Bob Geren's Judgment Day

Oakland Athletic pitcher, Brian Fuentes, criticizes his manager, Bob Geren, for his handling of the pitching staff over the last several games. Specifically, Fuentes is upset about being brought into non save situations on the road. Hall of Famer, Dennis Eckersley, comments, “'From the outside looking in, just pitch.'” This episode, along with questions regarding double switches and bunting bring Geren's judgment into question. It is hard to question his handling of the pitching staff. They have about the best ERA in baseball. Although he makes some mistakes with regard to the offense, it is hard to lay much of the blame on Geren. Take for instance, the other night the one of the post game talking heads scolds the A's for not bunting and playing “small ball.” The problem here is that when the A's bunt, they just move the runner 90 feet farther along to be stranded. The A's do not hit and this is well known.


The rebuke belongs to Billy Beane. It appears as though he has fallen in love with Eric Chavez, even though he is no longer part of the team. Chavez is a good hitter when in the order with a couple of great hitters like Jason Giambi and Miguel Tejada or Frank Thomas and Milton Bradley or with the Murders Row in New York. He is never going to be the guy to carry the lineup. Beane finds three new hitters for this year and so far they have not produced. It looks like they may have been productive hitters in other lineups but the sum of the parts is less than what they have been. Beane needs to find a really good hitter or two, or fans are condemned to watching a great pitching staff in frustration and a boring team hovering around five hundred.

Braden's Role

I have concern about Oakland Athletics' pitcher Dallas Braden since his perfect game on May 9. Since then he does not win a game and his performance is less than average. Over this period his earned run average is 4.75. This is only slightly worse than his lifetime ERA of 4.52. Yahoo Sports supplies Situational Statistics for pitchers and Braden's are eye opening. With the bases empty his ERA is 2.13, which is excellent. With runners on it soars to 6.89 and from here it gets worse. With Runners in Scoring Position (RISP) it is 9.87 and with RISP and two outs it is an abysmal 23.32. Yahoo also breaks down a pitcher's performance according to the number of pitches thrown. He starts out poorly with an 8.18 ERA for pitches one through fifteen. He settles down though pitch sixty and then starts yielding runs again. His ERA through sixty pitches is 3.57, which is OK, but not great.

I think Dallas Braden can be an effective pitcher for the A's, but Manager Bob Geren must understand the role he is able to fill. He has the makings of a fifth starter, not to be pitch more than five innings or so. He is occasionally brilliant, most notably his perfect game. Overall, he does not show enough for consideration as a top three stud. This is the story of his career so far, one great game and then mediocrity. It is up to Geren to adjust his thinking about Braden and his role as a starter for the Oakland Athletics.