I was so mad at the end of that game that I feel myself shaking a little bit.
Heath Holder threw 7+ innings in Missouri 5 days ago. He threw the 9th inning last night. He's never thrown on back to back days. Blake Cairnes hasn't thrown yet this weekend. Heath Holder gets the call. I hate it for Heath, I really do. It's not so much his fault, but you could tell even during his warmups that he just didn't have a lot. That's a VERY heavy workload for a guy.... And here we are on in a must win game on the second to last day of the season, and you're asking him to do something that he's never done before.... And the fact that you didn't get Cairnes ready until it was too late only magnifies that stupidity further. That's how Heath Holder ends his career at Foley Field (assuming they don't throw him again tomorrow, and I wouldn't put it past them). That's a shame, and he deserves better. What happened today wasn't Heath's fault in the slightest.
It's full spin mode out of there too. Pass the buck by telling everyone that Heath wanted the ball. He's a hyper competitive 22 year old. Of course he WANTS the ball. But Scott Stricklin needed to be an adult, justify his salary to some extent, and say "I'm not throwing you for a third time in five days, and on back to back, especially when I have another late inning option who should be ready to go." But no, that line of thinking would reveal a team first, player first mentality that we haven't seen since he was hired three long years ago. Notice Scott's comments after the game. "Heath wanted the ball" and "I got the thumbs up from the bullpen that Heath was throwing the ball well." Nah, it's not Scott's fault. Heath wanted the ball and someone else said Heath was ready. I didn't hear that post game radio show, but I understand that Scott also pointed to the fact that Skyler failed to tag from 2nd base on a ball to deep center. I'm assuming there was no mention of the stolen base we gave us on a throw back to the pitcher. I'm assuming there was no mention of not having Kevin Smith ready until the bases were loaded in the 6th. I'm assuming there was no mention of not having Cairnes ready until it was two batters too late. None of that. Heath wanted the ball, they told Scott Heath was ready, and Skyler didn't take 3rd on a ball (Patrick Sullivan also failed to tag in a similar situation, neither his nor Skyler's was a huge deal anyway, but I'm assuming Patrick's was conveniently omitted from the post game narrative).... It's not Scott's fault, folks.... and wait until you see next year's freshmen!
While we're on the topic of reckless usage of pitchers, how about throwing Kevin Smith for 3 innings on two days rest after he threw 3 innings Tuesday night? Scott said he was "laboring a little bit in the 8th inning." No fooling.... I wonder why. Here's a guy who has already missed time this year, you're practically begging for an arm injury with that kind of stuff....
12-18. That's the best we can do this year in the conference. Now, assuming we win tomorrow, we'll have to win three games in Hoover just to get over .500. Frankly I don't think that'll be enough either. I don't think they're going to put a 12-18 team in the field. Every player on this team has put so much time and effort into this season. The older guys, because of being at the end, take it harder I'm sure. I wonder if Scott can look Daniel Nichols, Heath Holder, or Mike Mancuso in the eye and say "I blew this one today. I cost you a regional today." Except I don't have to wonder. He'll just tell everyone else about next year's signing class.
Of the decision to go with Heath, Stricklin said he'd do it again. On the decision to go with Stricklin, I can't imagine McGarity would say the same.
Heath Holder threw 7+ innings in Missouri 5 days ago. He threw the 9th inning last night. He's never thrown on back to back days. Blake Cairnes hasn't thrown yet this weekend. Heath Holder gets the call. I hate it for Heath, I really do. It's not so much his fault, but you could tell even during his warmups that he just didn't have a lot. That's a VERY heavy workload for a guy.... And here we are on in a must win game on the second to last day of the season, and you're asking him to do something that he's never done before.... And the fact that you didn't get Cairnes ready until it was too late only magnifies that stupidity further. That's how Heath Holder ends his career at Foley Field (assuming they don't throw him again tomorrow, and I wouldn't put it past them). That's a shame, and he deserves better. What happened today wasn't Heath's fault in the slightest.
It's full spin mode out of there too. Pass the buck by telling everyone that Heath wanted the ball. He's a hyper competitive 22 year old. Of course he WANTS the ball. But Scott Stricklin needed to be an adult, justify his salary to some extent, and say "I'm not throwing you for a third time in five days, and on back to back, especially when I have another late inning option who should be ready to go." But no, that line of thinking would reveal a team first, player first mentality that we haven't seen since he was hired three long years ago. Notice Scott's comments after the game. "Heath wanted the ball" and "I got the thumbs up from the bullpen that Heath was throwing the ball well." Nah, it's not Scott's fault. Heath wanted the ball and someone else said Heath was ready. I didn't hear that post game radio show, but I understand that Scott also pointed to the fact that Skyler failed to tag from 2nd base on a ball to deep center. I'm assuming there was no mention of the stolen base we gave us on a throw back to the pitcher. I'm assuming there was no mention of not having Kevin Smith ready until the bases were loaded in the 6th. I'm assuming there was no mention of not having Cairnes ready until it was two batters too late. None of that. Heath wanted the ball, they told Scott Heath was ready, and Skyler didn't take 3rd on a ball (Patrick Sullivan also failed to tag in a similar situation, neither his nor Skyler's was a huge deal anyway, but I'm assuming Patrick's was conveniently omitted from the post game narrative).... It's not Scott's fault, folks.... and wait until you see next year's freshmen!
While we're on the topic of reckless usage of pitchers, how about throwing Kevin Smith for 3 innings on two days rest after he threw 3 innings Tuesday night? Scott said he was "laboring a little bit in the 8th inning." No fooling.... I wonder why. Here's a guy who has already missed time this year, you're practically begging for an arm injury with that kind of stuff....
12-18. That's the best we can do this year in the conference. Now, assuming we win tomorrow, we'll have to win three games in Hoover just to get over .500. Frankly I don't think that'll be enough either. I don't think they're going to put a 12-18 team in the field. Every player on this team has put so much time and effort into this season. The older guys, because of being at the end, take it harder I'm sure. I wonder if Scott can look Daniel Nichols, Heath Holder, or Mike Mancuso in the eye and say "I blew this one today. I cost you a regional today." Except I don't have to wonder. He'll just tell everyone else about next year's signing class.
Of the decision to go with Heath, Stricklin said he'd do it again. On the decision to go with Stricklin, I can't imagine McGarity would say the same.
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