May 1, 200818 yr His WHIP is now 1.75 in situations where the Marlins have been winning (or losing) by 1 run or less. Fortunately he hasn't blown that many games but he has come close a few times. I was at the game in DC where he almost threw the whole thing away. He's a mediocre reliever. That term doesn't need to have a negative stigma attached to it, but he isn't one of the most dominant players we have in the pen in terms of ability. We should have traded him in the offseason by marketing him as something he wasn't. Teams are suckers for closers and we probably could have gotten something decent back. His role would have been easily filled.
May 1, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer.
May 1, 200818 yr His WHIP is now 1.75 in situations where the Marlins have been winning (or losing) by 1 run or less. Fortunately he hasn't blown that many games but he has come close a few times. I was at the game in DC where he almost threw the whole thing away. He's a mediocre reliever. That term doesn't need to have a negative stigma attached to it, but he isn't one of the most dominant players we have in the pen in terms of ability. We should have traded him in the offseason by marketing him as something he wasn't. Teams are suckers for closers and we probably could have gotten something decent back. His role would have been easily filled. I was actually all for it in the offseason, and I was hoping Lindstrom would close, as we got some prospects for Gregg. But fact is...Lindstrom isn't ready for this yet, either. I like Miller in middle relief, and I also like Pinto in middle relief. So who...Kensing, perhaps? I say we should be a little patient here...and fact is, I see Gregg gone by July, anyways, if we're not in contention.
May 1, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer. ...if he's facing all right-handed hitters. If Nolasco comes in, and the heart of the opposing team's lineup is coming up (including a couple lefties)...expect a blown save 90 % of the time. Nolasco doesn't have an out pitch for lefties...at all. THAT is his problem.
May 1, 200818 yr The Marlins aren't like to trade him when his value is low. Then again, they aren't likely to retain him again next year when he is making a lot of money and isn't very good. If the Marlins are being money conscious (obviously this appears to be the case), Gregg should be one of the first candidates to depart. Again, my philisophy toward closers is rather unconventional. Personally I've never believed that Gregg was a spectacular pitcher since the day the Marlins acquired him. His abilities were merely exaggerated by merely having to get three outs with a lead intact. I don't have the numbers to back me up on this, but it seems the Marlins have been using him in a lot more one run and tied game situations. This is probably just the way the games have been decided. While he might only have one blown save, that is rather deceiving when you consider all of the close calls we've had this month.
May 1, 200818 yr Freddy did not screw up either of those games. Gregg did not get the job done, but he is supposedly the best guy in the bullpen to get 3 outs without any runs. Bringing him in to pitch the top of the 9th with a tie at home is the move.
May 1, 200818 yr And I agree, this was not Gonzalez's fault. He went with a guy that was supposed to get outs. Rather simply, he did not.
May 1, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer. I'd go with Miller for a little while. He's got 13 Ks in 15 innings so far this year and I think he's being underutilized as a setup man. Maybe go with Lindstrom as the setup guy when he gets back.
May 1, 200818 yr Two reasons for the bad series: Missing the second best hitter on the team (Hammer), and just bad all around pitching. Hammer - he's developed into a better hitter than I thought he would. You can see the difference when he's out. Pitching - throwing too many freaking balls, getting behind in counts, then throwing the holy meat ball that my grandmother could hit. It seems like not throwing strikes is contagious, because the entire pitching staff is starting to do it.
May 1, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer. I'd go with Miller for a little while. He's got 13 Ks in 15 innings so far this year and I think he's being underutilized as a setup man. Maybe go with Lindstrom as the setup guy when he gets back. I don't know about that. Miller has been one of our more reliable guys this season in the pen outside of Pinto. I think he needs to stay in middle relief. Lindstrom might make an okay closer though.
May 1, 200818 yr Small sampling size, of course, but Miller has held batters to a .120 AVG / .258 OBP with runners on base.
May 1, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer. I'd go with Miller for a little while. He's got 13 Ks in 15 innings so far this year and I think he's being underutilized as a setup man. Maybe go with Lindstrom as the setup guy when he gets back. I don't know about that. Miller has been one of our more reliable guys this season in the pen outside of Pinto. I think he needs to stay in middle relief. Lindstrom might make an okay closer though. Meh. The only problem I have with Lindstrom is that he's here today, gone tomorrow. One night, he'll come out and strike out all three of his hitters and the next he has no control whatsoever. I just don't think he's consistent enough to be a closer. Plus, he has one pitch. Once hitters catch up to it, he'll get mashed. I know you don't want to screw with what's working but with Kensing pitching well (before last night), Pinto would be an excellent candidate and the obvious choice. If Fredi doesn't want to move Pinto or if he is trying to get his stamina up like it appears, I really like Miller's .120 BAA with runners on.
