Series Six - Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians - April 18, 19, 20, 21

[DougHeil]

Acta's bullpen has been dominant too. Sipp, a lefty, came into face Getz, a lefty, Cabrera, a switch hitter who hits better left-handed, and Alex Gordon, a lefty. Notice the pattern yet? It was very smart for Acta to play the matchups with his, to date, absolutely dominant lefthanded setup guy. Sometimes smart moves don't work out. That doesn't mean they weren't smart.

I have zero problem with using the bullpen and have zero problem with what Acta was thinking about the matchups.

I do have a problem with taking out a pitcher who was mowing them down for over 7 innings, and who had hitters NEVER connecting and swinging at air. Tomlin had about 90 pitches. He walked ONE batter in the 8th. TWO walks in total for the game. He's taken out. That's my problem.

 

[7foot3]

I have zero problem with using the bullpen and have zero problem with what Acta was thinking about the matchups.

I do have a problem with taking out a pitcher who was mowing them down for over 7 innings, and who had hitters NEVER connecting and swinging at air. Tomlin had about 90 pitches. He walked ONE batter in the 8th. TWO walks in total for the game. He's taken out. That's my problem.

Tomlin hasn't shown much of an ability to be a workhorse. In fact, that last pitch was an 85 mph fastball. When a guys pitches start losing a few mph you have to be ready to yank him. The matchup advantage was there. I'm not sure why we so easily assume Tomlin wouldn't have given up that run.

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

Tomlin hasn't shown much of an ability to be a workhorse. In fact, that last pitch was an 85 mph fastball. When a guys pitches start losing a few mph you have to be ready to yank him. The matchup advantage was there. I'm not sure why we so easily assume Tomlin wouldn't have given up that run.

Maybe because he was throwing a shutout through 7?

 

["Boobie" Gibson]

Maybe because he was throwing a shutout through 7?

IDK man, 7foot is right I think. When you're throwing Jeremy Sowers-esque fastballs in the 8th inning, and you have some dominant bullpen pitchers, you gotta go to them and get out of there with the W. Tomlin sounds like he was pitching a hell of a game, but some pitchers just aren't built to go 9 innings like that.

85 mph fastballs are a little dangerous :chuckles:

 

[Gimme Some Mo]

IDK man, 7foot is right I think. When you're throwing Jeremy Sowers-esque fastballs in the 8th inning, and you have some dominant bullpen pitchers, you gotta go to them and get out of there with the W. Tomlin sounds like he was pitching a hell of a game, but some pitchers just aren't built to go 9 innings like that.

85 mph fastballs are a little dangerous :chuckles:

Please never call Tony Sipp dominant again.

 

[DougHeil]

IDK man, 7foot is right I think. When you're throwing Jeremy Sowers-esque fastballs in the 8th inning, and you have some dominant bullpen pitchers, you gotta go to them and get out of there with the W. Tomlin sounds like he was pitching a hell of a game, but some pitchers just aren't built to go 9 innings like that.

85 mph fastballs are a little dangerous :chuckles:

The issue wasn't the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning. The issue was the very fact ALL 7 innings were EASY for Tomlin. He was NEVER in trouble. I mean never. He had the hitters swinging at air or just hitting the very top or the very bottom on the ball, and doing nothing with it. He walked his second hitter in the 8th. He was pulled. Not right. I'm not sitting here after the fact and playing the hindsight game. I said it at the very time Acta pulled him. In fact, I screamed..... NOOOOOOOOO.

 

[Steve_424]

The issue wasn't the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning. The issue was the very fact ALL 7 innings were EASY for Tomlin. He was NEVER in trouble. I mean never. He had the hitters swinging at air or just hitting the very top or the very bottom on the ball, and doing nothing with it. He walked his second hitter in the 8th. He was pulled. Not right. I'm not sitting here after the fact and playing the hindsight game. I said it at the very time Acta pulled him. In fact, I screamed..... NOOOOOOOOO.

Nobody is saying that you're Monday Morning QBing...we're just saying that it wasn't a bad move, it was just a move that didn't work out. If you disagree, that's cool.

 

["Boobie" Gibson]

Please never call Tony Sipp dominant again.

Whether you acknowledge it or not is not my problem, but for the majority of this short season, Tony Sipp has been lights out. Nothing you say can change that.

