Bruce Bochy Botched
On Sunday afternoon at Chavez Ravine, San Francisco Giants’ starter Barry Zito pitched brilliantly through 7.1 innings, scattering four hits and allowing one run. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Los Angeles Dodger Andre Ethier lined a single into left field with one out. With a slew of right-handed hitters due up, manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift the lefty Zito, who had thrown 102 pitches.
Bochy elected to summon 27-year-old Sergio Romo to come in and protect the lead. After throwing a slider on the outside corner to get to a one-ball, two-strike count on the pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez, Romo hung another slider over the middle of the plate that Ramirez dispatched into the left field bleachers to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. In the top of the ninth, Jonathan Broxton came in and blanked the Giants to give the Dodgers a series win over the Giants.
Immediately after the loss, message boards blew up questioning Bochy’s decision to go with Romo instead of closer Brian Wilson, who had not pitched in three days. Many believe it would have been wise to have Brian Wilson try to convert a long save instead of having Romo set the table for Wilson in the ninth. Despite the result, Bochy made the right decision to go with Sergio Romo and hold off on Brian Wilson until the last inning. Prior to Sunday’s blunder, Romo had not allowed a run over five innings of work in the early going of the season. Romo is expected to be the set-up man in bullpen this year and this was a textbook time to bring him in.
Throwing Romo in the fire allowed him to pitch in a stressful situation, an experience young players need in order to be successful when playing very meaningful games late in the season. In addition, it is only the twelfth game of the season. There is no sense in burdening Wilson with multi-inning saves in the middle of April. Baseball is a marathon and managers must manage for the entire season, not just one game.
For Giants fans, any loss is a tough pill to swallow; a pill that is even larger when it comes at the hands of a hated rival. However, Bochy made the right decision to show confidence in his young arms and hopefully it will pay dividends when the Giants are fighting for a pennant in late September.
Checking the San Jose Mercury News’ Extra Baggs blog, it amazes me the number of Giants fans that blast Bochy for his daily lineup. Every time the lineup is posted at least 80 people comment and complain about how Bochy is screwing things up. I think Bochy has done a pretty good job with this club for the most part and doesn’t deserve the criticism. Some of the comments are just absurd. After the Giants put up nine runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, some fans complained because Bochy went with the exact same lineup the next day. WHY WHY WHY?
Alejandro Madrid is a frequent contributor to ATVN.org and is a broadcaster for USC’s student-run radio station, KSCR.org.
