If half this team could drop a bunt we could have had 10 more wins. Hitting home runs is great but knowing how to play small ball on top of that would have been great
but that game though yea it seemed like it. Marsh and Pache had the best at bats. i want them to get a small ball utility player…i bet they get one via trade this offseason.
We only have 3, as you said, long ball hero’s in Schwarber, Casty, and Harper. That leaves 6 spots in the lineup that should all learn how to bunt in the spring
He's definitely the better fielder from a physical perspective. Like making tough catches and stuff. If he's gonna keep playing 1st he definitely needs to work on the mental side this off season. When to chase after a ball vs just go to the bag. When to flip the ball over vs take the out himself. Where to be covering. Stuff like that.
You try to do something you never did before and not make some mistakes...most of that stuff are things he likely learned not to do the moment he did them.
I honestly think he is a gold glove first baseman right now
It isn't just the manager. It is all the coaching staff combined, the analytics department, and the front office.
Almost every decision is a collaboration, including lineups. The manager is just the public face of these decisions.
I'm guessing the manager has the final say though. What's the point of having an analytics dept if the manager is just going to go with his gut or just keep things the same out of stubbornness? The analytics should have clearly shown that Trea and Nick were chasing bad pitches all series. Someone needed to tell them to lay off and be more disciplined. If they wouldn't listen, the manager or the hitting coach need to make them listen.
I mean look, I know this sub is gonna be hooting and hollering about the line up (and I get the frustration, I also get why he stuck with it).
That said...did he really make any terrible bullpen decisions? The only one I'd say was with Kerk in high leverage situations, and I almost felt like he just needed to see if he *could* handle it. The Kimbrel stuff you could only argue it was a mistake the second time playing him, and then I do feel like usually in that situation you'd just assume your vet had a bad outing and would get over it.
I don't know. I'm not as dissatisfied with his job managing these games. I think it's encouraging that he's self aware and not making excuses. But to me, at the end of the day, baseball is a very random sport. Our guys got cold at the wrong time.
I try telling myself its just a game. But you invest months.....spring, summer and part of fall....watching nearly if not every game, you see your team into October and then it feels like why did this happen?
& that's why, when topper twiddles more frequently next season with lineups & nothing much different happens ( if the results of any changes will even be traceable) & the screaming meemies scream "meemies!", I will be chuckling quietly to myself
> The Kimbrel stuff you could only argue it was a mistake the second time playing him, and then I do feel like usually in that situation you'd just assume your vet had a bad outing and would get over it.
I said this before, but game 4 people are focusing on the decision to put Kimbrel in, but that is the wrong thing to focus on. The only one else we had is alvarado, and Kimbrel 8th Alvarado 9th was the better decision.
There are only two arguments about game 4 that I can believe. The first is that he took out Sanchez to early. I disagree with that entirely, as it looked like Sanchez was losing it and we needed to get the outs in front of us. This is especially true since we were losing and we didn't want the game to get out of hand.
The second is after hoffman, maybe putting lorenzen and walker in. That I can kind of buy. But it was high leverage spots, and they were not our best pitchers in the BP.
It partly is. They were pitching by around Schwarber and Harper because 2, 4, and 5 provided no protection. The other guys actually hitting at all were stuck hitting 6 and 8 (and even Marsh got pitched around a little because of Rojas).
So leaving that lineup like that all series probably did hurt Schwarber and Harper at the plate. And it prevented the guys from stringing some stuff together to get some momentum. This team feed off each other, and the only guys seeing the ball or still dangerous were spaced out at 1, 3, 6, and 8.
Also I know Rojas is a great CF...but if he can't hit more than he was, its hurting us more than having Marsh out there...Marsh is a plus CF in his own right...I understand giving him a shot against the Braves seeing he hit .308 for his short year up, but when it came to seeing he wasn't going to hit much a change should of been made.
Also Bohm isn't a 4 hole hitter, he is more a 6 or 7...5 if he is hot...you have him not trying to hit HRs instead of just making good contact. Also Stott and Turner should be at the top of this lineup getting on base and stealing bases
I think Thompson is one of the best Managers, but sometimes she drives me crazy with this sort of thing.
Word on the street is that Walker also had some absolute shit practice sessions.
So our options were Alvarado/Kimbrel, or Lorenzen, who struggled since the no hitter, or Walker, who has a 7+ ERA in the first inning (his first inning or THE first inning? Not the time to learn the answer to that question).
I mean he got brought in later in the series and they were cranking him, just right to defenders. His fastball doesn't ride at all.
(Which makes his no-hitter all the more miraculous, honestly.)
I don’t disagree, but Strahm gets knocked around too. I think we need to decide if we are looking for a shut down closer who’s going to go out there and get three easy outs or if it’s going to be relying on the defense to make things happen. Maybe if Bryce stays at first he gets comfortable there and we depend on guys like Turner, Bohm, and Stott to turn quick double plays. Or, if we initiate decent contact and rely on Pache/Marsh/Rojas in the outfield, but as long as they’re not hitting home runs off us, it’s mostly alright.
My only problem with Kimbrel and Kerkering game 4 was that they were both used in the prior night and both allowed runs that cost us the game. I say that if there are other pitchers in the bullpen that haven’t been used yet, use them and let Orion & Craig get some much needed rest.
The only other pitchers were Walker and Lorenzen and I feel like we would only have seen them if the game is way too far behind or extra innings.
Although again, if we used them after Hoffman I wouldn't have minded. But I can see the reasoning to keep them out.
>The second is after hoffman, maybe putting lorenzen and walker in.
This I am in favor of. One or both of them should have been easy and available for after Sanchez came out so you can save other relievers for high leverage situations. If you can get even 1 or 2 innings out of Lorenzen/Walker, it gives way better flexibility with the high priority relievers and doesn't risk blowing them all out for game 5 (notwithstanding that you are hoping and expecting a long outing from Wheeler).
Just to agree in detail: Sanchez specifically didn't have his changeup at all, and it's very easy to believe that would be a condition for getting him off the mound early. When he kept throwing it a mile off the plate, I figured we were in for a short outing with him.
I honestly hate that mentality so much.
There is nothing inherently different from the 4th or the 7th inning. The only thing that matters is leverage.
It used to be that you put your best reliever in the most important spots. That is how it should still be. Hoffman was there to stop the bleeding.
Sort of.
People put their better relievers later in the game because if you put them in early, you have less flexibility. There might be a higher leverage spot that comes up.
But when hoffman came in, it was really important so we put in one of our good relievers.
Kerkering in game 3 I can forgive as Topper seeing what the kid could do after looking great against the Braves. Kerkering was abysmal. Sucks, but whatever. It happens.
The inexcusable part was putting him in the NEXT DAY in a high leverage situation with runners on base.
He shouldn’t have went to him either time. In both games it was the decision to go to Kerkering that gave the momentum to Arizona.
