9-News: 39.065 – Bullpen Falters on Road Trip

GM: Rob McMonigal

Moderator: Trebro

User avatar
RonCo
GB: JL Frontier Division Director
Posts: 19807
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:48 pm
Has thanked: 1981 times
Been thanked: 2901 times

9-News: 39.065 – Bullpen Falters on Road Trip

Post by RonCo » Wed Aug 14, 2019 12:17 pm

FANS UNHAPPY WITH LACK OF KILLER INSTINCT

Even a pair of stellar outings from Carlos Valle this week wasn’t enough to salvage a winning week, as the Nine split a double header in Brooklyn, then lost three of four in Seattle. Only a pair of victories as they played host to Boise even saved a 4-4 week.

“To be honest,” said Bill Inkster, “I’ll take that. When you look at it, we played eight games in seven days—all against teams with legitimate chances at post-season play. In the end, we walked out ahead as often as we didn’t, and we found a way to keep the guys in the bullpen healthy.”

To be kind to the pen, we’ll avoid responding with the common fan refrain that it might be better is a couple of them had spent the week on the Injured List. That wouldn’t be proper public behavior. Instead, we’ll just note that the bullpen gave away the second game of the Brooklyn doubleheader when otherwise precocious rookie Angel Hernandez had his first Very Bad Day and blew a save. They followed that by failing to staunch bleeding in a game opened by lefty Edgardo Llauro. The third loss was a 4-1 defeat that came mostly at the hands of the defense and the silence of the bats, but the final loss was a debacle whose flames were fanned by the bullpen’s inability to keep the team in it.

Fans across the country took to their favorite social media and virtual reality platforms to make their opinions known, and it wasn’t pleasant. Now, they seem to think, is the time for any self-respecting leader of the pack to put their heels on the throats of the opposition, and purely crush them—grind them into pulverized pulp, strip their dignity and put miles between them and the rest of the baseball world. It’s not enough for them that the team have the best record in the Frick League. Not enough merely to win. It’s just as important for this fan base that the opposition be disposed of in such a way as their psyches be broke and their ability to return to Utopia Field without their knees shaking and their eyes tearing up is gone.


STARTERS WITH SOLID OUTINGS
Valle Continues to Command Attention
Image
As noted above, Carlos Valle was a bright spot in the week, taking a pair of starts. He wasn’t at his best in Brooklyn, allowing two homers in 5 and two-thirds, but he kept the team in the game by gritting it out—and the Nine eventually pulled out a victory. He then opened the Boise series with another dominating performance, striking out nine and allowing only four hits in seven innings to take his 15th victory on the year. His ERA now stands at 2.99, and his Nebraska candidacy stands at full attention.

Valle got support from Quad-A pitcher, Callum Mayberry, who was called up to face Seattle, and gave up only two earned runs in his six innings. It was a huge outing for a staff that is desperately looking for a fifth starter. In addition, despite being let down by a defense that allowed three unearned runs, Juan Guerrero impressed again, going into the sixth inning and allowing only one earned run. Add in that Luis Colon had two effective starts, and one has to be enthused by the rotations’ performance overall. Only Ernestoo Ramos’s implosion in Seattle and Llauro’s bullpen game set the club back—and to be fair to Ramos, he’s had more moments of brilliance this season than issues.

Mayberry’s performance may well have been good enough to warrant him another. “I planned on him riding the option wire back down after one game,” said assistant General Manager Fred Morrison. “But we’ll have to re-think that a little. Check back later.”
GM: Bikini Krill
Nothing Matters But the Pacific Pennant
Roster

Return to “Yellow Springs Nine”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests