Another good outing from Maddux is wasted by a bullpen meltdown, this time from Linebrink and Meredith. At least the bats woke up, although one could argue that 5 runs in Coors is like 1 in Petco.
Commenters at Ducksnorts are trying to remain calm but some Cub fans have been visiting and trying to stir the pot against Michael Barrett. Apparently Barrett is a one-man losing machine who poisons everything he touches.
The Gaslamp Gang is looking for solutions too. The consensus seems to be our lineup is ok (except for Marcus Giles) but our bullpen is out of whack. Bell should be the 8th inning guy (something I’ve been saying for months) and Kevin Cameron needs a bigger role. Another suggestion is to use Cla Meredith as the guy who comes in immediately after a starter leaves, which was pretty much his role last year. I love him as a guy you bring in when the starter poops out and leaves two guys on with nobody out. Cla is a ground ball machine and nothing demoralizes a team like killing a rally with a double play.
Rich Campbell at San Diego Spotlight mentions that at this point it’s probably smarter to hang on to Linebrink and get the draft picks when he leaves as a free agent after the season. I would agree with that, as long as Black stops using him when the game is on the line. Linebrink needs to be demoted to the Doug Brocail role.
1 response so far ↓
1 Didi // Jul 24, 2007 at 3:02 pm
What’s wrong with Linebrink, Anthony?
Is it his pitch selections or his sequences?
I hope Bud Black realize after last night that Scott isn’t and hasn’t been the best option out of the bullpen in that situation. I don’t get why he’s sticking to Scott again and again. This may be in line with his habit of leaving old veteran starters too long in games.
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