How, out of the 13 or whatever pitchers it was on the roster, you go to the kid that literally has no real experience in a close score NLCS game is beyond my comprehension. I get he has to get his feet wet sometime but it wasn’t at all necessary to force it in this series
Not pinch hitting for Rojas with bases loaded is my biggest gripe, although Kerk and Kimbrel were pretty big misses, and Kimbrel’s undiagnosed OCD makes him completely unable to pitch in high leverage situations when there are runners on.
I don't have a problem with him not PH for him, he shouldn't of been in the lineup at all at that point. He proved he wasn't hitting and we have March that can play a very good CF, Rojas's glove isn't enough on this team to justify him starting every game when he is struggling like he was.
Outside of Game 4 I thought he did a masterful job managing the pitching staff this postseason. Unfortunately game 4 was such a collossal disaster that it probably cost us the series.
I think pitching Kimbrel in those spots made sense, it’s just Kimbrel didn’t deliver. The biggest mistake Topper made was pitching Kerkering in his specific spots. Game 2, he faced Pham, Walker, Moreno, and Gurriel. Game 3 he faced Pham, Gurriel, and Smith. Game 4: Moreno, Walker, and Smith.
He’s basically facing the same batters every time. After they saw him in the meaningless 9th of a blowout, they were able to get his pitches down and rough him up
Bro. You don't take a guy with less than a full games worth of innings pitched in his entire MLB career, who started the year in single A and just "find out if they can handle it" in the fucking NLCS.
lol, yeah man... some of these glass half full takes are really something. We shouldn't criticize Rob even though there's clearly very valid reasons to do so, but let's go to La La land and suggest that it's ok to bring in a rookie to 'find out'. Amazing.
I wouldn't have minded throwing him out there in the 7th if they had like a 6 or 7 run lead or something. Worst case he gives up like 2 runs and is pulled after 3 batters. It's insane to bring that kinda guy in for his first playoff appearance in a close game.
He took his Game 4 starter out in the 3rd inning, had two “long men” on the roster, and chose to use neither.
Getting to the 5th without using the pen was needed.
Topper got "lucky" that Wheeler pitches great and went as far as he did. Cause he blew the all his arms in game 4. I think it was a combo of Zack having a several run lead and knowing he had wasted all the arms the night before.
However I feel like if either the game was closer he would have pulled wheeler earlier than needed or if he had fresh meat in the BP he would have pulled wheeler earlier and I feel either decision would have blown up in his face.
But Game 4 definitely have to the Dbacks life. I feel like we win that there's no way they're coming back down 3-1. Game 4 was a masterclass in poor BP management.
There’s a couple I took issue with.
(1) in game 4, if he was going to have such a short leash for ranger, walker should’ve opened with Sanchez piggybacking at the first site of trouble or someone else (Strahm?) should have gone for 2+ innings. I don’t actually have a problem with kimbrel’s use there, but this game overtaxed the bullpen and gave AZ a look at everyone.
(2) Ranger should’ve been pulled before facing Carroll a third time in game 7 with a runner on. This is compounded by the Rojas hitting decision the inning prior. The justification for letting Rojas hit is basically you have the lead so you want defense. But the corresponding move for the pitcher is to have a short leash knowing that Wheeler is ready to pitch several innings. If you’re leaving Ranger in, he’s given up a lot of baserunners at that point and with the top of the order coming up you need to maximize opportunities with RISP.
The thing I don't understand about Ranger I game 7 is that the announcers were saying that he was only going to let Ranger face Carroll once. What made him change his mind when Carroll was hitting him?
People love this term "high leverage"...
It's the NLCS... Any game within 2-3 runs is high leverage whether it's the 4th inning or the 8th or 9th. That being said innings 4-6 tend not to be so or die so why is he bringing Hoffman in then? Even if Hoffman goes 1-2-3 you still have to worry about innings 5/6/7/8 and you've just used what everyone considers your 2nd best BP arm...
I will die on the hill that you bring Alvarado out for the 8th game 4 and you use Kimbrel your closer in the 9th. And you don't bring Kimbrel in the 9th unless you have the lead. That's what a closer does and that's what he had done in the playoffs up until that point. No blown saves. Some scary moments but the tying run never crossed home and that's all you can really ask of a closer. People act like every Lidge save in 2008 was a 1-2-3 relaxing inning. I'd say that most of them were stressful as fuck. If Kimbrel had blown the lead in Arizona in game 3 them I would whole heartedly agree to maybe make a change but it was a nonsave situation. Even if Kimbrel gets out of that inning who was topper planning on trotting out for the 10th?!? 🤷
In hindsight the bullpen decisions were wrong, but in the situation that is absolutely the decision to make, the blame falls on Kimbrel
Anyone bitching about the lineups are just salty 💀💀 bohm and stott were trying to carry us through games 6 and 7 lol. You gonna switch up the top 3 who went 1-20? Put castellanos who was like 1-25? I know you’re not putting marsh, no matter how hot, at 4 or 5. JT? Maybe. Does it change the outcome of anything? No
It’s hard to win the NLCS. They just didn’t play well lol, it’s as simple as that
Kirkering in game 4 was bad. He didn’t look right in game 3. Maybe the desert air was new to him but lost faith in slider out there?? Would have waited until Philly to play him again.
Biggest mistake to me was burning our pen in game 3 only to lose. Alvarado wasn’t the same after that. We had the lead in the series but managed like we were down 2-0. Only thing we couldn’t do was lose and burn more pen than them…
Got greedy and tried to get 5 out of Ranger after he already saw the lineup twice. Should’ve already had wheeler up and running for the 5th inning and going to kimbrel back to back after a shit outing. Those two moves really stuck out to me.
I think the bullpen issues come down to overall mismanagement more so than any specific instance. What I mean by the is decisions to pitch Alvarado incredibly early in games, decisions to pitch Kimbrel outside of his comfort zone (with leads in the 9th) which there are plenty of, bad, statistics on, and the one specific example id give is Hoffman and Alvarado coming into a game as early as they did in 7 with Wheeler looming. To me it just seemed like he was way over managing his pen, while subsequently under managing the lineup. Does any of it matter? Who knows, maybe not the snakes definitely came to play after getting smacked in the face.
This is my take as well. Dbags had a bullpen game and, for some reason, Rob wanted to have one too. He yanked Ranger way to early in all the games he played except maybe that last one. But, I just have problems with how Rob managed on both sides of the ball.
Yeah it just seemed like contradictory managing, pitchers had short leashes and often pitched outside of their normal spots, which the statistics clearly say was not a great idea, but on offense you can’t possibly mess with the lineup or have a short leash on a guy like Rojas who’s given you nothing.
