Thoughts on Mike Matheny

[kfm]

Let's pretend like Matheny is our manager today. What did you all think of him resting 3 starters when they have a day off tomorrow? Bringing in a lefty to face votto in the ninth, Intentionally walking Ludwick in the ninth because he hits righty and then bringing in a righty to face Heisey who hits right handers better than lefties. I Would hate to see what this board would look like today if Dusty made these moves today and the reds lost. I think there are better fits for this team than dusty and am looking forward to getting a new manager but I think he did a very good job today working the bullpen. I know we always focus on the reds manager, but I am curious to hear what people thought of the job Matheny did today. I thought he was awful and aided the reds victory with a number of bad moves.

[bigredmechanism]

Unless there is some crazy double switching or tons of bullpen calls, it's hard for me to ever say a manager 'did good.' Usually it's either 'they screwed up' or 'did okay.'

I didn't notice much about Matheny other than he is way younger than TLR.

[kfm]

How do you rest freese, berkman and Beltran in one game when you are going for a sweep on the road against a rival. That would be like dusty resting votto, Bruce and Phillips when going for a sweep in st Louis. Seems bizarre to me.

[Ironman92]

Originally Posted by kfm

How do you rest freese, berkman and Beltran in one game when you are going for a sweep on the road against a rival. That would be like dusty resting votto, Bruce and Phillips when going for a sweep in st Louis. Seems bizarre to me.

Yeah....sitting all 3 is awful.....I'd be pissed as a Cards fan, but since I love the Reds and hate the Cards....thanks Mike.

[joshua]

I don't think there would be much calling for his head if we were on top of the division heading into a road trip at 5-2 instead of being in fourth place and a half game back from the Astros

[kfm]

Originally Posted by joshua

I don't think there would be much calling for his head if we were on top of the division heading into a road trip at 5-2 instead of being in fourth place and a half game back from the Astros

The year the reds won the division there was a ton of Dusty bashing on this board. What did you think of Matheny today? I dont care what place my team is in, he was horrible today. This race could come down to one game, and this could be the game. After all in 2010 the reds faced the cardinals in the first week of the season in gabp, lost the first two and won the final game on a walk off hit by the left fielder. Just sayin

[markymark69]

He didn't complain about the mud they rub on baseballs or cry foul when Cueto hit Furcal in the back one at-bat following his triple, that to me is a positive - perhaps the Cardinals won't be as whiny this year - even though Lance Berkman didn't get the memo - as he was mouthing at the ump on a strike call late in the game.

As far as his strategy I don't care - the Reds won and at the end of the day that's all that counts.

[joshua]

Originally Posted by kfm

The year the reds won the division there was a ton of Dusty bashing on this board. What did you think of Matheny today? I dont care what place my team is in, he was horrible today. This race could come down to one game, and this could be the game. After all in 2010 the reds faced the cardinals in the first week of the season in gabp, lost the first two and won the final game on a walk off hit by the left fielder. Just sayin

The difference is Matheny is a rookie manager, Dusty is not. Matheny automatically gets more leniency because of that and it's understandable that he's going to make mistake his first year as a manager...and he's 5-2 right now. The Cardinals look much more prepared to play baseball, on the mound and at the plate than the Reds do right now.

[Magdal]

I smelled a rat, so to speak, when MM played not 3, but 4 rookies in the rubber game vs. the Brews. It is rare for a manager to have 4 players zoned in at the same time.....Furcal, Beltran, Freese and Molina are crazy hot. You don't sit a player when he's on fire.

The IBB to Luddy had to be horrifying to Card fans...when he is in one of his funks (as he is now) he is an easier out than the pitcher. MM's gaffs where discussed plenty in the GDT, so I won't rehash them any further.

My take is this: Matheney is copying some of LaRussa's most flawed practices. Since TLR invented baseball, these flaws were largely ignored. MM's will not be. He will be ran out of town if he continues this style of managing.

[jhu1321]

Agreed, I thought he had lost his mind when he intentionally walked Ludwick in the ninth. I was at the game and everybody in our section was looking around at each other in amazement. Ludwick looked terrible in his previous AB's.

