Quote:
Originally Posted by BigRedChief
Why was Flaherty pulled? And, I thought Shildt knew better than Meathead to pay attention to stats. Lefty on Lefty is not the solution with every player. The Pitt batter was hitting .323 against left handed pitchers.
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Because he's 22 and his stuff was clearly backing up a bit. He was still getting outs and maybe still the best guy to have throw that last inning - but why? He's not pitched that deep in a long time and can go to the showers knowing he's done his job.
You have the lead and a new-look bullpen that you're trying to build confidence in. Set the kid down and ask the 8 guys in your bullpen to get a whopping 9 outs. It wasn't because of the lefty/lefty thing. That's why Shreve came in but it's not why Flaherty went out.
I completely agree with how he handled that. I also like starting with Shreve and getting straight to Mayers after the HR. I would've gone Webb rather than Hicks to Dickerson because Dickerson's made some swing changes that could make him especially tough on Hicks, but Hicks made a fantastic pitch to get out of that inning.
I have no problem at all with how Shildt handled that inning.