Comments on: Gardy Has Lost All Faith in the Bullpen — And They Fail Again

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:57:35 +0000

True that the “usual suspects” weren’t totally at fault for the weekend heartbreak, but to quote the classic movie National Treasure “Ben, somebody has to go to jail” and in this case jail is either the minors or an outright release.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:56:02 +0000

True about the luck. I mentioned about the Friday game that we'd stole some victories of our own lately, and we already have 4 walkoff wins this season, and plenty of close-and-late victories ... and those things all tend to balance out.

So it feels really bad right now, but it's just the pendulum swinging. It'll swing back.

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:53:54 +0000

You guys are right- the bullpen needs help, big time. But this weekend, with low-scoring walk-off losses, the Usual Suspects weren’t really responsible for blowing the games. Both teams played neck-in-neck, and the Yankees got lucky all three days.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:08:42 +0000

I'd say the bullpen is the only reason Blackburn stayed in the game on Saturday. In 2006, we go to the pen and it's over.

Nathan doesn't get a free pass here, as he lost a game too, but he actually has talent, and will likely bounce back and be fine. There's no reason to believe Ayala, Breslow, and Dickey can someone discover how to be good for the first time in their lives, and Crain and Guerrier look pretty finished.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:05:24 +0000

You could argue that the reason blackburn came back out to face Matsui on saturday was because Gardy knew that blackburn at 60% (or whatever he was at by then) is still significantly better than any reliever at near 100%. SO you might consider that their fault too. If they weren’t bad and were capable of getting people out we could have used them. No matter who you blame for the loses over the weekend, the bullpen is a problem and needs to be fixed. Soon.

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:00:53 +0000

In my opinion, those losses weren't squarely on the relievers. Like you said, the Twins had plenty of opportunities to score and didn't capitalize. They never built a comfortable lead, and the Yanks have a powerful lineup.

The worst reliever this series, strangely, was Joe Nathan. He's the only one I point to and say, "buddy, that Friday loss is on you." Maybe if Joe doesn't blow the save (and with a two-run lead, it's hard to believe that he did), the Twins go into the rest of the games with a confident mindset.

At least the starting pitchers did a nice job. I couldn't watch Saturday, but Slowey pitched beautifully on Sunday.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:51:42 +0000

I don't know if that kind of discord actually does happen, but frankly I can't see how it WOULDN'T happen.

The starters probably want to take the relievers out back and beat the shit out of them.

The thing is, though, that nobody's really carrying their weight except Mauer and Morneau.

I think you're right that this could be a disaster for the Twins, if they actually do start to splinter in the clubhouse.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:49:21 +0000

I didn’t realize we were that bad with runners in scoring position. but the point I guess I was trying to make was do close loses like this cause finger pointing and the blame game to start? that seems like something that could destroy this team in particular since we do rely on “chemistry” a fair amount.

By: sirsean

sirsean — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:44:26 +0000

So far in the series, the offense is 1-25 with runners in scoring position. So while we've hit some home runs (5 homers, 4 by Mauer&Morneau), they've all been solo shots, and we can't score without them.

I wouldn't say the offense is exactly holding up their end of the bargain, but the bullpen is certainly the biggest offender.

By: FunBobby

FunBobby — Mon, 18 May 2009 18:41:07 +0000

So we are something like 3-22 in the Bronx during the Gardenhire era. That is unacceptable. Are we intimidated by the aura of Yankee stadium and the history of the team? If we are, Gardenhire needs to tell them to snap out of it. Its like in the 1992 olympics when the other teams were asking for autographs from the members of the Dream Team before they played them. At least we can place the blame squarely on the shoulders of one group of people: the relievers. Do you think its bad when something like that happnes. Its not like “the offense did nothing, the starters sucked, and the bullpen didn’t stop the bleeding. It was a team loss” the first two groups played great (from what i hear i was unable to watch). Do loses like this cause a division in the clubhouse. Does Kevin Slowey look at the relievers and say “those clowns cost me a win”, I hope not but it does seem natural.