Posted April 17, 200519 yr comment_475455 OK, I was unable to watch the game today in it's entirety (I pretty much caught the game from the 6th on), and my question is about the use of Todd Jones. Was he used because he was "sharper" than Alfonseca because of Jones' more recent use, or is it a case of McKeon trying to push Alfonseca and Mecir to step up and settle into the set-up role (although I feel it should be 100% Alfonseca's). Or, and I don't know if this has been raised, is it a situation of "show me something" with Spooney getting close and us already having more arms than we know what to do with. McKeon's never been afraid to banish somebody to the final pitcher in the pen, no matter what we gave up to get him (see: Billy Koch). Either way, I'd say I was surprised about the way the pen was used today (but then again, I usually am), and I was just curious what everyone else thinks. Makes a nice change of pace from "Fire (insert name here)!" :thumbup EDIT: And as I write this, Chad Fox mowes down the Pirates with almost unhittable sliders...man, it'd be nice to have him back...
April 17, 200519 yr comment_475456 I have no problem with Todd Jones being in the game, but Jack had Mecir warming up in the pen all ready to go but instead allowed Todd Jones to face Beltran after he was obviously taxed and got himself into trouble and then Beltran just killed us. Today was just another day of poor bullpen management. They're replaying the game at 2am on FSN, so if you're up you can catch it and see what happened.
April 17, 200519 yr comment_475457 I too was surpised Jack went to Jones -- he seemed to be the guy McKeon went to most in the 8-0 blowouts to finish them off. I'm not a big Jones fan to say the least -- but leaving him in when he was CLEARLY laboring cost us the game. Mecir was ready in the pen and who better to face a switch-hitting Beltran than Mecir? his screwball is murder on anyone batting from the left side yet McKeon left Jones in for whatever reason. If anything, our "closer" should have been loose by the time Jones got into trouble. I'm not a Jack basher by any means but his erronous decisions cost us one earlier today
April 17, 200519 yr comment_475458 I had absolutely no problem with Jones getting the ball to start the eigth because he had been sharp in games he was used this season. However, he labored through the lineup and I really thought that Cairo was going to be his last batter. When Beltran came up, Jones was not only flat but he had thrown over 20 pitches and Mecir was beyond ready just sitting there and watching from the outfield pen. It sucks to lose a game that way but nothing we can do about it.
April 26, 200519 yr comment_475459 EDIT: And as I write this, Chad Fox mowes down the Pirates with almost unhittable sliders...man, it'd be nice to have him back... 745064[/snapback] After entering a 10-3 game, Chad Fox walked two and gave up a three-run homer to Adam Dunn before leaving with an arm injury tonight. ---This is why Chad Fox was not brought back.
April 26, 200519 yr comment_475460 EDIT: And as I write this, Chad Fox mowes down the Pirates with almost unhittable sliders...man, it'd be nice to have him back... 745064[/snapback] After entering a 10-3 game, Chad Fox walked two and gave up a three-run homer to Adam Dunn before leaving with an arm injury tonight. ---This is why Chad Fox was not brought back. 755014[/snapback] Were the Marlins able to sign him for the major league minimum instead of the the nearly $1 million he would have earned under the collective bargaining agreement from the Fish, Fox very well might have been pitching for the Marlins this season. For those interested. Here's the story from today's Chicago Sun-Times. Win still leaves Cubs at a loss April 26, 2005 BY MIKE KILEY Staff Reporter Mark Prior may have been the most dejected 3-0 pitcher in the history of baseball. You know a season is on the skids when the Cubs can't celebrate victories. Beating Cincinnati 10-6 Monday night at Wrigley Field was of reduced importance after Chad Fox suffered what may be a season-ending elbow injury in the ninth. Just a day after Fox was being proclaimed as the new closer with his first save in almost two years, he is facing a crossroads in his career. This is the second straight April in which an injury has cruelly intruded on him and perhaps portends another premature close to high hopes for him and the team. How many comebacks can one man attempt? "Sorry if I sound a little down,'' Prior said after the game. "We are all thinking about Chad and what's happened. Obviously, we won the game today and