Joe Maddon has done it again. Baffling all of the fans with his constant mismanagement has just caused the Rays to go in a funk off he charts. He did this in April & May, and returned true to form in August & September. This time the season id doomed, and the Rays fans have Joe Maddon to thank for it. No amount of optimism, and no amount of spin can cover Maddon this time.
The Rays bullpen imploded on back to back games against Detroit, at home. Maddon insists on using the same bullpen members that are struggling game after game. We all know that the pen is struggling, but to keep running the same 3-4 guys out there game after game, and watch them struggle, while Wheeler, who has been effective most of the year, sits game after game is amazingly ignorant or just plain stupid. No amount of math and stats can compensate for the emotional, and confidence part of the pitchers that are struggling. All Rays fans love JP Howell, but realistically this bullpen collapse started when Balfour and Howell blew the leads in a Seattle game on the road August 7th. Since then, Balfour, Howell, Springer have struggled and yet Maddon has continued to call on them game after game, an watched them fail. No one is suggesting to give up on JP Howell or Balfour. Letting them pitch in a less stressful situation and try to regain some confidence would be helpful, instead of putting them into critical game situations where they continue to fail, and continue to lose confidence.
Sunday September 6th, the Rays were winning 3-1 in the ninth inning, 1 out, nobody on base. Lance Cormier had gotten 4 outs and seemed to be cruising along. Maddon decided that he would use his math, since Cabrera was 6-14 against Cormier lifetime, and Huff 4-7 lifetime. This might sound good, but when your bullpen is struggling, and you use the same guys again, then this choice becomes easy. Math doesn't take into account the confidence lost, and the recent struggles of the 3 pitchers Maddon used. If math dictated this move, then at least Maddon could have used Wheeler who has been effective most of the year, and hasn't pitched often as of late. If he wanted to use math, Cabrera is 1-8 lifetime against Wheeler, and Huff is 1-4. If Maddon had used this as his reasoning for replacing Cormier and had used Wheeler, then it is understandable. However bringing in 3 struggling pitchers is not acceptable, regardless of the numbers.
The Rays updated list of blown games by Maddon is attached, just click here
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