I totally question the managing of the last few games, strange for Tito to seem confused.

civ ollilavad wrote:Me thinks Tito would be better served if he didn't give cute names to his players. How about "Get Perez up"?

Thought the exact same thing, Civ.

but he wasn't the guy who walked out of the bullpen-- does the mandatory "face one batter" requirement start with the wave to the pen, or the release of the first pitch? If the latter, why didn't Francona send Otero back where he came from?

It wasn't Tito's decision making that was important. It was Allen's shitty pitching.

that was a factor!

Obviously if he had been worth a damn it all wouldn't have mattered.

That said, to me he is showing the strain of being asked to pitch in half a bullpen. This sends ANOTHER message to the front office to get on with bring that bullpen some help!

It's supposed to start when he
takes the mound and starts
his warmups.

So Tito could have told him to go back to the bullpen and send OP in his place. Why didn't he?

It's Cody's fault mostly, Otero's of course, but he's not been awful nearly all season. Can't blame Bauer for anything yesterday but if he could have had an easy 7th inning, he would have been able to return for the 9th.

Cody's ERA is now 4.66, and a startling 6.18 over his last 30 games. He's been a remarkably consistent 2.50-2.99 over the past 3 seasons and in the lower half of the 2.00's the previous two.
Amazingly, his WHIP and Avg. against are almost exactly on his career marks. K ratio is down just a little. He's allowed Zero stolen bases; he's thrown only one wild pitch. Everything looks just about as good as normal, except the runs column

Allen is costing himself big bucks. Don't think the Indians will be bending over backwards to keep him from walking.

Jose with a homer in 1st inning again today!

Just to backtrack to last nights conversation for a moment ... I have said for a long time, do not use Allen in multi inning or non save situations. He does far worse.

This year, 2018
In save situations he strikes out 5.4 batters to every one he walks. In non save situations that drops to 1.8.
Batting average against is .149 to .269 in save versus non save situations.
Opponents OBP .208 to .388
Slugging pct. .299 to .433

Last year, 2017, .... His ERA in save situations was 2.19 ... in non save situations it was 3.86 ... his strike out to walk percentage dropped 2 full points.

In 2016 his ERA in the 9th inning was 2.13. ... In 8th inning it was 3.18. ... In extra innings it was 4.91

Cody Allen seems to be a creature of habit, and when he gets out of his routine he suffers, and team suffers.

I said weeks ago the team should not wait till deadline to address the pen. My fear at the time was effective relievers would be over-used, and starting pitchers would be worked harder.

We have seen both.

Pitching staff is a mess right now. Hopefully we can add a couple guys and everyone can get back comfortable in their roles before the playoffs. And the starters arms won't be dead. (Cookie's injury may have been a blessing in this regard)

Holy cow, a 9 run 3rd inning! Capped off by Jose's 2nd homer of the night, this one a 3 run shot!

11-0 ... I think we may be bullpen proof now.