The issue wasn't the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning. The issue was the very fact ALL 7 innings were EASY for Tomlin. He was NEVER in trouble. I mean never. He had the hitters swinging at air or just hitting the very top or the very bottom on the ball, and doing nothing with it. He walked his second hitter in the 8th. He was pulled. Not right. I'm not sitting here after the fact and playing the hindsight game. I said it at the very time Acta pulled him. In fact, I screamed..... NOOOOOOOOO.

Dougie -- if all 7 innings were easy for him, that's great. What if the 8th was his breaking point? I mean honestly, we have no idea how Tomlin felt or how far in to games Tomlin can really go. He's been great so far this year... but maybe he's a dude that can only throw so many pitches. Or maybe we're trying to limit him early on so he can go deeper in to the season.

IDK, I didn't get to watch the game, but I'm sure Acta knew what he was doing.

 

[DougHeil]

Whether you acknowledge it or not is not my problem, but for the majority of this short season, Tony Sipp has been lights out. Nothing you say can change that.



Dougie -- if all 7 innings were easy for him, that's great. What if the 8th was his breaking point? I mean honestly, we have no idea how Tomlin felt or how far in to games Tomlin can really go. He's been great so far this year... but maybe he's a dude that can only throw so many pitches. Or maybe we're trying to limit him early on so he can go deeper in to the season.

IDK, I didn't get to watch the game, but I'm sure Acta knew what he was doing.

That seems to be the favorite sentiment so far. I'm not so quick to call Acta this good Manager as of yet. He needs to really show me something first. Like you said, it's early. We all gave Acta a big o'l pass for last year's pathetic season. Do we do the exact same thing this year if we don't end up at .500 or better? I won't.

Let's remember this isn't a guy with a winning track record as a manager. He's not even a guy who came close to winning more than he lost. I'm not going to be so quick into saying "he knows what he's doing." I don't know that yet. I despise how and where and why he chooses to use Sizemore. We'll see how it all works for the Indians.

 

[Steve_424]

That seems to be the favorite sentiment so far. I'm not so quick to call Acta this good Manager as of yet. He needs to really show me something first. Like you said, it's early. We all gave Acta a big o'l pass for last year's pathetic season. Do we do the exact same thing this year if we don't end up at .500 or better? I won't.

Let's remember this isn't a guy with a winning track record as a manager. He's not even a guy who came close to winning more than he lost. I'm not going to be so quick into saying "he knows what he's doing." I don't know that yet. I despise how and where and why he chooses to use Sizemore. We'll see how it all works for the Indians.

Personally, I don't just assume Acta knows best. I just think that in that situation, he made the right move, and surely had even more reasoning that we don't know of to make it.

 

["Boobie" Gibson]

When I say he knows what he is doing, I don't mean that he knows more than any of the managers out there. He does know more about the game of baseball than any of us wish we could/did. So as far as that's concerned, he knew what he was doing. He KNOWS Tomlin better than we do, and I trust his decision making.

 

[7foot3]

The issue wasn't the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning. The issue was the very fact ALL 7 innings were EASY for Tomlin. He was NEVER in trouble. I mean never. He had the hitters swinging at air or just hitting the very top or the very bottom on the ball, and doing nothing with it. He walked his second hitter in the 8th. He was pulled. Not right. I'm not sitting here after the fact and playing the hindsight game. I said it at the very time Acta pulled him. In fact, I screamed..... NOOOOOOOOO.

That he wasn't in trouble in the first 7 innings has little to do with his 85 mph fastball in the 8th.

 

[DougHeil]

That he wasn't in trouble in the first 7 innings has little to do with his 85 mph fastball in the 8th.

It has everything to do with it. Tomlin has about 3 speeds with his fastball and at least two speeds on his curve and his changeup. His speed on whatever pitch he made in the 8th is irrelevant to why he was taken out after a walk. This series is about one week in the past now, and my thoughts on the matter have not changed one bit. That decision by Acta with Tomlin was the start of us losing 4 of 5 games.

 

[7foot3]

It has everything to do with it. Tomlin has about 3 speeds with his fastball and at least two speeds on his curve and his changeup. His speed on whatever pitch he made in the 8th is irrelevant to why he was taken out after a walk. This series is about one week in the past now, and my thoughts on the matter have not changed one bit. That decision by Acta with Tomlin was the start of us losing 4 of 5 games.

Wait, you're insinuating that taking out Tomlin has caused this team to stop playing like a 120 win juggernaut? Now you are playing the hindsight game. The speed was relevant. It was a sign that he was losing his stuff. And he's a guy that lives on the fringe, he can't afford to lose any stuff.