Seeing the forest for the trees
In the top of the 8th, against Giants closer, righty Tyler Walker, Macha declined to put the runners on first and second in motion. This inaction prevented Alfonzo from covering bag, which would have created a hole for Kendall to pull the ball through. Either Alfonzo decides to stay in the hole or he decides to cover the bag in case of a throw; as Walker is right-handed, a throw-out at third is a possibility.
Of course, Kendall pulls the ball towards Alfonzo who was playing to cover the hole, not for a possible tag-play if the runner at second decided to break. However, he was close enough to the bag where he could force-out the runner coming to third but could not get Kendall at first.
In this situation, the threat of a stolen base is just as good as the act itself; had the A's started the runners earlier in the AB, there may have been more focus from the pitcher on the batter and the defense on the runners. Doing this would cause the pitcher to be around the plate for a possible strike-out/throw out play.
There was also Macha's mismanagement of the bench; Felipe Alou had Matt Herges and Jason Christianson warming up to start the top of 7th, but once Christianson came in, Eyre started to warm-up in the bullpen. In the top of the 8th, Rincon's spot came up and as Alou went to Herges, Macha decided to go with Watson even though he had requested that the A's replace the Dl'ed Dotel's roster spot with the lefty-hitting Clark for reasons of "flexibility".
At this point, Alou went with Eyre and Macha countered with Scutaro. The problem here is that right after Herges was brought into the game, Alou had Walker, get up in case he was needed as early as the 8th. And with Kotsay due up next, Alou was not going to remove Eyre for Walker. So now when Byrnes comes up to bat, who is hitting .189/.277/.324 off right-handers, Alou goes with Walker. At this point, had Macha planned according to Alou's avaliable pitchers, he would have realized that in the 8th, Byrnes was going to get an AB which was the correct moment for Watson to hit.
Of course, Kendall pulls the ball towards Alfonzo who was playing to cover the hole, not for a possible tag-play if the runner at second decided to break. However, he was close enough to the bag where he could force-out the runner coming to third but could not get Kendall at first.
In this situation, the threat of a stolen base is just as good as the act itself; had the A's started the runners earlier in the AB, there may have been more focus from the pitcher on the batter and the defense on the runners. Doing this would cause the pitcher to be around the plate for a possible strike-out/throw out play.
There was also Macha's mismanagement of the bench; Felipe Alou had Matt Herges and Jason Christianson warming up to start the top of 7th, but once Christianson came in, Eyre started to warm-up in the bullpen. In the top of the 8th, Rincon's spot came up and as Alou went to Herges, Macha decided to go with Watson even though he had requested that the A's replace the Dl'ed Dotel's roster spot with the lefty-hitting Clark for reasons of "flexibility".
At this point, Alou went with Eyre and Macha countered with Scutaro. The problem here is that right after Herges was brought into the game, Alou had Walker, get up in case he was needed as early as the 8th. And with Kotsay due up next, Alou was not going to remove Eyre for Walker. So now when Byrnes comes up to bat, who is hitting .189/.277/.324 off right-handers, Alou goes with Walker. At this point, had Macha planned according to Alou's avaliable pitchers, he would have realized that in the 8th, Byrnes was going to get an AB which was the correct moment for Watson to hit.
posted by Genaro at 9:15 PM
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