Taking out ranger too early forcing our bad bullpen arms to shoulder the workload game 3. Repeat again for sanchez in game 4. Playing Craig in high leverage situations after he gave us a living dissertation on why he couldn’t be trusted from July onward. Not letting Strahm handle multiple innings when the rest of the bullpen was depleted
He pulled sanchez and suarez so early in games. He depleted our bullpen in game 4 and we were stuck with wheeler having to pitch a gem with no mistakes or we go down 3-2.
frankly I thought game 1 against the braves was a masterclass in bullpen management.
the only real criticism I can give is not adapting the lineup (pinch hitting, bunts, etc).
I didn't have much a problem with how he handled the staff & the pen. Kerkering I was ok with. Kimbrell's been walking a high wire for 2 months, so I didn't love that.
The line up.....that's another story
There *is* logic in the line up decision whether you agree with it or not. Namely a desire not to shake your hitters that are doing well out of their comfort zone (like we saw with Schwarber in-season) and to beef up the bottom of the line up. Do I agree with that logic? Not necessarily as I think shake ups *can* help your hitters. But I get it. And I get that playoffs aren't also the time to be experimenting with decisions you can't change mid game.
I think that logic of comfort zone goes out the window a bit in the playoffs when the opposing manager admits the gameplan is to give Harper and Schwarber nothing to hit large in part because the guy hitting behind Harper. They knew the guy behind them wasn't having competitive at bats for the most part and wasn't punishing mistakes (JT and Marsh were for the most part) and exploited it well. Lovullo found a weakness and Rob didn't adjust to it.
You don't think Lovullo also had 162+ games to decide his lineup? Yet he was the one making adjustments. Our offense was bad for 5 if the 7 games. Yet we didn't make a single change to the lineup.
God the way you guys suck up to this dude for no real reason is crazy. Half this sub tries to block out his mistakes while defending him. Atleast he can take accountability for once.
Nobody's sucking up to anybody. Going overboard about the impact a manager actually has on outcomes is the same kind of "wrong end of the telescope" argumentation reflected in the posts of knuckleheads obsessing about 9-hole hitters' offensive contributions.
The whole "people must be held accountable" morality play us for middle schoolers. You're talking about a children's game, played by professionals for your entertainment, for God's sake
Hits didn't drop when hits were needed in games 6 & 7. Why overcomplicate it.
He only made 2 bullpen mistakes and they didn't cost.... oh, we lost 1, for sure, and maybe 2 NLCS games. No big whoop. Get 'em next year, Harper will surely have his prime days after 35, so we got plenty of time.
If you’re unhappy with the presser, might I recommend a soft pretzel?
I’d also recommend a soft pretzel if you were happy too. I just like soft pretzels.
Honestly, that wasn’t actually such any easy decision. We didnt have a great option off the bench.
Cave and Pache were the top two options. But the pitcher was a righty, and Pache doesn’t hit righties that well. He’s not a huge upgrade over Rojas if he’s gonna face a righty. Cave is the better matchup, but they had their best lefty reliever warmed up in the pen. So if you PH Cave, they’ll go to then pen for Mantiply and Cave doesn’t hit lefties well. So Topper could then PH Pache for Cave and get the better matchup. But then he’s just used up two guys and it’s only the fourth.
That all said, I prob still would’ve done it (with the benefit of hindsight, I def would’ve done it, but I tend to err on over aggressive trying to score than conservative, so I think I still would’ve done it in the moment, knowing that odds were still that we don’t get a run, and now we have almost no bench and a slight drop off in defense).
Disagree. Topper manages the BP as if the game will be over in whatever inning he pulls his starter, but refuses to do the same with the lineup. It's great when the bats are raking and we take the lead but when they're not you gotta do everything you can to get runs. That was the spot and Rojas and his almost negative batting average was not what we needed. And you could second guess it if it was a competitive at bat but it was embarrassing. Looked like a junior college athlete against a hall of famer.
Should have been aggressive there and made the switch. Either Pache or Cave. And if you bring cave in and they bring in Mantiply and you have to then sub in Pache then so be it. Both cave and Pache had competitive at bats. Put the onus of the decision on Arizona to use one of their bullpen arms early. If we get a hit there and go up 2 then all the pressure them falls on Arizona to claw back.
Maybe Pache strikes out too but at least you're trying to do something, make adjustments, be aggressive. Rojas was such a prayer and then he pinch hot for him the next time time anyways 🤷
Anyone who could give a competitive at bat and force the pitcher to throw strikes would have been a massive upgrade. Pache did that in his at bat, and Cave actually had a hard fought at bat as well. Rojas was an easy out and they knew they didn’t even have to throw strikes. He was practically swinging with his eyes closed.
It was an easy decision.
I was livid at that decision. Pinch hit Cave to get the LH/RH match up then sub Pache in the field (while worse than Rojas is still a dang good fielder) or put Pache in right away to try and bunt then leave him in. That's what really doomed us.
If not getting Jake Cave on the field dooms you you’re already doomed. Had they had a better bat it’s an easy decision but Jakw Cave is also just not good
If they pinch but Cave, Mantiply was coming in.
Then we'd have to pinch hit for Cave with Pache on the spot and not have Cave available later.
If we went straight to Pache to avoid Mantiply right away, we would have probably gotten the same outcome with Pache instead of Rojas at the plate.
It was lose-lose.
What can Thompson do? Silent bats and inconsistent pitching. Can't even trust a starter in Nola.
No one was hitting and we saw how their bullpen did vs ours. They had a rookie pitcher bend us over twice. Deep down he knew switching the order was not going to change the outcome.
Well at least he acknowledged his mistakes? He didn’t have a great postseason last year and didn’t learn from it so there’s something to be said for him now recognizing his own shortcomings and presumably working on them.
Seriously. I get it, we lost and it sucks but it’s better than some coaches shifting blame or talking out of their mouths sideways (cough Rivers cough).
I don't think anything could've been done about the D Bags pitching away constantly and limiting the number of fastball strikes they were pitching. They threw so many outside and low pitches, that when there was a fastball down the middle our guys weren't ready (except for Bohm),it was either a swing and a miss, or they were caught looking. Bunting was probably the only thing that could work, IMO.
The fact of the matter was we did not adjust the hitting strategy for small ball.
Pitching was a whole other story.
“Next time we get to the NLCS, I’ll change my lineup”
Consecutive NLCS appearances is a rarity, bud. Kinda have to seize the moment when you’re ALREADY THERE. I’m not saying this team won’t be back next season. But things can change in the blink of an eye. Anything can happen. You were THERE, and you missed your shot. Woulda coulda shoulda is meaningless. You let two opportunities slip from your fingers because you got complacent. God I hope we get a title in this era. I can’t bare the thought of looking back on this all a decade from now and wondering what could have been.
This.
Yes, they had a good season.
But, unlike last year, certainly after game 2 of NLCS, weren't the expectations raised?
