Matt "I Refuse To Call Him 'Tugboat'" Wilkinson pitched six scoreless innings only to lose control of the strike zone to open the 7'th inning with another massive bullpen failure sinking his effort. Key Lines:
Matt Wilkinson LHP- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.63. Wilkinson's fastball barely touched 91 MPH but hitters seem to have some trouble picking it up and he is able to locate it consistently which sets up his other pitches, a sweeper/slider and changeup. He seemed to run out of gas in the 7'th inning and walked the first two batters, the first walks he gave up in the game. Unfortunately those two walks gave him an L for the game.
Ryan Walker RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K, HR. ERA= 6.97. Walker relieved Wilkinson after the two walks to open the 7'th inning. I had my doubts about bringing him into that situation. He got a groundball out, which put runners at first and third with one out and kept the possibility of a GIDP in play, but the next batter walked to load the bases. D'Backs Manager Tory Lovullo sent up LH batter Lars Nootbaar to hit for Jose Fernandez. As soon as I saw that Walker was going to have to pitch to Nootbaar with the bases loaded, I knew exactly where that ball was going. BTW, is retrieving a baseball worth falling into the waters of McCovey Cove? If it's off the bat of an opposing player which I believe does not count as a Splash Hit?
I am not sure how many more chances Walker is going to get with the Giants. It should be none. At the same time, from a human perspective you must feel for poor Ryan Walker who must be absolutely crushed.
It’s hard to feel bad for a professional athlete. Walker is frustrating because his stuff could play but he has very little control and creates his own disasters. Pitching out of the pen is obviously a challenge for many pitchers but Walker has proven he can’t overcome the control issues or lack of confidence. Starting pitching hasn’t been great this year but the bullpen is where they need to spend money in the offseason if they want to see a quick turnaround. When starters go 6 strong and it doesn’t matter because you know the pen can’t hold a lead then what is the point of spending more money on starting pitching?
ReplyDeleteThe grand slam pitch Walker threw to Nootbar was a complete meatball. A batting practice FB dead red. He freezes up in big moments and does exactly what he doesn’t want to do. Time for him to move on. He may star for the Rays in two years.
ReplyDelete