For a Former Pitcher, Black Knows Very Little About Pitching

Thursday April 16, 2009

For a manager that was a starting pitcher in the major leagues for so long, Bud Black is sure not acting like he knows anything about pitching.

In just the 3 games in New York there have already been 3 major blunders in the handling of the pitching staff.

1st he left Walter Silva in long after it was obvious to everyone else watching the game that his velocity and control had both abandoned him in the 5th on Monday. Now we find out he is injured. Shouldn't a good manager have noticed at least some of the signs?

On the radio broadcast they were saying he was trying to get Silva to the end of the inning. Well shouldn't Black be trying manage his team and his pitching staff to win the game instead? After all the Padres are not exactly short on relievers right now. Pull the ineffective Silva and put in a reliever. Yes the Padres came back and won that game, but it was despite Black's handling of the pitching, not because he did anything right.

The very next game he leaves a rookie reliever in for a second inning. WHY? The Padres have EIGHT relievers on the team. Relievers ARE generally more effective going just one inning. That is why on every team in the major leagues today there are situational pitchers and guys that only pitch the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. Doesn't he know that? If not, why not? The Padres lost that game because of his inept handling of the staff.

And tonight. After Edwin Moreno gave up a single and a home run and then walked a guy, does Black pull him? Nope. Black allows him to finish the inning out. Again Black got lucky and the next batter hit into a double play, but how long is his luck going to hold out?

A few more like this and I will start calling for his head regardless of the team won-loss record.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the Padres are 7-3 right now. I am still chanting First Place Padres at every chance I get.

I just think maybe the manager needs to contribute to that process, not make it harder. Especially when it comes to handling the pitching staff

I have had my say. Now what do you think?