A pitching staff can either perform well or not, regardless of talent,
and part of that performance depends on how individual pitchers respond to
the way the manager uses them. A perfect example of this concept can be
illustrated with a look at former Royals reliever Rusty Meacham. I use Rusty
as my example because I had the opportunity to spend some time with him, and
while I can’t remember specific quotes, I can relay his sentiments on this
subject. Under Hal McRae’s management, Rusty was a very effective pitcher,
but under Bob Boone he couldn’t get anybody out, and eventually that led
to the end of his tenure in the Royals bullpen. I met him early in Boone’s
first season as manager, and one of the first things Rusty said to me was
that he wished Bob would use him the way McRae had done. He didn’t really
go too deeply into specifics, but he did say on several occasions that he
was uncomfortable with the way Boone handled the staff. A lot of it came
down to management style, an area where the two managers in question were
galaxies apart philosophically. Boone, as we all now know, was a
micromanager on a par with Bill Clinton…he had to be in control of every
aspect of the game, even calling individual pitches from the dugout. There
were several players, Meacham among them, who had performed very well under
McRae’s "overview" approach to pitching, who were never able to
settle into a comfortable rhythm with Boone.
Now, to attempt to lay all the blame for the poor pitching the past few
years at the feet of manager Tony Muser would be unfair…there have been
some extenuating circumstances, to say the least. However, I do have to say
that I sometimes wonder how he rationalizes some of the things he does.
Sometimes he pulls pitchers too soon, or at least that how it seems when he
takes out a starter who’s been cruising just because his pitch count gets
up around 100 or so. Yes, I understand that nobody wants to risk having
another career cut short by having him pitch way too many innings, ala Steve
Busby. But why set the limit at 100…why not 125? Or 120? Pitching staffs
today have extra rest built in that they didn’t have in the early 70’s…it’s
called a five man rotation, which was introduced as I recall by the Mets in
the late 60’s to give Mr. Seaver, et al an extra day’s rest in between
starts so they could throw more complete games, thereby taking pressure off
of a bullpen that wasn’t nearly as strong as the starting staff. If your
starters never make it past the sixth inning, and you have five of your
roster spots taken up by those starters, then you need to have enough
quality arms in the pen to handle the other 20 innings that the starters don’t
get to. Have a game like the Royals had tonight, where starter Blake Stein
got beat up for eight runs in the first two innings, and your bullpen will
be worn out all year long.
Obviously, the weakness on the Royals pitching staff a year ago was in
the bullpen. While I seriously doubt that the poor performance can honestly
be blamed on former bullpen coach Tom Burgmeier, he was replaced during the
off-season by Tom Gamboa, and the Royals are hoping that this change, along
with the addition of Roberto Hernandez, Doug Henry, and Jason Grimsley, will
mean a major improvement from the relief corps over the performances from
the previous two seasons.
All that having been said, when it comes down to it all any of the
coaches can do is get the players on the field…they can’t pitch, field,
hit, or run for them…a fact that I think sometimes gets forgotten. And if
we get a few breaks our way for a change this season, the pitching should
prove to be vastly improved over 2000. The starters…Suppan, Stein,
Meadows, Reichert, Suzuki, and yes, I’m going to include Rosado here if
for no other reason than that I hope he recovers and actually gets to pitch
again this season…are a year wiser, but still quite young. In some ways
they remind me of another young pitching staff that once graced the
clubhouse at the Royals Stadium…Saberhagen, Gubicza, Jackson, Leibrandt,
and Black. No, I don’t see a dominant pitcher like Bret Saberhagen in this
group, but I do see a collection of very talented young hurlers that look to
be ready to win some games for the boys in blue.
The bullpen is a study in extremes. On the one hand you have the veterans…Hernandez,
Henry, and Grimsley…all of whom have shown over the years that they can
get the job done. And on the other, we have youth…Tony Cogan, whose
appearance in Yankee Stadium was his fist major league game, and in fact his
first anywhere above class A ball, Kris Wilson, also a rookie with very
minimal experience, and Jose Santiago, whose been on the scene for the
Royals for a few years now, although he’s spent a great deal more time on
the disabled list than in a Royals uniform. It will be interesting to see if
Hernandez will be able to do as he had said he would like to do…that is,
to help the young kids learn how to do it right. Here’s hoping he’s a
good teacher.
As things unfold over the next few weeks, I’m sure we’ll have plenty
of opportunities to bad mouth the pitching staff, as well as…hopefully…chances
to sing their praises. Until next time, I’ll see ya at the "K".
Bill Heeter