that's important, but your heart goes out to Chad. He's a great guy, great teammate. "All he has been through with his arm and battling back. He has been throwing the ball really well. For him to be struck down again, it's tough. ... For guys that care about him, you don't want to see that happen to anybody.'' There will be questions why manager Dusty Baker decided to open the ninth with Fox after he pitched successfully Sunday against Pittsburgh and this game was far from a save situation. Baker said he was caught off guard after Neifi Perez's three-run homer in the eighth made it a seven-run lead. Mike Remlinger was briskly warming up, Baker said, but couldn't get loose quickly enough to open the ninth. "That three-run homer happened so quickly that nobody could get loose at that time,'' Baker said. "Foxy was the only one loose.'' But even without the Perez homer, the Cubs still would have entered the ninth with a four-run lead. Why couldn't Remlinger or Jon Leicester try to finish this game? That will be the what-if that haunts this turning point in the season. Baker already had used LaTroy Hawkins in the eighth, and he apparently wasn't going to give him two innings. "We were getting Rem loose,'' Baker said. "But we didn't have time. ... I'm glad we won the game, but I hope Foxy is all right.'' Everybody pretty well knows he isn't. An extremely friendly guy who is accommodating to the media, even Fox refused to talk afterward when reporters approached his locker. That tells you how bad it probably is. Ulnar neuritis ended Fox's season last year after he worked just 12 games for Florida. In 1999, he pitched in six games for Milwaukee before going on the disabled list April 21 and never returned that year. Fox didn't pitch in 2000 because of a fractured right elbow. "It didn't look good,'' Baker said. He was talking about Fox throwing a 29th pitch in the ninth on which he cried out and spun off the mound with his right arm hanging in obvious pain. Fox walked the first two Reds he faced in the ninth before Adam Dunn's monstrous homer tightened the score. On a 2-1 pitch to Jason LaRue, Fox's breakdown occurred as he struggled to find any semblance of command. Meltdowns in the ninth are difficult enough. Breakdowns are heartbreaking. Michael Wuertz now appears the heir apparent to the closer spot if Baker won't rely on Hawkins, who has saves in three of five chances. Prior struck out 10 in his six innings and is looking solid. He gave up just two runs on six hits and two walks, and his ERA is a shiny 0.95. Corey Patterson was a late scratch from the starting lineup with stomach flu. His teammates joined him afterward in feeling sick. "To see Chad and Nomar in the last week in so much pain on the field, you don't want to see anybody in that kind of pain -- our team, their team, any other team,'' Prior said. "The game is hard enough as it is. When things creep up like this, it's tough.'' And no easy answers seem forthcoming. http://www.suntimes.com/output/sports/cst-spt-cub26.html
April 26, 200519 yr comment_475462 EDIT: And as I write this, Chad Fox mowes down the Pirates with almost unhittable sliders...man, it'd be nice to have him back... 745064[/snapback] After entering a 10-3 game, Chad Fox walked two and gave up a three-run homer to Adam Dunn before leaving with an arm injury tonight. ---This is why Chad Fox was not brought back. 755014[/snapback] Were the Marlins able to sign him for the major league minimum instead of the the nearly $1 million he would have earned under the collective bargaining agreement from the Fish, Fox very well might have been pitching for the Marlins this season. For those interested. Here's the story from today's Chicago Sun-Times. Win still leaves Cubs at a loss There will be questions why manager Dusty Baker decided to open the ninth with Fox after he pitched successfully Sunday against Pittsburgh and this game was far from a save situation. "It didn't look good,'' Baker said. He was talking about Fox throwing a 29th pitch in the ninth on which he cried out and spun off the mound with his right arm hanging in obvious pain. 755072[/snapback] In Dusty's defense, Fox was warming up in the pen in the 8th inning when the score was 7-3 but the Reds at 2 on, 2 outs for Griffey Jr.... The Reds would fail to score, and the Cubs would add 3 more but I guess his figuring was Fox is already warmed up, might as well use him.
April 26, 200519 yr comment_475463 I don't see anything wrong with Dusty's decision. Fox was getting ready for a Save situation, and he was ready
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