[swaisuc]

Originally Posted by Magdal

I smelled a rat, so to speak, when MM played not 3, but 4 rookies in the rubber game vs. the Brews. It is rare for a manager to have 4 players zoned in at the same time.....Furcal, Beltran, Freese and Molina are crazy hot. You don't sit a player when he's on fire.

The IBB to Luddy had to be horrifying to Card fans...when he is in one of his funks (as he is now) he is an easier out than the pitcher. MM's gaffs where discussed plenty in the GDT, so I won't rehash them any further.

My take is this: Matheney is copying some of LaRussa's most flawed practices. Since TLR invented baseball, these flaws were largely ignored. MM's will not be. He will be ran out of town if he continues this style of managing.

I don't think it was a mistake to walk Ludwick. RL would have been bunting there and I think he knew Bruce couldn't (or wouldn't even try) get a bunt down.

[Ironman92]

Originally Posted by Magdal

Yup...to tell you the truth, Rolen and Ludwick are both worthless right now in the clutch, but Baker must be the only person in Ohio that can't see that.

Bruce should be batting 4th, PERIOD. Stop the madness!

Dusty might be the slowest ever to adjust to things like this.

[10xWSChamps]

Lol the responses here are quite funny.

The Cardinals are 5-2, all of those game on the road no less against good teams (Marlins, Brewers, Reds) and our homer opener isn't until tomorrow! We had played 6 days in a row there (7 in 8 days)

We need to give Beltran some time off so his knee doesn't act up. Berkman isn't really an injury concern beyond the fact that he is just getting old which requires it's own extra days off and Freese has had bad luck with stupid injuries himself.

So the Cardinals go 5-1 on the road and Matheny decides to get them two days off before the home opener because obviously they are going to have the A squad on opening day and probably want to play it for that whole series since it's against the Cubs, we have the TOR coming up, and a good chance of sweeping them.

I'm shocked that no one here could see the logic in this.

[Who Dey Time]

Originally Posted by 10xWSChamps

Lol the responses here are quite funny.

The Cardinals are 5-2, all of those game on the road no less against good teams (Marlins, Brewers, Reds) and our homer opener isn't until tomorrow! We had played 6 days in a row there (7 in 8 days)

We need to give Beltran some time off so his knee doesn't act up. Berkman isn't really an injury concern beyond the fact that he is just getting old which requires it's own extra days off and Freese has had bad luck with stupid injuries himself.

So the Cardinals go 5-1 on the road and Matheny decides to get them two days off before the home opener because obviously they are going to have the A squad on opening day and probably want to play it for that whole series since it's against the Cubs, we have the TOR coming up, and a good chance of sweeping them.

I'm shocked that no one here could see the logic in this.

Illogical nitpicking and total over-analysis over managerial moves is a common thing here. You'll get used to it then ignore it like the rest of us.

[kfm]

Originally Posted by Who Dey Time

Illogical nitpicking and total over-analysis over managerial moves is a common thing here. You'll get used to it then ignore it like the rest of us.

I agree with your premise, but that does not mean that every criticism of managerial moves is illogical. Let's put aside for one moment resting your 2,4 and 5 hitters on the same day when you have an off day the next day and an off day on Monday and are going for a sweep against one of your divisional rivals.In the ninth inning, how do you walk Ludwick who is hitting below .100 to get to Bruce. It seemed he walked him because of the left right matchup. Ludwick hits rhp better than lhp. Then he did the exact same thing with Heisey. He took out a lhp to bring in a rhp despite the fact Heisey is far worse against lhp. Marty even said during the broadcast right when they made the pitching change "maybe Matheny didn't get the memo that Heisey hits righties better than lefties." Lance mccalister tweeted heisey's career splits after the pitching move, so it's not just a few fans on this board nitpicking. Matheny may be a very good manager, but on this day his decisions simply ignored the stats that he had to have in front of him. Please explain what exactly is illogical about this criticism.