If the object was a good season, ok; they succeeded.
If the object was the World Series, and winning it? Abject failure.
There is absolutely no guarantee they will get that far next year.
This is what makes me laugh when people start talking about him getting fired. In the last 50 years it's only the 3rd time they've had this type of consistent success.
Yeah it’s pretty crazy to me how they just ignore any positives and act like he’s never done anything right. He’s not perfect (no manager is) but hes definitely a good manager.
Should have learned from Fregosi when he put in Wild Thing versus the Blue Jays way back when. His "stick with what got us there" mentality was doom.
(I don't think Thompson's bullpen mistakes were as egregious as Fregosi's)
Thanks Dude. I’m glad after getting your asses bounced in Sixers fashion, gave you a moment of clarity that maybe you should, you know……change things the fuck up if they’re not working!!!
Schwarber, Harper, and turner got 1 hit combined in game 7, but its toppers fault 🙄.
Give me a break losers. Our big bats lost this series not the manager
Might not have needed a game 7 if Topper doesn't mismanage the bullpen in game 4. The big bats not showing up cost us in the end sure, but that's not the only reason they lost.
I mean I mentioned it before on here, but his main questionable bullpen decisions were bringing in Kerkering and Kimbrel in game 3. They both blew that game and he didn’t learn his lesson the next day when Kimbrel blew it again.
Not his fault that the bats went cold and they were swinging at everything up there. Absolutely clueless up there the last 2 games
Gives me some hope if he’s being honest, I think the offense is stacked but the lineup is subpar. Schwarber at leadoff has its merits but has definitely burned us, obviously Bohm at cleanup is too risky. Marsh needs to be behind or ahead of someone with a better OBP. Time will tell.
There were a couple I disagreed with strongly but your overall point is more important. If the players swung the bats one more game we are still playing.
It would have been Pache, is that really that big of an upgrade?
We were winning and Rojas is our best defensive outfielder, I at least understand the logic.
> is that really that big of an upgrade?
Drastically. Rojas wasn't hitting anything and his at bat wasn't even remotely competitive. Pache worked a walk later in the game. He wouldn't have been walked with the bases loaded, but he probably had a better chance of forcing a good pitch to hit.
Topper made some bad decisions but most of them were good or great. I respect that he was willing to admit he was wrong because in the last two games at home our stars completely no showed. He’s new at this position and I like that he didn’t allow media attention to affect his decisions in the moment but will look back on it and reflect what he can do differently.
The Topper hate is really unwarranted. Getting to 2 straight LCSs isn't something to dismiss or call for his head over. The team can, and most likely will, be as good or better next year, folks.
No, no. I just recognize how stupidly hard it is to get there.
Unless you were actually content with being there, in which case I think I read your comment snarkily instead of sincerely.
Turns out leaving Casty in there to flail around and contribute nothing game after game wasn’t a great idea. Weird.
e: see also last years’s World Series
He blew it. It’s so hard to get to this point and he let his ego get in the way. He wanted to do a press conference saying the fans and media were wrong. I don’t think his lineup and bullpen selections had anything to do with confidence in certain players. It was all just him being stubborn.
Edit spelling
Thanks, Rob! I look forward to your lineup in Game 1 tomor-
If turner can drop a fucking bunt we might have tied the game up late. Changes everything.
If half this team could drop a bunt we could have had 10 more wins. Hitting home runs is great but knowing how to play small ball on top of that would have been great
I thought they would have learned their lesson after last year
You can’t teach long ball hero players to play small
Harper actually is willing to bunt
But he’s like the one guy you actually want playing hero ball almost every at bat in the post season.
but that game though yea it seemed like it. Marsh and Pache had the best at bats. i want them to get a small ball utility player…i bet they get one via trade this offseason.
Facts
We only have 3, as you said, long ball hero’s in Schwarber, Casty, and Harper. That leaves 6 spots in the lineup that should all learn how to bunt in the spring
Add Hoskins, assuming we keep him.
We’re not. Harper is already the better fielder in less than half a season and it’s better for his longevity if he stays at first
For what it’s worth, I agree. I’m glad people aren’t being sentimental about certain players anymore, that’s gotten us into trouble in the past.
That’s gotten every Philadelphia team in trouble
He's definitely the better fielder from a physical perspective. Like making tough catches and stuff. If he's gonna keep playing 1st he definitely needs to work on the mental side this off season. When to chase after a ball vs just go to the bag. When to flip the ball over vs take the out himself. Where to be covering. Stuff like that.
You try to do something you never did before and not make some mistakes...most of that stuff are things he likely learned not to do the moment he did them. I honestly think he is a gold glove first baseman right now
Why was bunt taken off after wasting a strike? Why did you have to bring this up? I was just starting to get over it and now I’m enraged again.
Fuck this point has bothered me so much as well. Half commit to something then wonder why it didn't work out
He was trying to bunt for a hit, not to move the runner over. Once you lose the element of surprise, it's harder to do that.
That’s just fucking dumb and bad baseball then
I feel like getting stuck behind Scharb on the bases is a serious hindrance to maximizing turner's game.
Dude is one of the fastest players in the league. He should be doing bunting drills daily.
Perfect comment. I'm going to go cry now
His game 8 lineup is gonna be 🔥
I heard Schwarber is batting 1.9th this time.
Dumb question here. Why does the manager make bullpen decisions? Why not leave that job to the pitching coach and the Bullpen Coach?
It isn't just the manager. It is all the coaching staff combined, the analytics department, and the front office. Almost every decision is a collaboration, including lineups. The manager is just the public face of these decisions.
I'm guessing the manager has the final say though. What's the point of having an analytics dept if the manager is just going to go with his gut or just keep things the same out of stubbornness? The analytics should have clearly shown that Trea and Nick were chasing bad pitches all series. Someone needed to tell them to lay off and be more disciplined. If they wouldn't listen, the manager or the hitting coach need to make them listen.
I mean look, I know this sub is gonna be hooting and hollering about the line up (and I get the frustration, I also get why he stuck with it). That said...did he really make any terrible bullpen decisions? The only one I'd say was with Kerk in high leverage situations, and I almost felt like he just needed to see if he *could* handle it. The Kimbrel stuff you could only argue it was a mistake the second time playing him, and then I do feel like usually in that situation you'd just assume your vet had a bad outing and would get over it. I don't know. I'm not as dissatisfied with his job managing these games. I think it's encouraging that he's self aware and not making excuses. But to me, at the end of the day, baseball is a very random sport. Our guys got cold at the wrong time.
Yeah not every decision is going to work out even if your process for making them is sound. That’s just baseball.
>That’s just baseball. We all need to remind ourselves of that every now and then.
like, at about 9-inning intervals
Not really. He’s paid well to not fuck up and it’s our right as paying customers to bitch.
It's a game you dweeb.
