April 20, 200323 yr :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead How can you have such a bad ERA this late in the season with that many games pitched? nuff said
April 20, 200323 yr Here's an eye-opener: Steinbrenner and Torre sent Jose Contreras down to the minors - he is "only" making 32 million over 4 years....they don't care - he wasn't getting the job done, thus he was sent down. Is Vladimir Nunez ABOVE that? This is total and utter BULLSH*T. I will be so pissed if he is not sent down. Insanity. @#$@#$@#$
April 20, 200323 yr I believe Nunez has too many years to be outrighted to the minors, while Contreras does not. Im not sure what would have to be done, but it needs to be done.
April 20, 200323 yr After losing both games of a double-header to Montreal, the Reds released a few pitchers..I think Jimmy Andersen was one of them
April 20, 200323 yr Yet another game where the starter can't get through 7 innings and we see what happens. I really would like to have seen some kind of veteran arm added to the bullpen. It's all kids out there. Actually the pen ERA's are pretty good except for Nunez and Neal....
April 21, 200323 yr Unfortunately reliever ERA's do not reflect inherited runners that they allow to score...A reliever with a 3.0 ERA probably allowed more runs than their stats show
April 21, 200323 yr I hate to say it, but let's not be too harsh on Nunez. Pitchers, as well as hitters, go through cold streaks. Nunez throughout the last few years has probably been our best bullpen arm. I don't blame Nunez, I blame Torborg. If one of your bullpen arms is "cold", and obviously so, then don't go to him in close games. Give him some time so we don't have to ride out the cold streak. Nunez will be alright in a few days, but in a few days we will still have a manager who has no idea how to manage a bullpen.
April 21, 200323 yr Here is a good article on Nunez.... Link 'Uh-oh': N??ez quickly exposed Delivery flaw invites trouble for reliever By KEVIN BAXTER kbaxter@herald.com NEW YORK -The Marlins clubhouse was so quiet Sunday one could almost hear Vladimir N??ez's arm drop. The team's closer much of last season, N??ez had his third forgettable stint in eight days, giving up three runs -- two earned -- and failing to retire a batter as the New York Mets rallied for a 7-4 victory that left the Shea Stadium visitors' clubhouse about as lively as a morgue. N??ez surrendered a tying home run to Vance Wilson, the first batter he faced, but manager Jeff Torborg knew the right-hander was in trouble before Wilson stepped to the plate. ''I thought Nunie was ready to go,'' Torborg said. 'But after the first warm-up pitch, I said, `Uh-oh.' '' The problem, Torborg said, is mechanical. N??ez drops his arm too low during his delivery, preventing his fastball from sinking and keeping his slider flat. N??ez has given up six home runs -- two fewer than he allowed last season -- in 8 2/3 innings. ''You've just got to keep working with him every day,'' said Torborg, who has N??ez performing extra drills in the bullpen. ``We'll get him straight. His arm is healthy. ``Last year he got those 20 saves. He didn't do that with mirrors.'' N??ez declined to speak with reporters after Sunday's game, but earlier in the day he said the only thing he needed to change was his luck. ''From spring training to now, I've been changing a lot. But now I feel great,'' he said. ``I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. Mechanically, release point -- you know, how I deliver the ball and everything. I have to get my luck back. That's it.'' As if to add ignominy to injury, N??ez ended his appearance Sunday sitting with his back to the mound after slipping and falling hard trying to field pitcher Tom Glavine's sacrifice-bunt attempt. ''He's going through a bad time right now,'' said Michael Tejera, who followed N??ez to the mound in the Mets' five-run seventh, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk. ``He has to keep focused and working and leave all those [bad]things behind. If he stays focused, I'm pretty sure he'll get out of it.'' The bullpen, which entered the game with a 5.34 ERA -- 15th in the National League -- needed only nine outs to give right-hander Josh Beckett his second win and push the Marlins to .500 for the second time this season. Beckett pitched brilliantly except for the fifth inning, when bad luck and shoddy fielding -- some of it his -- allowed the Mets to score a pair of runs. The game started to come apart for Florida when, with two on and one out, Beckett got Glavine to hit the ball on the ground. But it caught part of the plate, so instead of an inning-ending double play the Marlins got one out off the high chopper -- and the Mets got a run. The next hitter, Roberto Alomar, struck out but reached base when catcher Iv?n Rodr?guez lost the wild pitch in the dirt. Roger Cede?o followed with a bloop single to left field that shortstop Alex Gonz?lez ran down, but when Gonz?lez spun and threw to the plate, Beckett stepped in and cut off the relay, dropping the ball as Rey S?nchez scored. ''I'm just out of position,'' Beckett said. ``Instincts just kind of drove me over there.'' An inning later Beckett was gone after a season-high 107 pitches, with eight strikeouts, three walks and a 3-2 lead. It took N??ez six pitches to erase all that, giving up Wilson's first homer of the season on a 3-2 fastball. Beckett, however, didn't blame the bullpen. ''I've got confidence in all our guys,'' he said. ``They're all here for a reason, and they're going to get the job done.'' Still, given the chance, Beckett would have pitched the seventh inning. ''Yes, but it's not my call,'' Beckett said. ``[Pulling me] is the right call if I'm the manager. It's a long season. I've still got 27 starts left.''
April 21, 200323 yr 'I thought Nunie was ready to go,'' Torborg said. 'But after the first warm-up pitch, I said, `Uh-oh.' '' that says it all right there....Torborg is an idiot
April 21, 200323 yr credit:sunsentinel.com help on the way? Surplus pitching is available in the minors. Triple-A Albuquerque right-hander Allen Levrault may not be far from making his Marlins debut. He has tossed 10 scoreless innings in seven relief appearances and has 37 games of major league experience (2000-01).
April 21, 200323 yr yes, nunez has looked horrible thus far. Last season early we had bullpen problems. Looper started off horribly and then by the end of the year won the closer job back. Nunez does have decent stuff. He is getting behind hitters and that has been killing him. He probably has the 3rd best stuff in the pen behind spoonybarger and looper. I suggest to give him a few days off. Work him back into meaningless roles (such as games that have already been decided) late in the game. Torborg should have confidence in spoony already. Watched him last season was pretty good. Has been solid so far this season. Should be our definite setup man and even be given some opps to close the game. I believe Nunez will get his control back and be solid by the all-star break. At that time he could be our 3rd man in the pen. Pitching 6th/7th innings. :mischief2
April 21, 200323 yr Watched him last season was pretty good. Has been solid so far this season. Should be our definite setup man and even be given some opps to close the game. what games have you been watching? :w00t
April 21, 200323 yr Watched him last season was pretty good. Has been solid so far this season. Should be our definite setup man and even be given some opps to close the game. what games have you been watching? :w00t I believe he was referring to Spooneybarger.
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