Ignorance and poor decision-making, not cocaine, will be the downfall of Ron Washington as manager of the Texas Rangers. After yet another heartbreaking 7-6 loss in a game the Rangers should have won against the Boston Red Sox, it is hard not to find fault in Washington's style of game management.
Anytime a team goes from leading 6-2 to losing the game by a run, fingers begin to be pointed. Five runs and a degrading loss later, fingers should be pointed at the manager.
Structure and proper strategy are valuable facets of the game of baseball. No one disagrees with that. When the strategy overrides common sense, however, it becomes a major flaw in the way the game is played.
With that being said, here are some incredibly questionable choices that display the underlying problems with Washington's baseball philosophy:
Colby Lewis
Lewis has been a stud thus far this season. Along with the rest of the the pitching rotation (excluding Rich Harden), he has maintained an outstanding ERA and has displayed strong control of his pitches.
Here is where Washington's game management comes into play. Through five innings and one batter in the sixth, Lewis had thrown 105 pitches. Fairly high for a pitcher who has battled injuries in the past and has spent the past few years playing overseas in Japan.
The big picture is certainly important. To ignore the fact that Lewis had been handling Red Sox batters all night remains an enigma. Home runs happen. They are upsetting, yes, but to immediately hit the panic button is asinine. Once Lewis gave up a home run to Jeremy Hermida in the fourth, Washington's ears perked up, giving him immediate ammunition to remove Lewis after the first sign of trouble in the fifth.
So when Lewis gave up a devastating single with no outs and nobody on base, the Rangers manager saw the opportunity to douse the chaotic inferno that Lewis had just created - how would the Rangers have ever worked their way out of a jam with one man on base!? Impossible!
The fact is, the 2010 season for the Texas Rangers has begun in direct contradiction of their success in 2009. The formula was simple: have your pitchers throw at least six innings, trust the ability of your defense and support the players on the field by performing well at the plate.
Fast forward to this season and the problems become apparent.
New hitting coach Clint Hurdle has yet to breathe life into the talented Rangers bats, the team's starting rotation is putting continued strain on the bullpen by failing to go deep into ball games and the fielding has been an embarrassment over the past week or so.
Andres Blanco for Joaquin Arias
With the game tied at 6-6 headed to the bottom of the eighth inning, Ron Washington made the choice to make the defensive substitution of Andres Blanco for Joaquin Arias. This move only would make sense if Arias had committed some sort of abysmal error that let the Red Sox back in the game.
Because that clearly wasn't the case, just what exactly was the point of taking Arias, statistically the Rangers best hitter for average, out of the lineup late in the game?
A fielder can certainly lose a game for a team; however, so can a closer, a short stop, a catcher, and a batter. Washington displayed a clear lack of confidence in Arias as a fielder. Rangers fans can only hope that Arias does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy in the field.
The decision to put Blanco in the field , was not nearly as critical as the decision to take Arias out of the batter's box. Was the chance of Arias making an error in a late-game situation greater than 40.6 percent, because that is his batting average. The Rangers could have used that enormous boost in the lineup as they failed to score a run in the top of the ninth inning.
Statistics and probability can give people headaches quicker than eating a bowl of delicious ice cream. Ice cream doesn't win baseball games. Ron Washington's ignorance of simple probability on Tuesday night should be enough to at least earn him a talking to from team president Nolan Ryan.
Frank Francisco Strikes Again
How many chances does Frank Francisco deserve? Rangers fans are not being nearly as kind as the Rangers brass. Francisco struggled at times last season and he has not been nearly strong enough this season. The position of closer demands dominant pitching and the Rangers should look elsewhere for that characteristic.
By definition, closers are supposed to be able to handle the highest pressure situations with the least amount of stress. Three outs - that is how closers are judged. Francisco's inability to achieve three outs has put the Rangers in a terrible bind and the problem needs to end.
After the series against the Indians, Washington said that Neftali Feliz would temporarily take over the closer's role until Frankie could prove he deserved the job again. Feliz earned his first save of 2010 in extra innings against the Indians and apparently proved he didn't deserve the job because he couldn't handle the pressure.
Baffled does not begin to describe how most Rangers fans must feel tonight. After taking away one angle to victory by substituting Blanco for Arias, Washington proceeded to sit Feliz after the game became tied. Instead of electing to give Feliz a chance to chuck 100 mile-per-hour fastballs past Red Sox hitters, Washington decided to let Francisco do what he seems to do best this year: lose games.
It is tough to tell if Ron Washington understands just how poor of a job he is doing managing the Texas Rangers this season. It is doubtful that Nolan Ryan, future owner Chuck Greenberg and the rest of the team's front office are having such difficulty.
The clock has begun ticking on Ron Washington's time with the Rangers. With the arousal of his cocaine controversy during Spring Training, the straw the breaks the camel's back more likely will be a terrible record, not a bag of white powder.
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