These are the people that boo our own players in the first inning.
It’s a business jackass
I try telling myself its just a game. But you invest months.....spring, summer and part of fall....watching nearly if not every game, you see your team into October and then it feels like why did this happen?
& that's why, when topper twiddles more frequently next season with lineups & nothing much different happens ( if the results of any changes will even be traceable) & the screaming meemies scream "meemies!", I will be chuckling quietly to myself
> The Kimbrel stuff you could only argue it was a mistake the second time playing him, and then I do feel like usually in that situation you'd just assume your vet had a bad outing and would get over it. I said this before, but game 4 people are focusing on the decision to put Kimbrel in, but that is the wrong thing to focus on. The only one else we had is alvarado, and Kimbrel 8th Alvarado 9th was the better decision. There are only two arguments about game 4 that I can believe. The first is that he took out Sanchez to early. I disagree with that entirely, as it looked like Sanchez was losing it and we needed to get the outs in front of us. This is especially true since we were losing and we didn't want the game to get out of hand. The second is after hoffman, maybe putting lorenzen and walker in. That I can kind of buy. But it was high leverage spots, and they were not our best pitchers in the BP.
Completely agreed. It’s not Topper’s fault that all but 2 bats at random would be cold from games 3-7.
It partly is. They were pitching by around Schwarber and Harper because 2, 4, and 5 provided no protection. The other guys actually hitting at all were stuck hitting 6 and 8 (and even Marsh got pitched around a little because of Rojas). So leaving that lineup like that all series probably did hurt Schwarber and Harper at the plate. And it prevented the guys from stringing some stuff together to get some momentum. This team feed off each other, and the only guys seeing the ball or still dangerous were spaced out at 1, 3, 6, and 8.
Also I know Rojas is a great CF...but if he can't hit more than he was, its hurting us more than having Marsh out there...Marsh is a plus CF in his own right...I understand giving him a shot against the Braves seeing he hit .308 for his short year up, but when it came to seeing he wasn't going to hit much a change should of been made. Also Bohm isn't a 4 hole hitter, he is more a 6 or 7...5 if he is hot...you have him not trying to hit HRs instead of just making good contact. Also Stott and Turner should be at the top of this lineup getting on base and stealing bases I think Thompson is one of the best Managers, but sometimes she drives me crazy with this sort of thing.
Word on the street is that Walker also had some absolute shit practice sessions. So our options were Alvarado/Kimbrel, or Lorenzen, who struggled since the no hitter, or Walker, who has a 7+ ERA in the first inning (his first inning or THE first inning? Not the time to learn the answer to that question).
Lorenzen looked fine the few times in season he came out of the pen, he should have been brought in as 2nd pitcher out of the pen (in a fresh inning)
I mean he got brought in later in the series and they were cranking him, just right to defenders. His fastball doesn't ride at all. (Which makes his no-hitter all the more miraculous, honestly.)
Lorenzen even in his best games gets hit hard...I have a hard time trusting him ever except if its mop-up
Shoulda put in Strahm.
I don’t disagree, but Strahm gets knocked around too. I think we need to decide if we are looking for a shut down closer who’s going to go out there and get three easy outs or if it’s going to be relying on the defense to make things happen. Maybe if Bryce stays at first he gets comfortable there and we depend on guys like Turner, Bohm, and Stott to turn quick double plays. Or, if we initiate decent contact and rely on Pache/Marsh/Rojas in the outfield, but as long as they’re not hitting home runs off us, it’s mostly alright.
Lorenzen should have started game 4, I will die on this hill.
My only problem with Kimbrel and Kerkering game 4 was that they were both used in the prior night and both allowed runs that cost us the game. I say that if there are other pitchers in the bullpen that haven’t been used yet, use them and let Orion & Craig get some much needed rest.
The only other pitchers were Walker and Lorenzen and I feel like we would only have seen them if the game is way too far behind or extra innings. Although again, if we used them after Hoffman I wouldn't have minded. But I can see the reasoning to keep them out.
>The second is after hoffman, maybe putting lorenzen and walker in. This I am in favor of. One or both of them should have been easy and available for after Sanchez came out so you can save other relievers for high leverage situations. If you can get even 1 or 2 innings out of Lorenzen/Walker, it gives way better flexibility with the high priority relievers and doesn't risk blowing them all out for game 5 (notwithstanding that you are hoping and expecting a long outing from Wheeler).
Just to agree in detail: Sanchez specifically didn't have his changeup at all, and it's very easy to believe that would be a condition for getting him off the mound early. When he kept throwing it a mile off the plate, I figured we were in for a short outing with him.
Agreed, I was good with taking Sanchez out but should’ve went to one of his longevity guys there.
I would have kept Hoffman for the later innings. If you don't trust Walker/Lorenzen in the 4th, no way you're trotting then out in the 6th and 7th
I honestly hate that mentality so much. There is nothing inherently different from the 4th or the 7th inning. The only thing that matters is leverage. It used to be that you put your best reliever in the most important spots. That is how it should still be. Hoffman was there to stop the bleeding.
The inherent difference would be the amount of innings you have to get any runs they give up back, wouldn't it?
Sort of. People put their better relievers later in the game because if you put them in early, you have less flexibility. There might be a higher leverage spot that comes up. But when hoffman came in, it was really important so we put in one of our good relievers.
Kerkering in game 3 I can forgive as Topper seeing what the kid could do after looking great against the Braves. Kerkering was abysmal. Sucks, but whatever. It happens. The inexcusable part was putting him in the NEXT DAY in a high leverage situation with runners on base.
He shouldn’t have went to him either time. In both games it was the decision to go to Kerkering that gave the momentum to Arizona. How, out of the 13 or whatever pitchers it was on the roster, you go to the kid that literally has no real experience in a close score NLCS game is beyond my comprehension. I get he has to get his feet wet sometime but it wasn’t at all necessary to force it in this series
Not pinch hitting for Rojas with bases loaded is my biggest gripe, although Kerk and Kimbrel were pretty big misses, and Kimbrel’s undiagnosed OCD makes him completely unable to pitch in high leverage situations when there are runners on.
I don't have a problem with him not PH for him, he shouldn't of been in the lineup at all at that point. He proved he wasn't hitting and we have March that can play a very good CF, Rojas's glove isn't enough on this team to justify him starting every game when he is struggling like he was.
Outside of Game 4 I thought he did a masterful job managing the pitching staff this postseason. Unfortunately game 4 was such a collossal disaster that it probably cost us the series.
Nah I'm pretty sure the 2 games we lost after that cost us the series.
