The Oakland Aโs are 23-26, losers of 6 of their last 7 and in last place in the AL West. On top of all of that, there is turmoil in the bullpen. Recent comments by closer (at least while Andrew Bailey is hurt) Brian Fuentes stronglyย criticizedย Manager Bob Geren for hisย handlingย of theย reliefย corps.
Fuentes complained about being brought into a game in the 8th inning and beingย summonedย for an extra inningย appearanceย in a tie game on the road.
Its very possible that Fuentesโ comments stem from frustration about his 1-7 record (including 4 losses in his last 4 appearances) and an overly strong commitment to the title of โcloser.โ Geren, from his own statements, believes in a more bullpen byย committeeย approach and, whether you agree or disagree with that, it isย certainlyย a validย theory.
However, perhaps Fuentes is on to something. In his 4 plus years managing, all with the Aโs, Geren is 330 and 366. His highest single season winning percentage is last yearโs .500 mark. Perhaps hisย handlingย of his bullpen has something to do with it. (Hint: it doesnโt)
A good and simple way to look at the effectiveness of Gerenโs style of bullpen management is to look at the ERA of his relievers. Oakland has had one of the best starting staffs in the majors over the last couple of years so it alsoย interestingย to see how the ERA of the โpen compares to the starters. Lets start with 2007, Gerenโs first year with the club. That year, the club ranked 9th in starterโs ERA with a 4.29 but 21st in relieverโs ERA.
They won only 76 games. 2008 was much better in earned run average, though not in record. Brad Ziegler and Huston Street were good as usual and lefty Jeremy Blevins posted a 3.11 earned run average helping the Aโs bullpen to a 3.50 ERA, good for fourth in the pros. In 2009, Oakland was 3rd in the MLB with a 3.54 bullpen ERA but only 22nd in starterโs ERA. 2010, the year with the best record, saw the Aโs have the number 1 ERA by the starting rotation and a โpen ERA of only 3.83.
It makes sense that over the last 4 years, many of the teams at the top of the bullpen ERA list are also playoffย contendersย and World Series champs. Though Gerenโs clubs havenโt had great success, the stats show that it doesnโt seem to be the fault of his bullpen.
Perhaps Fuentes has someย legitimateย gripes with Geren, it can be frustrating when communication between players and coaches is not free and easy, but maybe Brian needs to see whereย hisย manager is coming from. He hasย proclaimedย his affinity for using any pitcher in anyย situationย and his normal closer is on the DL. Perhaps itโs not soย ridiculousย that Geren isnโt wedded to Fuentes, who himself has an ERA over 5, in 9th inning high pressure situations. It seems possible that, at least when it comes to managing a pitching staff, Bob Geren knows what heโs doing. Now if only he had some offenseโฆโฆ.
-Max Frankel
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