do they? Need a Venn diagram for this.

Teheran was up, 1-0, when he was left in to bunt so he could return for the ninth. Wood was locked in a 0-0 game. (Plus, Teheran's better with the bat.)

I'm not dissenting with Fredi's choice to leave Wood on the mound, per se; I'm disagreeing with his not pinch-hitting for Wood with a chance to score the go-ahead run.

[nsacpi]

Thing is once Laird got on, it made sense to have Wood sacrifice him over. At that point he only had 80 something pitches.

[gilesfan]

So was it a correct decision to leave Wood in to bunt?

No, bc you need to score at least 1 more run and you have Laird on the bases. Vs. Not having to score 1 more run and not having closer available.

[sturg33]

Correct me if i'm wrong but if Schafer is running for Laird, and you PH for BJ.

All we have in the outfield if JUp/JHey, no?

You pinch run Schafer for Laird, pinch hit Gattis for Wood... Very simple stuff.

Also, Gattis crushes lefties. Even more reason to use him against Bastardo. But no. Fredi had to Fredi

[gilesfan]

Correct me if i'm wrong but if Schafer is running for Laird, and you PH for BJ.

All we have in the outfield if JUp/JHey, no?

Schafer could stay in CF and put the pitchers spot at number 2 in the order. Or have Gattis move to left. Right?

[Heyward]

You pinch run Schafer for Laird, pinch hit Gattis for Wood... Very simple stuff.

Also, Gattis crushes lefties. Even more reason to use him against Bastardo. But no. Fredi had to Fredi

I never argued Gattis shouldnt of hit for Wood.

But he was dealing.

[nsacpi]

Reviewing the game thread, I see two calls for Fredi pinch running for Laird but no calls for a pinch hitter for Wood. Just sayin.

[sturg33]

Teheran was up, 1-0, when he was left in to bunt so he could return for the ninth. Wood was locked in a 0-0. (Plus, Teheran's better with the bat.)

I'm not dissenting with Fredi's choice to leave Wood on the mound, per se; I'm disagreeing with his not pinch-hitting for Wood with a chance to score the go-ahead run.

This is right. If Wood's spot was not due up, I have no problem leaving him for the 8th. But it was, and we had a golden opportunity to score. And we have the equivalent of two pitchers hitting behind him so we needed to take our best shot

[bravebonebook]

Wood pitches 8, giving up only 1 run. Wood hits and bunts like a 3 year old. Fredi's decisions aside, if Wood would actually learn how to help himself with that stick of his rather than just holding it provocatively at the plate and stop shooting blanks when he's at bat, the team scores and, perhaps, celebrates a win rather than a loss at the climax of the game.

[Braves1976]

Thing is once Laird got on, it made sense to have Wood sacrifice him over. At that point he only had 80 something pitches.

Wood is bad at bunting so why not consider that too? Plus the catcher is running too so even if he gets it down if it's a bad one maybe he's nailed at third. I know Laird can run okay for a catcher but he's still not fast. Personally, I go with the best shot at scoring there by pinch running Schafer and pinch hitting for Wood too. Schafer is so fast he can make third on lots of contact plays.

[nsacpi]

My guess is they would have walked Gattis if he had been sent up against Bastardo. Set up the double play and take their chances on him pitching to Heyward, BJ and Freeman. An interesting option for Fredi at that point would been to have Heyward bunt.

[sturg33]

My guess is they would have walked Gattis if he had been sent up against Bastardo.

Doubtful. But that's still a good result. Much better than what happened

[Heyward]

Wood pitches 8, giving up only 1 run. Wood hits and bunts like a 3 year old. Fredi's decisions aside, if Wood would actually learn how to help himself with that stick of his rather than just holding it provocatively at the plate and stop shooting blanks when he's at bat, the team scores and, perhaps, celebrates a win rather than a loss at the climax of the game.

Perhaps if we didnt get shutout for 7 innings, before the decision, maybe it wouldnt really mattered?

But i suppose that's Fredi's fault as well, right?

[Braves1976]

My guess is they would have walked Gattis if he had been sent up against Bastardo. Set up the double play and take their chances on him pitching to Heyward, BJ and Freeman.

If so, then I pinch run Pastornicky for him. I like speed on the bases late in those situations.

[Heyward]

Reviewing the game thread, I see two calls for Fredi pinch running for Laird but no calls for a pinch hitter for Wood. Just sayin.

Yep, funny the Fredi haters dont say it when it happens.

Always complaining about something.

[nsacpi]

If so, then I pinch run Pastornicky for him. I like speed on the bases late in those situations.

Yeah, but you burn two catchers there.

[gilesfan]

Perhaps if we didnt get shutout for 7 innings, before the decision, maybe it wouldnt really mattered?

But i suppose that's Fredi's fault as well, right?

So if things dont go well early in the game, Fredi has free reign to just **** up every decision?

[sturg33]

Yep, funny the Fredi haters dont say it when it happens.

Always complaining about something.

I have a google chat transcript that would show otherwise

[Gary82]

I'm not saying that Fredi nearly cost us two games this series, but purple monkey dishwasher.

[nsacpi]

Anyhow it was an interesting situation. One that maybe you handle differently in the playoffs than in game 14 of the regular season. I had a little bit of an issue with not pinch running for Laird, but I thought leaving Wood in to bunt was the right decision.