Why it was Walker
My eyes didn't deceive me. They weren't playing tricks. That really was Jim Miller warming up in the eighth inning, and then suddenly becoming Jamie Walker.
Miller was supposed to enter the game, but he felt a muscle grab under his right arm - near the pit, as he explained to me later - while throwing a slider. He no longer was available, so Walker had to get ready in a hurry.
"Walker wasn't the guy that was going to come into the game," manager Dave Trembley said. "Miller was loose and was ready to come into the game, and he threw one more pitch and felt something in his side in the bullpen, so we had to get Walker going."
Miller will be checked by a doctor at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
"They shut me down and we came in and did all the shoulder tests," Miller said. "The shoulder itself feels fine, so we're hoping it's just a muscle."
Walker wasn't blaming the injury on his own problems.
"I told A.D. (bullpen coach Alan Dunn) I was ready and I was ready. That's just somebody looking for an excuse there," he said. "I just didn't get the ball down. I sucked tonight."
Walker didn't retire any of the four batters he faced. Walking Gabe Gross after allowing an infield hit to Rocco Baldelli might have been his biggest sin.
"Alfredo (Simon) pitched his (butt) off, guys battled," Walker said. "I don't mind getting hit. I'm more (upset) that I walked a guy on four straight. That's horse (crap). Walking guys is horse (crap) anyway. I'm a guy, I try to hit bats, and for me to do that, it's unacceptable. I've got to live with that. That's baseball. I've got to forget about it when I walk out that door, but that's a game we should have won. It's a hard one to swallow right now."
This has been his line all season...I'm pretty sure we could check some of your previous blog entries, and find that Walker has said the exact same things on several occasions...it's kind of getting old.
Roch--Wasn't Randor an option? It's too easy to jump on Jamie Walker. God knows, I've been pulling for him to turn things around. But it has been clear to all of us since early in the season that he is no longer the same Jamie Walker.
Why put him and the team in this position? Why blow an outstanding effort by Alfredo Simon, a guy deserving of the win in his debut?
Jamie laments that he allowed the walk and that that led to bad things. But his phrase "I try to hit bats" which we all know means the pitcher has good control and trusts in his defense...well, Jamie has been hitting bats all season and those balls, like the ones tonight, have been jumping out for base hits, many of them long balls.
When Jamie Walker had a different arm, he would get batters in the hole and get them to chase for strike 3. It's been clear for a long while now, that Jamie can no longer be expected to get anyone out.
This was an awful loss tonight. The guys played hard, dug in around the bases. Something grabbed Jim Miller near his pit while warming up. That did not mean that Trembley had to bring in Walker.
Didn't we want to win the game?
I have a new nickname for Trembley,"THe Squanderer".And so after Miller got hurt explain to me why Jamie Walker who has been horrible all year was brought in,and then allowed to face 6 batters?The man sucks at handling a bullpen.Period.And he has all year.When I saw Walker enter the game,I said we are going to lose this game.It's almost that predictable.He sucks and I wish I didn't care anymore but to see a guy pitch his butt off in his major league debut and have it ruined by "The Squanderer" makes me sick.Cuz I'm the Squanderer,I'm the Squanderer,I give away game after game after game!If we ever see a winning team again it won't be with Trembley as manager I gaurantee you that.
Walker is a stand-up guy. But he should have never been brought in to the game. I don't care what happened to Jim Miller. Trembley should have brought in Mickolio. Or Cormier (even if he had just pitched the game before.) Or Cherry.
But not Walker with the game on the line. NEVER Walker with the game on the line.
Sorry Walker sucked so bad tonight it just seemed like 6 batters.My bad,and I can't even stand to hear Trembleys lame excuses.Put Millar,Castro,Payton,Walker,Cabrera,and Cintron in the same car.And I still don't understand the Bradford move.Did you see his ERA in Tampa Bay?He would be our second best pitcher in the bullpen right now.Sherill couldn't get a 4 out save?
Great stuff Roch! Yea, Jamie Walker sucked tonight, no doubt about it, but I love the guy. Sorry it hasn't worked out for him this year. If we all could be so up front and own up to our less than stellar performances.
Dave Trembley "...we had to get Walker going."
No you didn't, Dave, you didn't have to bring him in. It was a bad move. Just admit it, you messed up, you cost the team a victory. (See my comments in the previous post on the absurdity of using Walker at all in that situation.)