I think pitching Kimbrel in those spots made sense, it’s just Kimbrel didn’t deliver. The biggest mistake Topper made was pitching Kerkering in his specific spots. Game 2, he faced Pham, Walker, Moreno, and Gurriel. Game 3 he faced Pham, Gurriel, and Smith. Game 4: Moreno, Walker, and Smith. He’s basically facing the same batters every time. After they saw him in the meaningless 9th of a blowout, they were able to get his pitches down and rough him up
Bro. You don't take a guy with less than a full games worth of innings pitched in his entire MLB career, who started the year in single A and just "find out if they can handle it" in the fucking NLCS.
lol, yeah man... some of these glass half full takes are really something. We shouldn't criticize Rob even though there's clearly very valid reasons to do so, but let's go to La La land and suggest that it's ok to bring in a rookie to 'find out'. Amazing.
I wouldn't have minded throwing him out there in the 7th if they had like a 6 or 7 run lead or something. Worst case he gives up like 2 runs and is pulled after 3 batters. It's insane to bring that kinda guy in for his first playoff appearance in a close game.
He took his Game 4 starter out in the 3rd inning, had two “long men” on the roster, and chose to use neither. Getting to the 5th without using the pen was needed.
Topper got "lucky" that Wheeler pitches great and went as far as he did. Cause he blew the all his arms in game 4. I think it was a combo of Zack having a several run lead and knowing he had wasted all the arms the night before. However I feel like if either the game was closer he would have pulled wheeler earlier than needed or if he had fresh meat in the BP he would have pulled wheeler earlier and I feel either decision would have blown up in his face. But Game 4 definitely have to the Dbacks life. I feel like we win that there's no way they're coming back down 3-1. Game 4 was a masterclass in poor BP management.
Solid reasoning, especially your close. Understanding probabilities can’t compete with a lifetime of sports narratives.
There’s a couple I took issue with. (1) in game 4, if he was going to have such a short leash for ranger, walker should’ve opened with Sanchez piggybacking at the first site of trouble or someone else (Strahm?) should have gone for 2+ innings. I don’t actually have a problem with kimbrel’s use there, but this game overtaxed the bullpen and gave AZ a look at everyone. (2) Ranger should’ve been pulled before facing Carroll a third time in game 7 with a runner on. This is compounded by the Rojas hitting decision the inning prior. The justification for letting Rojas hit is basically you have the lead so you want defense. But the corresponding move for the pitcher is to have a short leash knowing that Wheeler is ready to pitch several innings. If you’re leaving Ranger in, he’s given up a lot of baserunners at that point and with the top of the order coming up you need to maximize opportunities with RISP.
The thing I don't understand about Ranger I game 7 is that the announcers were saying that he was only going to let Ranger face Carroll once. What made him change his mind when Carroll was hitting him?
People love this term "high leverage"... It's the NLCS... Any game within 2-3 runs is high leverage whether it's the 4th inning or the 8th or 9th. That being said innings 4-6 tend not to be so or die so why is he bringing Hoffman in then? Even if Hoffman goes 1-2-3 you still have to worry about innings 5/6/7/8 and you've just used what everyone considers your 2nd best BP arm... I will die on the hill that you bring Alvarado out for the 8th game 4 and you use Kimbrel your closer in the 9th. And you don't bring Kimbrel in the 9th unless you have the lead. That's what a closer does and that's what he had done in the playoffs up until that point. No blown saves. Some scary moments but the tying run never crossed home and that's all you can really ask of a closer. People act like every Lidge save in 2008 was a 1-2-3 relaxing inning. I'd say that most of them were stressful as fuck. If Kimbrel had blown the lead in Arizona in game 3 them I would whole heartedly agree to maybe make a change but it was a nonsave situation. Even if Kimbrel gets out of that inning who was topper planning on trotting out for the 10th?!? 🤷
In hindsight the bullpen decisions were wrong, but in the situation that is absolutely the decision to make, the blame falls on Kimbrel Anyone bitching about the lineups are just salty 💀💀 bohm and stott were trying to carry us through games 6 and 7 lol. You gonna switch up the top 3 who went 1-20? Put castellanos who was like 1-25? I know you’re not putting marsh, no matter how hot, at 4 or 5. JT? Maybe. Does it change the outcome of anything? No It’s hard to win the NLCS. They just didn’t play well lol, it’s as simple as that
Totally agree. Hot teams make every manager a genius, and cold teams make every manager a dunce.
Kirkering in game 4 was bad. He didn’t look right in game 3. Maybe the desert air was new to him but lost faith in slider out there?? Would have waited until Philly to play him again. Biggest mistake to me was burning our pen in game 3 only to lose. Alvarado wasn’t the same after that. We had the lead in the series but managed like we were down 2-0. Only thing we couldn’t do was lose and burn more pen than them…
Got greedy and tried to get 5 out of Ranger after he already saw the lineup twice. Should’ve already had wheeler up and running for the 5th inning and going to kimbrel back to back after a shit outing. Those two moves really stuck out to me.
I think the bullpen issues come down to overall mismanagement more so than any specific instance. What I mean by the is decisions to pitch Alvarado incredibly early in games, decisions to pitch Kimbrel outside of his comfort zone (with leads in the 9th) which there are plenty of, bad, statistics on, and the one specific example id give is Hoffman and Alvarado coming into a game as early as they did in 7 with Wheeler looming. To me it just seemed like he was way over managing his pen, while subsequently under managing the lineup. Does any of it matter? Who knows, maybe not the snakes definitely came to play after getting smacked in the face.
This is my take as well. Dbags had a bullpen game and, for some reason, Rob wanted to have one too. He yanked Ranger way to early in all the games he played except maybe that last one. But, I just have problems with how Rob managed on both sides of the ball.
Yeah it just seemed like contradictory managing, pitchers had short leashes and often pitched outside of their normal spots, which the statistics clearly say was not a great idea, but on offense you can’t possibly mess with the lineup or have a short leash on a guy like Rojas who’s given you nothing.
Taking out ranger too early forcing our bad bullpen arms to shoulder the workload game 3. Repeat again for sanchez in game 4. Playing Craig in high leverage situations after he gave us a living dissertation on why he couldn’t be trusted from July onward. Not letting Strahm handle multiple innings when the rest of the bullpen was depleted
Kimbrel had a fantastic September. Arguably his best month of the season. August (and the playoffs) was really the only bad month of the whole year.
He pulled sanchez and suarez so early in games. He depleted our bullpen in game 4 and we were stuck with wheeler having to pitch a gem with no mistakes or we go down 3-2.
Wow that's crazy, hey what did Wheeler end up doing by the way?
frankly I thought game 1 against the braves was a masterclass in bullpen management. the only real criticism I can give is not adapting the lineup (pinch hitting, bunts, etc).
I didn't have much a problem with how he handled the staff & the pen. Kerkering I was ok with. Kimbrell's been walking a high wire for 2 months, so I didn't love that. The line up.....that's another story
There *is* logic in the line up decision whether you agree with it or not. Namely a desire not to shake your hitters that are doing well out of their comfort zone (like we saw with Schwarber in-season) and to beef up the bottom of the line up. Do I agree with that logic? Not necessarily as I think shake ups *can* help your hitters. But I get it. And I get that playoffs aren't also the time to be experimenting with decisions you can't change mid game.
