OnlyBucs

Only an idiot would use the best closer in baseball 2 nights in a row in non save situations. Add to that the BP sucks after Crick and Vasquez .. it's not like this moran has multiple backend BP options.



This is a true dunce.

I don't often agree with Hurdle but I'll semi-defend him on this one. Obviously and for very good reason, he can't trust anyone but Vazquez, Crick or Liriano in the BP. On Thursday they were down 4-3 going to the bottom of the 8th. They couldn't afford to fall further behind in the bottom of the 8th. Liriano had already been used. I have no idea why Hurdle kept Crick on ice all week, not using him since lat Saturday (May 11) while his BP was overworked and faltering. I would have used Crick in the 8th that night but if Hurdle was still not going to, then Vazquez was the only logical choice. Maybe with all the BP failures, Hurdle decided to go with no one but his best. IMHO, only using the best reliever when he can pick up a save stat is silly. Stats don't matter. Wins matter. Hurdle was down by 1 and didn't trust anyone else to keep it close in the bottom of the 8th.



Last night he had a 5-1 lead. Liriano might have to pitch a few tonight if they go with an "opener." Crick pitched the 8th. He probably could have pitched another inning after his week off prior to Thursday game. Brault, Kingham, Feliz and Holmes can't be trusted with even a 4-run lead. Stratton pitched 4 innings 2 days earlier. Hartlieb probably hasn't even arrived yet and has never thrown a pitch in MLB. DuRapau was a possibility but he's still very new to MLB. Hurdle didn't want to see another win slip away in the late innings due to inadequate relief pitching so he used Vazquez. Turned out to be a bad outing by Vazquez but the 4-run cushion was enough to win anyway.



I might have used Crick instead of Vazquez in the 8th on Thursday. Or else I might have let Crick stay in for the 9th last night. But Hurdle has a very weak BP and a beast in Vazquez. Hurdle needs to be flexible instead of rigidly sticking to a formula that makes Vazquez sit in the BP and watch the other relievers blow late inning leads because if he entered and kept the team from losing, he wouldn't be rewarded with a save stat. So I don't have a problem with using Vazquez in those games other than wondering why Crick has been used so little all week.   

Another thing about last night's game was that Vazquez was throwing in the BP while the Pirates were batting in the top of the 9th with a 3-1 lead. Hurdle was going to use him in an obvious save situation. One of my pet peeves is when a closer is throwing in preparation of entering in the 9th in a save situation and then the mgr has him sit down and not pitch because his team scores to turn a 3-run lead into a 4-run lead. If the mgr was going to use that guy, he shouldn't let the definition of a save change his mind.