GDT 4/8: Cards Vs Braves

[sc1767]

Remember when they said improving the bullpen was a priority in the offseason.

They must have been talking about the actual bullpen. Like, I don't know, upgrading the phones and bathrooms or something.

[zbhargrove]

I am very optimistic about Wisler though... he looked really solid... even against lefties which was his killer last year. Stuff looked good, looked more aggressive and confident. Hopefully he'll learn to pitch effectively deeper into games.

[stpeteirish]

Gant will be a good one but we did rush him to Majors too fast IMO. However, I am happy for him to make it so fast. But he only had a short time in AA last year, not even a full season. He should be in AA or AAA right now.

He'll be there soon; we won't leave Chacin in AAA long.

Extra man in the pen worked out great, just like little league. Everyone got to pitch.

[nsacpi]

"It's a luxury to have two left-handers and we don't have that [second] guy right now," Gonzalez said.

Fredi is not a good bullpen manager under the best of circumstances. But I find it inexcusable that the FO is putting him in this situation when there have been a number of decent (not great but decent) options available.

[msstate7]

0-3 should be no surprise when you consider FF is hitting .100.

[nsacpi]

Remember when they said improving the bullpen was a priority in the offseason.

I remember John Schuerholz being especially adamant about this at the end of last season.

[NinersSBChamps]

"It's a luxury to have two left-handers and we don't have that [second] guy right now," Gonzalez said.

Fredi is not a good bullpen manager under the best of circumstances. But I find it inexcusable that the FO is putting him in this situation when there have been a number of decent (not great but decent) options available.

Over the last two seasons plus the front office has been putting the team in bad situations. That is there M.O.

[nsacpi]

The thing that bothers me is there are lefties out there that could be picked up and who would be potentially valuable assets under team control or who might be flipped at the deadline. So whether you are looking from the perspective of trying to put a decent product out there this season or adding assets that can help with the rebuild there is no excuse not to have a second lefty in the pen.

[nsacpi]

Asked about the team’s plan for free agency, John Hart said, “The bullpen is going to be a priority.” After trading closer Craig Kimbrel before the season, Jason Grilli performed well as his replacement. The bullpen fell apart after Grilli’s season-ending Achilles injury and the trade of Jim Johnson. “We’re not going to get caught where we don’t have any experience, any depth, in the bullpen,” Hart said.

October 2015

We just spent an entire spring training without a single quality left handed reliever in camp. Right now we have EOF who is not close to being the pitcher he was before the TJ surgery.

[Russ2dollas]

When you got Olivera letting pop flies fall gently in front of him, it's tough to get through innings unscathed

Agree. I thought wisler looked really good vs a decent line up. Olivera cost us in the field and at the plate. Terrible start

I like the pen. Viz and grilli and Johnson are good. I think lots of teams will want those guys at the deadline and I'd want to keep viz. really like winkler. Eof shoyld not pitch to a rh, that is on Freddie IMO

First two losses are on the defense, not the pen

I hope aybar and 2b aren't terrible so we can flip them. But it is hard to imagine that next year won't be a monster upgrade in the middle infield...even if they don't hit

Really dislike Olivera. Hoping bird and or the pick come through to save that trade

[Julio3000]

I'm not too worried about the bullpen, either. I'm perplexed as to why we don't have a second lefty, but we do have some good arms down there.

Olivera does not look good. As striker noted, he was late on a 92 mph fastball on a 3-1 count. His hit was a rainbow.

[dak]

"It's a luxury to have two left-handers and we don't have that [second] guy right now," Gonzalez said.

Fredi is not a good bullpen manager under the best of circumstances. But I find it inexcusable that the FO is putting him in this situation when there have been a number of decent (not great but decent) options available.

It's an embarrassing situation. We have have one LHP on our 12 man staff. Since EOF needs to be used exclusively as a LOOGY, we realistically have just one shot to use him every two games or so when there are one or more opposing LH batters coming up. I can deal with having less MLB talent than most other teams this year. It's just hard to deal with obvious mistakes from the FO and the coaching staff.

[nsacpi]

Extra man in the pen worked out great, just like little league. Everyone got to pitch.

Fredi better put Jose Ramirez in soon. His mom is getting upset.

[nsacpi]

It's an embarrassing situation. We have have one LHP on our 12 man staff. Since EOF needs to be used exclusively as a LOOGY, we realistically have just one shot to use him every two games or so when there are one or more opposing LH batters coming up. I can deal with having less MLB talent than most other teams this year. It's just hard to deal with obvious mistakes from the FO and the coaching staff.

A second lefty makes a big difference. We can turn the 8th and 9th innings over to Viz and Grilli. But there will be lots of games where you need to get the right matchups to help you get through the 6th and 7th and that will often involve needing a lefty for both innings.

[NinersSBChamps]

A second lefty makes a big difference. We can turn the 8th and 9th innings over to Viz and Grilli. But there will be lots of games where you need to get the right matchups to help you get through the 6th and 7th and that will often involve needing a lefty for both innings.

Case in point why I don't have any faith in the front office. This is a pretty obvious need and yet they aren't able to understand that. People who defend this front office direction really don't have a leg to stand on with this.

[The Chosen One]

Front office must be thinking about the 2005 patchwork bullpen where our only left hander was John Foster.... and Bobby used to throw him out there against Howard and Utley when he could top out at 88mph max. It was brutal to watch.

[Julio3000]

Front office must be thinking about the 2005 patchwork bullpen where our only left hander was John Foster.... and Bobby used to throw him out there against Howard and Utley when he could top out at 88mph max. It was brutal to watch.

Good ol' Bananas Foster, certain to be lit on fire.

[Tapate50]

Asked about the team’s plan for free agency, John Hart said, “The bullpen is going to be a priority.” After trading closer Craig Kimbrel before the season, Jason Grilli performed well as his replacement. The bullpen fell apart after Grilli’s season-ending Achilles injury and the trade of Jim Johnson. “We’re not going to get caught where we don’t have any experience, any depth, in the bullpen,” Hart said.

October 2015

We just spent an entire spring training without a single quality left handed reliever in camp. Right now we have EOF who is not close to being the pitcher he was before the TJ surgery.

I think people need to stop trying to give this lip service any validity. They aren't worried about this year and frankly, shouldn't be. That's all you need to know to disregard that statement

[Dalyn]

This reminds me of the Braves so far this season.

[dak]

I think people need to stop trying to give this lip service any validity. They aren't worried about this year and frankly, shouldn't be. That's all you need to know to disregard that statement

I see it differently. The future-focused trades were the priority, but they were also very focused on adding multiple cheap vets in order to avoid a repeat of 2015. They wanted to take a small step forward and show progress toward 2017. It's debatable whether that's a good strategy, but I think that was the strategy. Overall, I think they did a decent job of executing the strategy. A lot of good cheap signings. Bonifacio was obviously a mistake that they've already owned up to. As you know, I'm also perplexed about the imbalance of the bullpen. Finally, their handling of the Rule 5 draft was a head-scratcher to most of us.

On the whole, the've done well the past couple years. But there have been multiple unforced errors. Decisions that just didn't make a lot of sense at the time, or in hindsight.