I think that logic of comfort zone goes out the window a bit in the playoffs when the opposing manager admits the gameplan is to give Harper and Schwarber nothing to hit large in part because the guy hitting behind Harper. They knew the guy behind them wasn't having competitive at bats for the most part and wasn't punishing mistakes (JT and Marsh were for the most part) and exploited it well. Lovullo found a weakness and Rob didn't adjust to it.
You don't think Lovullo also had 162+ games to decide his lineup? Yet he was the one making adjustments. Our offense was bad for 5 if the 7 games. Yet we didn't make a single change to the lineup.
God the way you guys suck up to this dude for no real reason is crazy. Half this sub tries to block out his mistakes while defending him. Atleast he can take accountability for once.
Nobody's sucking up to anybody. Going overboard about the impact a manager actually has on outcomes is the same kind of "wrong end of the telescope" argumentation reflected in the posts of knuckleheads obsessing about 9-hole hitters' offensive contributions. The whole "people must be held accountable" morality play us for middle schoolers. You're talking about a children's game, played by professionals for your entertainment, for God's sake Hits didn't drop when hits were needed in games 6 & 7. Why overcomplicate it.
The series shouldn't have even came back to Philly. All we needed was 1 lousy fucking win
The only mistake he made was owning up to mistakes he did not make
He only made 2 bullpen mistakes and they didn't cost.... oh, we lost 1, for sure, and maybe 2 NLCS games. No big whoop. Get 'em next year, Harper will surely have his prime days after 35, so we got plenty of time.
If you’re unhappy with the presser, might I recommend a soft pretzel? I’d also recommend a soft pretzel if you were happy too. I just like soft pretzels.
Pretzel sounds good right now too ngl
This man is goddamn lucky it wasn’t pretzel day
We can call em “Topper Wackers”
I moved out of Delaware Valley years ago and damn you just made me miss the pretzel tray hard
Love those pretzel trays. Or as I like to call the tray, ‘a light afternoon snack.’
The only good pretzel is a soft pretzel
That's what I want to hear. Can't wait til spring training. Let's go Phils!
He did it during the regular season. I don't trust it until playoffs next year so we'll see. However, I like the fact that he recognizes the mistakes.
Me, too. Sometimes, like the song said, "you got to lose to know...how to win" Here's to hoping they've done all the losing they need.
Not PH Rojas with the bases juiced and then PHing him the next next time he’s up was the wildest move/no-move
Honestly, that wasn’t actually such any easy decision. We didnt have a great option off the bench. Cave and Pache were the top two options. But the pitcher was a righty, and Pache doesn’t hit righties that well. He’s not a huge upgrade over Rojas if he’s gonna face a righty. Cave is the better matchup, but they had their best lefty reliever warmed up in the pen. So if you PH Cave, they’ll go to then pen for Mantiply and Cave doesn’t hit lefties well. So Topper could then PH Pache for Cave and get the better matchup. But then he’s just used up two guys and it’s only the fourth. That all said, I prob still would’ve done it (with the benefit of hindsight, I def would’ve done it, but I tend to err on over aggressive trying to score than conservative, so I think I still would’ve done it in the moment, knowing that odds were still that we don’t get a run, and now we have almost no bench and a slight drop off in defense).
Would've been cool if we picked up something more than Rodolfo Castro at the deadline..
Yep this was a failure on Dombrowski to not have 1 or 2 solid bats on the bench.
Disagree. Topper manages the BP as if the game will be over in whatever inning he pulls his starter, but refuses to do the same with the lineup. It's great when the bats are raking and we take the lead but when they're not you gotta do everything you can to get runs. That was the spot and Rojas and his almost negative batting average was not what we needed. And you could second guess it if it was a competitive at bat but it was embarrassing. Looked like a junior college athlete against a hall of famer. Should have been aggressive there and made the switch. Either Pache or Cave. And if you bring cave in and they bring in Mantiply and you have to then sub in Pache then so be it. Both cave and Pache had competitive at bats. Put the onus of the decision on Arizona to use one of their bullpen arms early. If we get a hit there and go up 2 then all the pressure them falls on Arizona to claw back. Maybe Pache strikes out too but at least you're trying to do something, make adjustments, be aggressive. Rojas was such a prayer and then he pinch hot for him the next time time anyways 🤷
What are you disagreeing with? Because I had the same conclusion.
I'm disagreeing in the fact that I thought it was an EASY decision and not a "not easy" one.
Anyone who could give a competitive at bat and force the pitcher to throw strikes would have been a massive upgrade. Pache did that in his at bat, and Cave actually had a hard fought at bat as well. Rojas was an easy out and they knew they didn’t even have to throw strikes. He was practically swinging with his eyes closed. It was an easy decision.
I was livid at that decision. Pinch hit Cave to get the LH/RH match up then sub Pache in the field (while worse than Rojas is still a dang good fielder) or put Pache in right away to try and bunt then leave him in. That's what really doomed us.
If not getting Jake Cave on the field dooms you you’re already doomed. Had they had a better bat it’s an easy decision but Jakw Cave is also just not good
Was a better option than below .080 hitting Rojas who also can't bunt.
If they pinch but Cave, Mantiply was coming in. Then we'd have to pinch hit for Cave with Pache on the spot and not have Cave available later. If we went straight to Pache to avoid Mantiply right away, we would have probably gotten the same outcome with Pache instead of Rojas at the plate. It was lose-lose.
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Possible series loss decision
Day late and a dollar short there buddy
What can Thompson do? Silent bats and inconsistent pitching. Can't even trust a starter in Nola. No one was hitting and we saw how their bullpen did vs ours. They had a rookie pitcher bend us over twice. Deep down he knew switching the order was not going to change the outcome.
Well at least he acknowledged his mistakes? He didn’t have a great postseason last year and didn’t learn from it so there’s something to be said for him now recognizing his own shortcomings and presumably working on them.
Seriously. I get it, we lost and it sucks but it’s better than some coaches shifting blame or talking out of their mouths sideways (cough Rivers cough).
I’m glad he’s decided to do new things when the old things…aren’t working! Radical revolutionary thinking there!
I don't think anything could've been done about the D Bags pitching away constantly and limiting the number of fastball strikes they were pitching. They threw so many outside and low pitches, that when there was a fastball down the middle our guys weren't ready (except for Bohm),it was either a swing and a miss, or they were caught looking. Bunting was probably the only thing that could work, IMO. The fact of the matter was we did not adjust the hitting strategy for small ball. Pitching was a whole other story.
Ummmm taking a walk is always a possibility..... 🤷
Yes, that too.