May 2, 200818 yr Author the one problem i am seeing with gregg is that he is not getting his very good slider over consistantly for strikes and he hasnt been using his splitter as much which could really help him.
May 2, 200818 yr that was a horrible series and we had a chance to win 2 of them....burke was pretty good and like i said all cody needs is some at bats... a good comeback inning for tank but fredi gonzalez is a joke and brings in gregg in a tie game again and gets the same result.....two loses....he could learn something from joe torre about how to use your closer.....NOT IN A TIE GAME!!! Fredi did the right thing by bringing the closer in. If we were at LA, you would have seen Saito in the 9th. Torre didn't bring him in because you don't bring in the closer in the 8th, you wait till the 9th. The problem is that we need to start rethinking our closer situation with Gregg. And Erick, it's not that he doesn't want to throw strikes, it's that he can't. If you look at him last season, when he went something like 22/22 in save situations at the beginning of the season, he threw nothing but strikes. He is just having trouble getting them in there. I brought this up in ST when he was coing in during the middle inins. He just didn't look comfortable out there. Inconsistent. Said it a couple times since the season started. Just unable to consistently throw strikes. But I was told (I think it was Rab) that he started out slow last year too. So I guess we shall see how this plays out.
May 2, 200818 yr The counterargument here would be that Gregg is not closer material and has been struggling with location all season. Personally, my gut told me we should not pitch Gregg today. Now, obviously I don't expect Fredi to follow my gut. But my problem is that Fredi does not seem to have a gut. He just seems to be robot manager doing whatever he is supposed to do opposed to what he feels he should do. To me, managing is touch and feel, not go by the rules. Being around a team, your gut should react to every move you make. But like I said, I think Fredi does not have a gut. Or maybe Fredi's gut feeling was different than yours. He makes gut choices alot. And sometimes they have me scratching my head. But this was a basic move, one everyone does, and it just didn't work out. If it did and we would have scored, Gregg would now have a win/loss record of 4-1, we would have a 1 game lead in our division, and not one of the bashers would be here saying Fredi made a great move. Fredi has me wondering at times what the heck he is thinking, but this wasn't one of those times. We just got swept for the first time this year. At home. Deal with it....And bring on the Padres.
May 2, 200818 yr give kevin gregg a break guys 3 days ago he was 3-0, 4 saves from 5 opportunities, had a 2.03 ERA and had struck out 12 in 13.1 innings, plus the fact he hadnt given up a HR yes he didnt perform well against the dodgers but hey everyone has some occasional struggles keep him as closer, hes effective most of the time
May 2, 200818 yr He's still in the bottom third for most walk/hit related categories for closers with 3 or more saves. That really isn't effective unless you stick to the superficial assumption that a pitcher is effective as long as he converts saves. That may be true in many cases but at the same time it increases the possibility of blown games. In some instances he's had some horrendous defense behind him, but he's also had some game saving defense.
May 2, 200818 yr ...and, btw, the answer is definitely not Jorge Julio ("our guy" lol) is Jorge Julio now with cleveland i think i saw him other night on espn
May 2, 200818 yr If we get our rotation somewhat straightened out and make the necessary personnel moves (I have no idea what the Marlins are planning with Miller), Nolasco could make a fine closer. I'd go with Miller for a little while. He's got 13 Ks in 15 innings so far this year and I think he's being underutilized as a setup man. Maybe go with Lindstrom as the setup guy when he gets back. but he cannot have 3 run innng like he done last few game he pitch
May 2, 200818 yr ...and, btw, the answer is definitely not Jorge Julio ("our guy" lol) is Jorge Julio now with cleveland i think i saw him other night on espn Yep, and with an ERA under 4.00.
May 2, 200818 yr give kevin gregg a break guys 3 days ago he was 3-0, 4 saves from 5 opportunities, had a 2.03 ERA and had struck out 12 in 13.1 innings, plus the fact he hadnt given up a HR yes he didnt perform well against the dodgers but hey everyone has some occasional struggles keep him as closer, hes effective most of the time He didn't perform well against the Brewers, Nationals (twice), Pirates or Mets either.
May 2, 200818 yr I was at the game yesterday afternoon and saw Gregg's performance.. Some of the pitches he was throwing should have been called strikes but thats the game of baseball for you! Kevin unfortunately has to be able to overcome a terrible strike zone and do better in his next opportunity.. plus he isn't getting consistent pitching opportunities!.. I think freddi should have let kevin thrown an inning in the blow out game.. then if he screws up oh well we were going to lose anyways.. Unfortunately our offense is suffering without Hammer and Jake.. hopefully we'll see at least one of them in tonight's line up! We need that power back in the line up!
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