BTW, kudos for Jamie for being a standup guy and visiting with the press after an incredibly tough outing. I'm a Walker fan through thick and thin.
"i'm a guy, i try to hit bats"
really? no kidding. i think we now know the answer to the garbage/injured theories everyone had.
if he's trying to hit bats, i'd say he's done an MVP performance. His success rate is astronomical. ridiculous.
it' not that i disagree with his comment. his stuff isn't good at all and it's not tough to judge an 82 mph fastball two inches off the black.
but still, it sounds ridiculous to me. i'd argue he's been the absolute worst reliever in the entire majors this season. he's the brandon fahey of pitchers. there i said it.
What manager today does not have both a right-hander and left-hander warming in the the pen in the eighth inning? Just in case the opposing manager should, God forbid, pinch hit. Did Mickolio get up immediately when it was determined that Miller couldn't go? Maybe that's why Walker was allowed to face four batters. It's obvious that this is something that DT needs work on, anticipating all the possibilities in a late game situation. His management of the bullpen is horrible. He seems to regularly be a few batters behind. A slow-thinker.
Slow thinker, slow to change, stubbornness . . . . all qualities of a poor manager, whether it's on Wall Street or baseball.
The more I see him manage, the less convinced I am that he is the guy to get this team out of the bottom tier of the AL East.
Worst loss of the season... very discouraging. No doubt, Walker doesn't have the same stuff but he also seems to be victimized by some bad luck such as infield singles. I don't know if his career is over or not... some lefties seem to have nine lives. Doesn't he have two years left on his contract still? Who is accountable for that signing?
What an awful lose, even if the season is a lost one.
Half of this roster (the 25 man one) hopefully won't be here next year. That is a good thing. A few veterans like Peyton and Millar figure to be gone as well as both Cintron and Castro, assuming AM signs or trades for someone better. Please!!!!! And a number of the pitchers will be in Norfolk (Olson, Liz, Beird, Bass, Burres, maybe Miller) or gone (Cabrera, Castillo, Walker?). Hernandez will be moved (for a bag of baseballs), Roberts will be traded if he doesn't sign an extension and Scott and/or Sherrill could be moved in the off season for the right return.
The bad news is the thought that the replacements are not good, or not ready, and the whole season will as ugly as this Sept. got. But hard to imagine as the rotation can't fall apart like this one did in August. Or can it?
Wow, I've been around here for a while, but it never ceases to amaze me the number of arm chair quarterbacks you get after a string of losses! I'm out there at the games every night so believe me I absolutely understand the frustration and wanting to vent, but there needs to be a little perspective too, I think.
While I adore Jamie Walker on a personal level I admite to cringing when I see him come in to close ballgames anymore, but given last night's situation Trembley wasn't left with much of a choice. There is no "Go To" guy in the pen anymore. Johnson's done for the year, Sarfate's done for the year, Bradford is with Tampa now, we've had to overuse Cormier lately, etc. Aside from going to George (which, given his recent stint on the DL and the fact that winning this game doesn't mean squat for the O's season, wasn't likely to happen)ANYONE else in that bullpen is a crapshoot at best when it comes to getting guys out.
IMO, Trembley can't help the fact that he has virtually nothing left to hold on to a late inning lead with other than blind luck and a prayer. The starting pitching killed our bullpen long ago, not Dave Trembley... he's just the one left to pick through the carnage.
Yet again, Trembley jumps at the chance to remove his starter from the game prematurely. Was it not obvious that Simon still had good movement and good velocity with 2 outs in the 8th? Time after time, like a robot, Trembley removes pitchers before he has to and our terrible bullpen blows it.
Same with Olson last night. Six solid innings including a very easy 6th, and of course, Trembley yanks him.
Why should our starters show confidence when their own manager has no confidence in them whatsoever???
The Jim Miller excuse explains why Walker it doesn't explain staying with Walker to face 3 right handed batters and getting rocked--Walker's statement that he sucked tonight---he's sucked all year--get it right. I am starting to believe Trembley isn't the right man--he doesn't play to win--he plays to be loyal to certain players that he likes--Walker is a stand up guy but shouldn't ever pitch again.
Hopefully Walker goes the way of Jay Gibbons.
Roch
It seems that every time we Have a Quality start by our pitcher and they don't walk more than many or even any we lose...
Nice to see that Walker has the same limited vocabulary as Huff has...and that's not horse (crap)!