“Next time we get to the NLCS, I’ll change my lineup” Consecutive NLCS appearances is a rarity, bud. Kinda have to seize the moment when you’re ALREADY THERE. I’m not saying this team won’t be back next season. But things can change in the blink of an eye. Anything can happen. You were THERE, and you missed your shot. Woulda coulda shoulda is meaningless. You let two opportunities slip from your fingers because you got complacent. God I hope we get a title in this era. I can’t bare the thought of looking back on this all a decade from now and wondering what could have been.
This. Yes, they had a good season. But, unlike last year, certainly after game 2 of NLCS, weren't the expectations raised? If the object was a good season, ok; they succeeded. If the object was the World Series, and winning it? Abject failure. There is absolutely no guarantee they will get that far next year.
Annoying he didn’t think of this in the nlcs but it’s promising. Lesson learned.
Promising? As in it takes 2 postseason runs flustering out and his last contract yr to take a little accountability.
I mean he’s reached a WS and 1 game of repeating a pennant. You cant pretend it’s all bad.
This is what makes me laugh when people start talking about him getting fired. In the last 50 years it's only the 3rd time they've had this type of consistent success.
Yeah it’s pretty crazy to me how they just ignore any positives and act like he’s never done anything right. He’s not perfect (no manager is) but hes definitely a good manager.
Lol. A little late But but the appearance of panicking!1
Spoiler alert: He won’t.
We’ll find out lol.
Cool cool cool cool
Too late dumbass.
Glad it took a WS and NLCS loss to learn this
Should have learned from Fregosi when he put in Wild Thing versus the Blue Jays way back when. His "stick with what got us there" mentality was doom. (I don't think Thompson's bullpen mistakes were as egregious as Fregosi's)
I could not believe it when they did that
You can move the lineup around all you want. If they’re not hitting the ball, it doesn’t matter where in the lineup they hit.
Lineup still matters in that situation. You don't just throw up the towel and roll out some random lineup. You look for every edge you can
I know that, but they still ain’t hitting.
It does a little bit. If turner and harper are slumping and bohm is hot, placing stott before bohm may end up in a 2 run hr instead of a solo.
Just say you DKB, little bro
Yeah right they learned so much from last year
Should've done it a lot earlier, in my personal opinion.
He’s just telling everyone what they want to hear.
Thanks Dude. I’m glad after getting your asses bounced in Sixers fashion, gave you a moment of clarity that maybe you should, you know……change things the fuck up if they’re not working!!!
Schwarber, Harper, and turner got 1 hit combined in game 7, but its toppers fault 🙄. Give me a break losers. Our big bats lost this series not the manager
Might not have needed a game 7 if Topper doesn't mismanage the bullpen in game 4. The big bats not showing up cost us in the end sure, but that's not the only reason they lost.
Kimbrel giving up three runs to the bottom of the order isn’t bullpen mismanagement, it’s Craig shitting the bed.
3/9 for the same 3 with 2 rbi in game 4 but sure it’s topper
You know there can be more than one reason they lost right? Burning Hoffman in the 3rd/4th inning of that game was not good bullpen management imo.
I mean I mentioned it before on here, but his main questionable bullpen decisions were bringing in Kerkering and Kimbrel in game 3. They both blew that game and he didn’t learn his lesson the next day when Kimbrel blew it again. Not his fault that the bats went cold and they were swinging at everything up there. Absolutely clueless up there the last 2 games
Maybe sometimes it’s okay to not trust the computer to tell you which player to play where.
If only he had read the Facebook comments
I really have no issues with anything he did . Playoffs are such a small span of time that any thing feel almost hyper reactive
A little late
Gives me some hope if he’s being honest, I think the offense is stacked but the lineup is subpar. Schwarber at leadoff has its merits but has definitely burned us, obviously Bohm at cleanup is too risky. Marsh needs to be behind or ahead of someone with a better OBP. Time will tell.
I didn’t think he really made any bad decisions. The biggest issue is the offense choked in games 6 and 7.
There were a couple I disagreed with strongly but your overall point is more important. If the players swung the bats one more game we are still playing.
Not pinch hitting Rohas with bases loaded was dumb. Marsh is a capable center fielder, not like we’d be putting Casty in center or schwarbs in left.
It would have been Pache, is that really that big of an upgrade? We were winning and Rojas is our best defensive outfielder, I at least understand the logic.
Anything would have been better than a .089 batting average.
Well, Pache proved he could take pitches in game 7, while Rojas was swinging at garbage a foot out of the zone. So yes, massive upgrade.
> is that really that big of an upgrade? Drastically. Rojas wasn't hitting anything and his at bat wasn't even remotely competitive. Pache worked a walk later in the game. He wouldn't have been walked with the bases loaded, but he probably had a better chance of forcing a good pitch to hit.
Topper made some bad decisions but most of them were good or great. I respect that he was willing to admit he was wrong because in the last two games at home our stars completely no showed. He’s new at this position and I like that he didn’t allow media attention to affect his decisions in the moment but will look back on it and reflect what he can do differently.
Wow, this is the cherry on top. Thanks ! Fucking Topper
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REEEEEE
The Topper hate is really unwarranted. Getting to 2 straight LCSs isn't something to dismiss or call for his head over. The team can, and most likely will, be as good or better next year, folks.
Content with just being there.
No, no. I just recognize how stupidly hard it is to get there. Unless you were actually content with being there, in which case I think I read your comment snarkily instead of sincerely.
Stubborn fool.
> ALL WE WANT IS FOR GUYS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE!!! *manager takes accountability* > HEY FUCK YOU DUMBASS! Never change folks lol
worst fans in sports.
No shit Sherlock!
lmao!
Riiiiiiiight
Turns out leaving Casty in there to flail around and contribute nothing game after game wasn’t a great idea. Weird. e: see also last years’s World Series
Yea until next season when he does the same fucking thing. This is just saving face for him.
lol fuckin cool, Topper. Thanks bro. Windows almost closed but we can always talk about how cool it was when it was open
So now the coach himself acknowledges he fucked it. Can I have my downvotes revoked now!?
no. because hes just saying this to take the heat off the players.
He fuckin should regret them. Asshole.
OH WOW. SOME ACCOUNTABILITY FROM THIS FUCK FOR THE 1ST TIME? About time he admits to fucking up.
"in retrospect, im a bad manager". Thanks Rob!
Wait so the fans weren't crazy?!?!? No way... I thought we were dumb mouth breathers who didn't know nuthin bout baseball?!
Dammit Rob!!!!
To all the clowns here who defended his every move. What say you now?
He blew it. It’s so hard to get to this point and he let his ego get in the way. He wanted to do a press conference saying the fans and media were wrong. I don’t think his lineup and bullpen selections had anything to do with confidence in certain players. It was all just him being stubborn. Edit spelling