Bruce Bochy is consistent, you have to give him that. The San Francisco Giants manager seems to be getting worse before he gets better.
A couple of days ago my esteemed colleague Barry Shiller wrote this piece about Bruce Bochy’s blind spots. He was too kind. I’m not that kind.
In tonight’s 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Bochy showed again why he has no place managing the San Francisco Giants, let alone the Bad News Bears.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Giants catcher Chris Stewart bunted for a base hit with one out. Nice job by Stewart to get something going for a San Francisco Giants offense that had been stifled yet again, this time by Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw.
The obvious move, the move every San Francisco Giants fan and many non fans knew was coming next was to pinch run for Stewart with Giants speedster Darren Ford. Who can forget Ford single-handedly taking over a game in the late innings last year by scoring a run with his legs and winning the game for the light-hitting Giants?
Up came pinch hitter Mark DeRosa. No Ford. DeRosa popped out for the second out of the inning. Then Stewart jammed his ankle on an attempted pickoff play (after a strike was already on the batter, Justin Christian) and had to leave the game. Ahh, time to bring in Ford, who promptly stole second base. Christian struck out to end the inning.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to bring in the speedster Ford right away, have him steal second, possibly even try to steal third and put the Giants in a situation with a runner in scoring position with less than two outs?
The Giants have three catchers on the roster, four if you include Pablo Sandoval. Why in the world was Bochy letting Stewart run in that crucial situation? Trust me, if Stewart hadn’t gotten injured, Ford would have never gotten in. Why? Your guess is as good as mine; maybe you should ask Bruce Bochy.
In the top of the ninth the Dodgers got a leadoff single by their catcher Rod Barajas. Don Mattingly (not exactly god’s gift to managing) did what any manager with a brain in his head would do: he pinch ran his fastest guy on the bench, former GIan Eugenio Velez, for his slow-footed catcher.
Velez was bunted to second by Justin Sellers and went to third on a wild pitch by Santiago Casilla. Then the speed came in when Velez scored on a short one hopper to Jeff Keppinger, whose throw was just a bit late and the go-ahead (and eventual winning) run scored.
The same situation—the catcher gets a hit—but different approaches. Mattingly does the sound thing and runs for the catcher, Bochy does the unthinkable and leaves his catcher in. Granted, there was one out for the Giants and none for the Dodgers, but that doesn’t take Bochy off the hook.
Bochy was not playing to win, he was playing not to lose, keeping in the better defensive catcher Stewart (until he got hurt that is). Yes, Eli Whiteside let the wild pitch get by him, on a ball that Stewart may have been able to block, but the Giants have a third catcher, Hector Sanchez, on the roster. Oh, that’s right, he’s a rookie, can’t play him Boch.
And Tim Lincecum is victimized yet again, first by the Giants’ bad hitting and second by another terrible Bochy non-decision.
Which brings up the point of my article last week, San Francisco Giants Should Fire Bruce Bochy. The guy is just a bad manager. Yes, bad managers can win the World Series, and Bochy is living proof.
My new nickname for Bochy is an adaptation of his name, Botch-ey, because he botches things. The extra “e” stands for empty. Botch-ey has come up empty this season big time for the champs. Was there some sort of magic in the dip?
Up eight-and-a-half games and rolling, the Arizona Diamondbacks aren’t going to let the Giants back in the race. Bochy shouldn’t be making it so easy for them. Now, if it doesn’t cause the Giants manager too many heart palpitations, time to play the young guys every day.
Season over.
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