Worth noting: Disagree with Manuel's decisions, but don't ignore his options
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Worth noting: Disagree with Manuel's decisions, but don't ignore his options
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The situation: 0-0 game on the road, Carlos Ruiza on third base, one out
Due up: Pitcher, LHB/LF Juan Pierre
And after that:SHB/CF Shane Victorino, SHB/SS Jimmy Rollins, RHB/RF Hunter Pence, RHB/3B Ty Wigginton, LHB/1B Laynce Nix, RHB/C Carlos Ruiz, SHB/2B Freddy Galvis
On the bench: RHB Placido Polanco, RHB John Mayberry Jr., LHB Jim Thome, LHB Pete Orr, LHB Brian Schneider
On the mound: RHP Sergio Romo
Warming in the bullpen: LHP Javier Lopez, RHP Clay Hensley
Charlie Manuel's decision: Thome pinch-hits for pitcher
Bruce Bochy's counter: Lopez replaces Romo
That's the set-up. You are Charlie Manuel.
What do you do?
The near unanimous opinion amongst emailers and Twitterers is that you call Thome back to the dug-out and replace him with Placido Polanco. I am also of that opinion. Manuel is the king of running a guy out there until he finally has success. And while it drives a lot of people crazy, I usually agree with that strategy. So put Polanco out there and take your chances on the contact-hitter instead of the guy who struck out 30 times in 75 at-bats against lefties last season. It isn't like Thome was tearing it up this season: he was 1-for-10 with a walk and five strikeouts. Manuel justified the decision to leave him in by noting that Thome had put the ball into play in eight of 11 bats against Lopez. What he did not say was that Polanco had put the ball into play in seven of his seven career at-bats against Lopez.
Manuel told reporters last night that he thought about hitting John Mayberry Jr. instead of Thome, which to me should be almost as disconcerting as his leaving Thome in. Because it means he had some thought about leaving Juan Pierre in to face Lopez.
You essentially have two options there: replace Thome with Polanco, or leave Thome in to face Lopez.
You have to use Mayberry to pinch-hit for Pierre. You just do. Sure, you want Mayberry's arm, glove and range in left field in a tight game. But you also want his bat in there against a lefty, regardless of how bad he has struggled this season.
In that vein, let's get something straight: Pierre has excellent splits against left-handed pitching. But those splits are something of a mirage.
Consider this: last season 21 of his 49 hits against lefties were infield hits. Many of those were bunts. With two out and the go-ahead run on third, a bunt ain't gonna do you no good. With Carlos Ruiz on third, chances are an infield hit ain't gonna do you no good either.
Pierre isn't going to be bunting. And you don't need an infield hit. So the lefty splits don't help you so much.
Mayberry for Pierre is clearly the right call.
Which brings us back to Polanco/Thome with one out. If you are confident Polanco can score the run, then hitting him there is a no-brainer. Get the run, put your closer in for the bottom of the 11th, and move on to San Diego. Again, that's what my brain and my gut said to do at the time.
But let's make sure we don't lose sight of the devil on our way to burn the witch.
Because if Polanco does not score the run, which is a distinct possibility given his recent performance and the presence of the lead-footed Ruiz on third base, then you are left with a scoreless tie and the pitcher now due up fourth in the top of the 12th, assuming you double switched Ty Wigginton out of the game and put Polanco at third. Meaning that if the go-ahead run reaches base, you will be left with Orr or Schneider to pinch-hit and drive him in (Mayberry, Thome and Polanco are already used).
In hindsight, the game never got to the 12th, and Thome struck out, and Mayberry grounded out. So clearly the Phillies would have been better off taking their chances with Polanco.
But just because Manuel may have mis-calculated doesn't mean we can ignore the fact that he was working with an abacus instead of a TI-81. This was not a case of foresaking a good option in favor of a lesser one. This was less-than-ideal versus lesser-than-ideal, Bryzgalov versus Bobrovsky, Maroon 5 versus Train.
All of this is stuff we have written about since the early days of the offseason. The Phillies do not have a balanced bench. Their bench players are not versatile. The bench player whose tools you acquired for just the sort of situation that you faced in the top of the 11th was unavailable because he has been starting in left field. Charlie Manuel's list of options looks like it would have been subopenaed by the the House Unamerican Activities Committee: a bunch of lefties weak on defense.
Keep in mind you have a slow runner in Ruiz at third. So while Polanco is a better bet to put the ball into play, a groundout or shallow fly ball might not do you much good. It might also set up a play at the plate where your invaluable starting catcher is forced to sacrifice his body for the run. Or, worse, the out.
It also leaves you with one less pinch-hitter, since Thome would be burned without taking a plate appearance.
At the same time, we've spent the last couple of days detailing Polanco's struggles. He hasn't been driving the ball. With Ruiz on third, chances are you are going to need a ball to get out of the infield or reach medium-depth outfield to score the run.
And again, if Polanco and Mayberry do not score the runner, then you have the pitcher's spot due up fourth the next inning. Which means there is a good chance you have Pete Orr or Brian Schneider looking to drive in the go-ahead run.
Polanco may have been the right call given the circumstances. But you can't ignore the circumstances.
