Is it just me or...?

[LetsGoCubs89]

ok guys, is it just me or does it seem like lou sort of wastes his bench too quickly in close games. it seems like there are at least 1 double switch or 2 per game. and if u think about it, we used ALL of our players except the starters and rocky cherry in that game yesterday. we are 1-3 in extra inning games and i think lou needs to be a little more conservative with the moves he is making. but they are winning so i cant complain

[hardcorecubfan]

agreed, but he makes mo0re money to make those decisions than I do.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's not just you. I feel he goes through the bench/bullpen far too early and quickly. I think it's probably related to the fact that he's been an AL guy for most of his career, and hasn't managed an NL game in 15 years.

[LetsGoCubs89]

thanks for the input guys, i just scratch my head at some of his decisions, ya know?

[Balsa]

I like it better actually.

 

Better to try and win the game immediately than plan for it to go on into extras.

[rawaction]

I like it better actually.

 

Better to try and win the game immediately than plan for it to go on into extras.

 

Probably wouldn't have been in that situation had he:

 

1. Not started all 3 of his middle IFs in the first place, and sat Izturis.

2. Didn't micromanage the bullpen to pitch to 1 batter each.

[TheDude]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

[rawaction]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

[Danny82]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

 

Except that Izturis was on base after each of his three plate appearances, so, unless you know for sure that Murton would have hit a home run or something, then your last point is highly unlikely.

[LetsGoCubs89]

personally i think guzman could have gone 7 and we wouldnt have had to use any of our crappy bullpen. the only speedbump he had all day was that 4th inning, where until then had not allowed a base runner. if im not mistaken, im pretty sure he retired the first 10 batters of the game, correct?

[CubColtPacer]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

 

For as bad as Izturis is normally, are you saying that Murton would have helped the team score more than Izturis getting on base all 3 times he was up to the plate?

 

As far as Wuertz, maybe he would have gotten out, maybe he wouldn't have-that's really hard to tell, especially when one base hit would have scored a run.

[cubfan1955]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

It's as reasonable to bet that Wuertz would have kept walking hitters as to assume he would have got out of the mess he helped to create. A reliever cannot come into a game late and walk the first hitter he faces. That's unacceptable.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Wuertz ain't no ROOGY, Lou. Don't do that again.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

It's as reasonable to bet that Wuertz would have kept walking hitters as to assume he would have got out of the mess he helped to create. A reliever cannot come into a game late and walk the first hitter he faces. That's unacceptable.

 

Yet not in the same realm of unacceptacality(it's a word, look it up) as getting pissed of at a walk and yanking a guy because of it to send a reactionary "message". We were nearly screwed in extra innings yesterday because he could've kept Wuertz in to finish the 7th, and instead he burned Wuertz, Ohman, and had Howry throw some pitches for good measure.

[killthegoat06]

ok guys, is it just me or does it seem like lou sort of wastes his bench too quickly in close games. it seems like there are at least 1 double switch or 2 per game. and if u think about it, we used ALL of our players except the starters and rocky cherry in that game yesterday. we are 1-3 in extra inning games and i think lou needs to be a little more conservative with the moves he is making. but they are winning so i cant complain

 

I am in agreement.

[CubColtPacer]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

It's as reasonable to bet that Wuertz would have kept walking hitters as to assume he would have got out of the mess he helped to create. A reliever cannot come into a game late and walk the first hitter he faces. That's unacceptable.

 

Yet not in the same realm of unacceptacality(it's a word, look it up) as getting pissed of at a walk and yanking a guy because of it to send a reactionary "message". We were nearly screwed in extra innings yesterday because he could've kept Wuertz in to finish the 7th, and instead he burned Wuertz, Ohman, and had Howry throw some pitches for good measure.

 

The team was never in deep trouble yesterday. They had an ace in the hole if it had gotten past the 11th, otherwise known as Ted Lilly. He would have been pitching on normal rest, and him pitching in that game wouldn't have messed up the pitching rotation this next week because of the off day today.

 

Now-usually a team does not have a luxury like that, so hopefully Lou does not use the bullpen like that on a normal basis.

[jersey cubs fan]

Starters in the bullpen should never be considered an ace in the hole. It's an awful idea and a clear last resort that shouldn't need to be used until at least the 15th or 16th inning of a very long game.

[Rob]

I don't have a huge problem with the way Lou has been deploying his bench. It's supposed to be a strength of the team (for once) and Lou is trying to use it to maximum value.

 

I do wish he'd show more restraint with the bullpen, though. If puts Pie out in CF in the 7th inning, he can stay there through 22 innings, if need be. The same can not be said of our relievers. I'm not too comfortable the way we always go into the 9th with maybe two or three relievers available for the rest of the game.

[cubfan1955]

How do you know the game yesterday even gets to extras without the substitutions? If the Cubs were 4-0 in these extra-inning games, would it still be questioned?

 

Lou makes his decisions mostly by numbers evaluation and a "best odds" approach, with the occasional tendency to go aggressive.

 

Plus, Lou has stated he wants to keep all his players active and happy, and he has done this his entire managerial career. This is slightly exaggerated currently by quality of the bench, which is the best the Cubs have had in many years.

 

I would have been willing to bet that Wuertz could have gotten out of 7th and not given up the lead as Howry did. I'd would have been willing to bet that the offense, with Murton instead of Izturiz would have scored more than the 3 they needed to get to the 10th.

It's as reasonable to bet that Wuertz would have kept walking hitters as to assume he would have got out of the mess he helped to create. A reliever cannot come into a game late and walk the first hitter he faces. That's unacceptable.

 

Yet not in the same realm of unacceptacality(it's a word, look it up) as getting pissed of at a walk and yanking a guy because of it to send a reactionary "message". We were nearly screwed in extra innings yesterday because he could've kept Wuertz in to finish the 7th, and instead he burned Wuertz, Ohman, and had Howry throw some pitches for good measure.

You or anyone else (or me) does not know what might have happened if he had left Wuertz in. He might have given up 8 runs if Lou had left him in there. We'll just never know. The important thing was that Lou got the win. I'd much rather have everyone used up and win in the 10th then for it to go 14 and never use the bench. I remember a game a few years ago when Dusty gave Alou the day off and the game went into extra innings and the Cubs lost by one run with Jose Macias making the final out with Alou on deck. I don't miss those days.

[hyde4us11]

I didnt think i liked it either until i thought about the "worry about later later" saying. I do know i like Lou's approach more then Baker's. :lol:

[SouthSideRyan]

Starters in the bullpen should never be considered an ace in the hole. It's an awful idea and a clear last resort that shouldn't need to be used until at least the 15th or 16th inning of a very long game.

 

Another inning of Dempster and 3 from Cherry gets the game to the 15th.