Prospect Insider - Eric Wedge

Eric Wedge

By Jason A. Churchill

By 09-08-2011

It's difficult to judge the talents of a field manager in the game of baseball. There is far too much that goes on in the clubhouse and between games that cannot be quantified to grade a skipper fairly. Having said that, we've seen good and bad this year from Eric Wedge.

Wednesday night was a good example of one of the above.

Newly-acquired left-hander Charlie Furbush, R-rated delivery and all, spun a 7-inning gem versus the red-hot Los Angeles Angels, yielding three hits and needing just 86 pitches to cling to a 1-0 lead as the bottom of the eighth inning began.

Despite Furbush's lack of a big league track record as a starter, 86 pitches was an acceptable number to surpass in general terms. And sending him out there for the start of the inning wasn't the mistake made by Wedge. Keeping him in there once there was mass evidence that Furbush was tiring was not a mistake a good manager makes.

Furbush had lost 2-3 mph off his fastball, wasn't throwing strikes and had the top of the order to deal with after getting Mike Trout to fly out.

After Aybar singled, that should have been it. Furbush was at 91 pitches at that point -- and not only did he face pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo and walk him on four pitches, but he was also allowed to face Maicer Izturis.

There are arguments coming in from the side of player development, but that fight holds not water in a 1-0 game, despite the team being out of contention. Testing the mettle of a young pitcher is one thing. Doing it in a situation where there is no margin for error and when the pitcher is clearly tired is another.

Wedge's contention is that he didn't want to bring in a righty and let Izturis turn around and bat lefty, but that holds no water, either, since the numbers suggest he's basically the same hitter over the course of his career from both sides, and he's been much, much better as a righty this season.

Wedge has a track record of such decisions, though, including one that sticks out to me from July 23 in Boston. The M's had just scored to take a 1-0 lead and right-hander Blake Beavan had pitched a solid game. He was coming off a career-high 104 pitches versus Texas the start before and was clearly at the end of his rope -- again approaching 100 pitches -- with the left-handed hitting Jacoby Ellsbury stepping to the plate.

Beavan gave up a single to Ellsbury with runners on second and third -- both scored -- and that was the game, very similar to Wednesday night's debacle.

I understand the thought of giving starters a chance to pitch out of jams late in games, especially when the season is not on the line in Seattle and it's a young pitcher. We're not talking about the 5th inning here, though. These were late-game situations where the pitcher had shown fatigue and the batter-pitcher situations were anything but favorable.

The wrong decision was made on both occasions and it cost the Mariners two wins. Wedge, however, has done a fine job at the helm of a rebuilding team that is infusing young players into the roster left and right.

He's shown patience with the young players, understanding that a start here and there doesn't work, but also recognizing that a day or two off with the right approach can help those young players.

This is what the Seattle Mariners have needed the past two years and will again, though to much lesser extent, in 2012. Bob Melvin wanted veterans. Don Wakamatsu wanted them, too, but couldn't handle them, and didn't have any idea how to work with young talents.

Maybe Wedge is not the manager to lead the M's to the World Series, but maybe he is, too. He believes in a certain way of playing the game, and we have not heard once all season that he'd lost the clubhouse and there have been exactly zero clubhouse blowups, even during the 17-game losing streak.

Wedge is in charge and clearly makes enough of an impact on the team to keep things in order, which is why the club is happy with him going forward.

He led the Indians, a young Indians team, to the playoffs a few years back and despite the decisions to leave starters in a little long or bringing in a reliever that appeared on the surface to be the wrong fit for that scenario, has done a pretty solid job this season. He's learning about the players and finding out which are ballers and which are not.

It's nice to get through a season without an off-the-field problem disrupting the process, and Wedge has to get a lot of credit for that.

eric-wedge

Comments
The following 8 comment(s) for this article are shown below:

1. By: Marlin Man on 09-08-2011 19:50:47
I was watching and wondering what the hell Wedge was doing leaving the kid in there- not with hindsight-- was wondering at the first pitch of the iniing when he looked so obviously worn out!

Frankly, Wedge does not impress me at all- but am sure we are stuck with him for at least another year- but I sure hope he is gone after the enxt season and they can bring someone in that can handle young players- and maybe even Lead the way- what a thought eh-- a leader???

M.M.

2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 09-08-2011 20:03:37
All managers have ways that fans and analysts will not like. Wedge has his. Girardi has his. Francona even has his and he might be the best manager in baseball.

Wedge had a reputation of not being good with young players, but we aren't seeing that problem here. And he's clearly got leadership qualities because those players down there are in line.

3. By: mymrbig on 09-09-2011 01:18:56
I just wish Adam Kennedy wouldn't DH any more. Is that too much to ask? Glad we traded Jack Wilson or he'd probably be getting some at-bats at DH as well.

4. By: Edman on 09-09-2011 12:25:23
If we consider that Lou was the greatest Mariner managef, I saw many posts complaining about his decisions.

I love Mike Hargrove's comment about managing (paraphrasing):

"Managing is like a BBQ where people come to eat your steak, and everyone tells you how to cook it better."

5. By: maqman on 09-09-2011 13:46:25
Good quote Edman. I like Wedgie and I didn't take to him right off and I agree he's made some questionable calls, hell we all do. The man is not the only perfect one on the planet. I think he fits this team and will for some while yet. I have faith in him and Z to do the right thing more often than not. I like that feeling.

6. By: Lailoken on 09-09-2011 23:14:30
Wedge's propensity for being okay with hitters being agressive early in the count is what bothers me most. This team has exacerbated its hitting problems with advocating faulty approaches. Figgins hacking away at bad pitches was allowed for far too long. Ditto numerous others. When Olivo swings at multiple pitches in the dirt sometimes he should get a nice seat at the end of the bench to refocus.

7. By: roostercypher on 09-10-2011 11:50:34
When Wedge talks about being aggressive at the plate he's looking for the batters to attack hittable pitches. It's about seeing the pitch you can handle and crushing it; not waiting for a better one. Walks and singles will only go so far. I guarantee you he is fine with patience at the plate but not at the expense of having your bat on your shoulder watching pitches that major league hitters should handle. The upside of attacking hittable pitches is worth the risk of swinging the bat. You just can't be up there looking to walk your way into runs. It doesn't work.

8. By: Timberwolf on 09-10-2011 18:06:22
There are two separate and distinct parts of being a big league manager. One is the function of being a leader of men and the other is engaging in the game of wits on the Emerald chessboard with the opposing manager.

Wedge has proven himself to be a great leader of men, but I find him highly deficient at game strategy. His unwillingness to use pinch runners and pinch hitters at critical points late in a game is exasperating. His mistakes in determining when to pull pitchers is obvious, but I don't know that he is worse than slightly below average among big league managers at that.

The disappointing thing to me, coming off his experience in Cleveland, is that he didn't choose to hire a gray haired ex-manager as his bench coach to assist with strategy, instead of Robbie Thompson, a perfectly good third base coach who doesn't appear to give any added value as a game strategist.

I thought Wakamatsu was a better strategist, but he was obviously a poor leader of men.

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