Hurdle in love with LaTroy?
So let’s get right down to it: Why the hell does Hurdle have it set in his mind that LaTroy Hawkins MUST be the 8th inning guy? There’s only one explanation, and I’m sorry Mrs. Hurdle, but your husband is gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but he has pretty bad taste as well. Hurdle’s crush throws one of the worst, flattest 95 MPH fastballs out there.
Seriously though, sometimes it seems like the Rockies have a patent on tonight’s 5-4 loss to Arizona. It’s eerily familiar, and I often predict it to out-of-towner’s when I see it coming: the offense gives us a late lead, the stubborn manager puts in a reliever who’s always trouble, and you just know what’s going to happen…(right down to Helton getting on base in the ninth only to be let down by basically the rest of the order).
Ok, so there’s only one SERIOUS explanation for having LaTroy take the eighth in the face of overwhelming evidence that it’s a stupid idea, and sure, I see the value of having a veteran presence in the eighth. But in the interest of science, I took a look at LaTroy’s line, and it’s atrocious.
He’s given up a run or more in three out of his seven appearances, and allowed more than one run twice. All this gives LaTroy a solid 7.20 ERA for the season, and while I’ll grant that it’s still early in the year, it’s pretty clear that Mr. Hawkins is simply not cut out for regular work, and Hurdle should not be turning to him anymore.
Obviously, some of the blame tonight falls squarely on Affeldt’s shoulders, but what’s clear is that this bullpen has three good pitchers who should be our regular 7, 8 and 9 guys (that’s usually your three best pitchers, right?). Ramon Ramirez may be young, but he deserves the 8th inning by default at this point. Even tough he trailed off a bit late last season, his body of work was still impressive, and continues to be this year - his 0.00 ERA, 2 hits and no walks in five appearances pretty much speaks for itself. He certainly was the only one who seemed capable of closing out the 8th tonight, and though he did allow the go-ahead run, it’s pretty hard to knock the guy for inheriting a bases-loaded, one out situation and only giving up one run, and on a shallow sac fly at that.
So we’ve seen LaTroy six times now, he’s already single-handedly cost the Rockies three games, and I’m pretty well convinced that it’s time for Hurdle to scrap his master plan and turn to Ramirez. I know Clint’s not very flexible, but if he insists on giving LaTroy chance after chance I’m going to be forced to continue to assert that he’s gay (not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just the only possible explanation).
P.S. Speaking of completely baseless assertions, more proof tonight that Eric Byrnes plays baseball high. Anyone else see him put his hands on his head and go ‘woh, where’d my bat go, that was crazy man’ after he flung it into the stands? Definitely high all the time.
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