After sitting through Sunday's utterly depressing top of the ninth, when the Jones boys blasted homers that put the nail in the Nationals' playoff coffin, I thought I had seen the worst. Then in the bottom of the ninth I saw something that summed up why the Nationals were never able to sustain their wondrous first half.
Up to the mound to close out the game came Kyle Farnsworth. He's not a great pitcher, and no one would say that he is a difference-maker to any significant degree. But he was closing out the game for the Braves, and it was a game that demonstrated why the Braves and Nationals have switched positions in the standings: the Braves are deeper than the Nationals. When Brian Jordan and Raul Mondesi didn't work out, the Braves called on youngsters--e.g., Jeff Francouer and Ryan Langerhans--who provided enough offense to keep the Braves' train running. And when injuries opened up spots in the pitching staff, the Braves called upon Jorge Sosa and Horacio Ramirez, both of whom plugged holes in the rotation.
The Nationals don't have the same depth in their minor league system as do the Braves, so the Nationals needed to add depth via trades. As the trade deadline approached, Jim Bowden said he couldn't trade for the players he wanted because he wasn't willing to give away his quality minor leaguers. We didn't think that was an adequate excuse for failing to improve the team's playoff prospects, but even assuming that it was there were other trades Bowden could have made to bring the depth that the Nationals so badly need now.
For example, Bowden could have made a trade right before the trade deadline to shore up his bullpen. Bowden wouldn't have had to give up serious talent in the deal, either from his major league roster or from his minor league system. In other words, there was no reason why Bowden couldn't have made this deal. But he didn't. Unfortunately, the Braves did, and they did so because they have a better GM, and their GM saw that they would need this pitcher down the stretch. The pitcher's name? Kyle Farnsworth.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Speaking of nails, you guys hit the nail on the head with this comment. The fatal flaw in Bowden's apparent "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude is that, even though the Nationals were winning, they were, in fact, broken in many ways. Its unfortunate that the guy calling the organizational pitches seems to be doing so through smeared glasses.
Unfortunate, that is, unless you are a Braves fan. Go Braves!!!
I'd call it a "If things are going well, it must not be broken" philosophy.
It's funny to see in action because its the the exact opposite of the philosophy of Frank with pitchers he doesn't trust (which is most) and rookies. He goes with the "If things go poorly, even for a slight period of time, things must be breaking down" pulls and/or sits them.
Then we get fun things like Bowden calling Ryan Church a new Fred Llyn and ROY, while Frank benches him after an 0-4 game. Or Jim bringing in Halama to fill the long relief role and Frank pulling him after 2/3 an innning. What a hilarious time in the Nationals season. Ha!
Post a Comment