Buy Phillies tickets 
'you are charlie manuel. what do you do?' razor blade. wrists. ryne, ryne, it's nearly your time...— bubba church & granny hamner- Charlie Manuel in all his years as manager of Phils has shown one consistent "strategy" which is simply not to bother with strategy at all but just play whatever cards Amaro has dealt him and use whatever garbage Ruben left him on roster, in whatever roles Amaro has defined them (i.e. paid them) to be used, no matter how clearly erroneous it may be, so in numerous cases that means playing and losing with Eaton, Bell, Bruntlett, Baez, Herndon, Lidge, Francisco, Pedro Martinez, Gload, Bowker, and now Thome, Nix, Wigginton, Schneider, etc..you call it "managing" I'd call it malpractice— warbiscuit
- Cholly manual again rears his massive incompetence and LOSES a game for the Phils and I don't mean literally "lose" because he can't pitch or hit......but he is responsible for putting the right player out there at the right time but did he? NO! He used Tome in a critical situation with Ruiz on second and one out and then stuck with him when Bochy brought in a lefty because Tome is Cholly's buddy! He left Wiggington at third base knowing that defense was now the priority in late innings, inexcusable! How long can Phillies fans tolerate the astounding ineptitude of Cholly Manuel? These examples from last night perfectly support the case I have presented for three years now, that Manuel is one of the most incompetent field managers in Major league baseball and that he has erroneously been credited with the Phillies winning ways over the last 5 years where in reality, he was only an impediment and its a credit to the teams talent that they won DESPITE his inept, imbecilic field management. Now that he is exposed without Utley and Howard to save him, its quite apparent that the case for Manuels incompetence is now explicitly demonstrated and will continue to show itself in all its ugliness. Cholly might be a nice guy, I have got nothing against him but he is a huge detriment to the team and now more than ever since he took over from Bowa, they desperately need a real MANAGER who is skilled with field tactics, strategy and can communicate in coherent, 21st century English. The Phils will likely end up in last place or at least 4th and the only way we can pressure the team to cleanse itself of their inept management will be to fire Amaro, Manuel and all the coaches along with their scouts and minor league management. The Phillies need a purge and they need it now!— daystrum
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Everything you said about the bench is absolutely true... again this season. This is the number one reason why Mr. Amaro needs to go.— antjam0507 - BOTTOM LINE - There is no reason, whatsoever to have Placido P on the roster if you don't use hime in that spot. If he is 70% the player he was, he makes the contact you need in that spot. Charlie must know something we don't. Placido is destined for the DL. This is the straw that breaks our back. 3/4's of our infield was not considered during the offseason. It must be addressed now.
-PhrustratedPhilsFan
"Chris Wheeler is tougher to listen to, than to look at"— youcancontactus - By the way, Murph, your logic is laudable but your reasoning is reckless. You're so eager to avoid overtly disparaging Cholly that you lose site of your train of thought which is....while you're making excuses for his "lack of options" you forgot state why his options are pathetic and use that as further evidence of Amaro's incompetence for BUILDING this lackluster, tepid offense of journeyman that nobody wanted and NOT doing his job which was to acquire at least ONE power hitter to compensate for the loss of Howard and Utley during the Winter meetings. In both cases, you have a blundering field manager, and deficient, apparently clueless GM who in a mere 4 years, has transformed what was a championship team with a rich reservoir of high end prospects into a parody of what they were. If there was a case presented in court, these two clowns would be fired for negligence. Murph, stop apologizing for them. The only way things are going to change is if the fans start to simply boycott the games. Demand a refund for your season tickets.....stir up a sh...t storm and maybe something will be shaken up. Its time Bud Selig investigated the Phillies ownership, made some indictments and called for new ownership as in the case of the Dodgers. Now look at them:-)— daystrum
- I saw what El Zorro did: If you're just focused on getting that winning run is, Mayberry was the guy and you forget about what could play out after that. You need the run. If you hedge on the other possibilities you let Polanco hit. Either move is not Jim Thome. That's the big point. But Murphy nailed a huge problem with the current roster: The bench is not balanced. At all. People said in the offseason "well, they're only bench players." Changing even one of the 4 signings -- Thome/Wigginton/Nix/Schneider -- could have allowed for a lot more balance. In my mind, 2 or more of those signings were wrong.— s
- where were all the bloggers in Oct. 2009 when Charlie left in Pedro Martinez to face Hedeki MAtusi, with Pedro struggling to throw over 85 mph, with Matsui's .500+ lifetime batting avg against Pedro, in the most overt forfeit of the World Series since 1919?— warbiscuit
- Two years ago, you ran your top LHBs out against Lopez, and 'frisbie' pitcher put you away then. Giants pitching was on it's game last night, why else was 3B so far away all night. Sometimes you can out think the game.— channelclemente
Look, pinch hitting is not easy. Every player has a lower BA as a PH compared to playing regularly. The point is that Charlie sometimes thinks that his bench players are more than that. I say you pick a lineup and stay with it for better or worse.
And I think that I'll keep my tickets for this woeful team that only features 10 all-stars, 3 aces, 3 gold glovers, 2 MVPs and the best mascot in all of sports! :)— zubzub- Sooner or later, you'll start hearing Ruben making excuses for the team. Should of signed Michael Cuddyer— snwbrdrjeff
- How long before Thome goes to Charlie and says i'm done coach? Hanging them up. I'd still rather see Luna at third then wigginton. he stinks.— spittooncj
- Murph - I did get a good laugh from the caption that accompanies this article on the sports page: Manuel's options less than ideal.
I was thinking of an older headline: Titanic captain's options less than ideal.— s - Honestly, I felt most confident with Cliff Lee batting in that situation. I'm dead serious.— Penfold18
- I'm with you. Aside from the fact that Lee can hit, he's in some once-in-a-lifetime zone. Let him play it through. — s
