I've been giving Fredi Gonzalez the benifit of the doubt for a long time now, mainly because it's hard to define what a managing mistake is. You could be watching a game and find yourself saying, "I wouldn't make that move," or "If I was manager I would do this," but if things don't work out its not usually a mistake just agamble that didn't work out.

 

I find myself during every game, either with pitching changes, pinch hitters, not bunting in sacrfice situations or any other managerial decisions screaming at my TV, "I wouldn't do that," or " If I was manager I would do this." Now, I can't say that if my decisions were made that it would turn some L's into W's, but it could and probably would. Fredi Gonzalez has made consistent mistakes while managing that have cost us several games. I can hear people saying now, "It's the players jobs to justify the managers decisions and win the games with the play on the field." Well you can't blame everything on the players. They have struggled some, I know, but the majority of last year they were an above .500% team, and now are struggling to stay near .500%.

 

Last night for example, it was a tough situation with the rain delay, but the bullpen was mismanaged. Matt Lindstrom threw a great low-pitch 5th inning and you could tell he had his stuff working. They should not have pinch hit for him in the 6th. He could have thrown another scoreless inning or two. You might say that may not make a big difference but here's how I see it. Any time you have to rely on 5+ innings from a bullpen, you are really playing with fire when you bring in a new pitcher. Most of the time a reliever has it or he doesnt have it for an outing. The more pitchers you use, the more likely you are to get burned. I know there isn't a true long reliever in our pen, but I'm sure Lindstrom could've gone 2 or 3, and we've seen Gregg go 3, there is no use to try to spread out the innings if guys have their stuff and are throwing well.

 

Also, I don't know why they pinch hit for Gall in the 7th. I know he was just called up and K'ed in a big situation in the 5th, but you replace him with Borchard, who if he would play 150 games would probably break the strikeout record. I would rather rely on Gall who was in the flow of the game and stood a better chance of getting a base hit. Also, if you are going to pinch hit for Gall than you have to follow precedent and pinch hit for Abercrombie, Right? Wrong. He couldn't waste another man on the bench when the pitchers spot was due up next so he had to leave Reggie in there to make the last out in a one pitch at-bat. 2 on, 1 out, and the inning failed.

 

Finally, to the Jorge Julio decision. I'll try to make it short. Yeah Tank didn't have it going, but he just got a big K on a righty with the bases loaded, one out. It's his mess and he should have been the one to save us to the tenth or completely blow the game. Julio did well in his two appearances since the DL but Fredi made a big gamble on Jorge's and the entire team's mental state. and it failed. I can't imagine what's going on in Julio's head and for once I feel bad for him. The manager has consistently put him in a situation to fail. He was on the way back, a few more good outings in low pressure situations and he could have become the player he once was. Unfortunately this may be the final blow to Jorge, and what a shame.

I've been giving Fredi Gonzalez the benifit of the doubt for a long time now, mainly because it's hard to define what a managing mistake is. You could be watching a game and find yourself saying, "I wouldn't make that move," or "If I was manager I would do this," but if things don't work out its not usually a mistake just agamble that didn't work out.

 

I find myself during every game, either with pitching changes, pinch hitters, not bunting in sacrfice situations or any other managerial decisions screaming at my TV, "I wouldn't do that," or " If I was manager I would do this." Now, I can't say that if my decisions were made that it would turn some L's into W's, but it could and probably would. Fredi Gonzalez has made consistent mistakes while managing that have cost us several games. I can hear people saying now, "It's the players jobs to justify the managers decisions and win the games with the play on the field." Well you can't blame everything on the players. They have struggled some, I know, but the majority of last year they were an above .500% team, and now are struggling to stay near .500%.

 

Last night for example, it was a tough situation with the rain delay, but the bullpen was mismanaged. Matt Lindstrom threw a great low-pitch 5th inning and you could tell he had his stuff working. They should not have pinch hit for him in the 6th. He could have thrown another scoreless inning or two. You might say that may not make a big difference but here's how I see it. Any time you have to rely on 5+ innings from a bullpen, you are really playing with fire when you bring in a new pitcher. Most of the time a reliever has it or he doesnt have it for an outing. The more pitchers you use, the more likely you are to get burned. I know there isn't a true long reliever in our pen, but I'm sure Lindstrom could've gone 2 or 3, and we've seen Gregg go 3, there is no use to try to spread out the innings if guys have their stuff and are throwing well.

 

Also, I don't know why they pinch hit for Gall in the 7th. I know he was just called up and K'ed in a big situation in the 5th, but you replace him with Borchard, who if he would play 150 games would probably break the strikeout record. I would rather rely on Gall who was in the flow of the game and stood a better chance of getting a base hit. Also, if you are going to pinch hit for Gall than you have to follow precedent and pinch hit for Abercrombie, Right? Wrong. He couldn't waste another man on the bench when the pitchers spot was due up next so he had to leave Reggie in there to make the last out in a one pitch at-bat. 2 on, 1 out, and the inning failed.

 

Finally, to the Jorge Julio decision. I'll try to make it short. Yeah Tank didn't have it going, but he just got a big K on a righty with the bases loaded, one out. It's his mess and he should have been the one to save us to the tenth or completely blow the game. Julio did well in his two appearances since the DL but Fredi made a big gamble on Jorge's and the entire team's mental state. and it failed. I can't imagine what's going on in Julio's head and for once I feel bad for him. The manager has consistently put him in a situation to fail. He was on the way back, a few more good outings in low pressure situations and he could have become the player he once was. Unfortunately this may be the final blow to Jorge, and what a shame.

 

I don't like Borchard at all on this team, but I sure as hell wanted Gall out of the game. Like you said, Gall K'd in a big situation and also looked like a fool when he ran us out of what may have been a big inning on Olivo's RBI. If they leave Tank in and we lose, everyone on here would be screaming "IT WAS OBVIOUS TANK DIDNT HAVE IT, ID RATHER TAKE MY CHANCES WITH ANYBODY ELSE IN THE BULLPEN".... But they took Tank out, because he did look like crap out there and so you didn't have to write that sentence, you instead could write the opposite. I bet you sound ridiculous screaming at your tv "IF I WERE MANAGER I WOULD DO THIS!!!!" Sounds ridiculous to me.

I've been giving Fredi Gonzalez the benifit of the doubt for a long time now

 

Yes you have been patient...a whole month and a half.

 

I don't always agree with everything Fredi has done, but come on. He's not exactly playing with his full deck right now. At least let him get a healthy team on the field before you decide he is clueless.

Can't this be tied in with the other thread? Yes I think everyone thought the Marlins would have won the division by now, despite a rookie manager :confused

Well, what do you expect from someone named Fredo, who's weak and treacherous? Oh wait, that describes Loria to a T! We're paying for his fallout with Girardi.

Someone mentioned Boles, not sure which thread(?) but his son is actually managing now as well.

 

32 or 33 years old, cant remember exactly, but Kevin Boles is managing the Fort Meyers Miracle. Starting off at a young age.

What irritated me most about Friday night's game (even more than the errors) was the inning where Shawn Hill walked 2 of our guys on 8 straight pitches, then Olivo comes up and swings on a breaking ball on the first pitch, and Abercrombie follows him with a 1st-pitch swing as well. Why wasn't Gonzalez sending a signal to Olivo to take pitches until Hill threw a strike?

Its almost impossible for Olivo to sit on a first pitch, no matter what it is, and no matter the sign.

a long time? :lol

less than 2 months?

 

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Actually I know this isn't the indicator of managerial success, but by this time last season we were worse.