The Frank Francisco Situation
Frank Francisco turns over the baseball to Ron Washington on Saturday, April 10th.Less than 48 hours ago, I advocated exercising a little bit of patience/restraint with Frank Francisco -- this in spite of his disastrous 0.2-inning effort in Thursday afternoon's series finale -- before rounding up a torch- and pitchfork-armed mob to throw him under the bus. Today, an embattled Francisco blew his second ninth-inning lead in less than 72 hours, yielded three earned runs on three hits and a walk in just one-third of an inning, and found himself yanked by manager Ron Washington after just 15 pitches. Let the rioting begin. I'm kidding. Or am I?
Patience is, at the very least, quickly falling by the wayside, and perhaps not completely without just cause. Part of the problem is a modern -- and arguably flawed -- convention of baseball itself to which many managers abide: the notion that you simply must turn to your closer in any save situation, irrespective of whether your setup man just logged a brilliant inning with an economical pitch count and is still good to go for a second inning of work. Unfortunately, the more pitchers that you employ in a particular game, the greater the likelihood that one of them will lack his best stuff/command and struggle to record outs, and the greater the likelihood that disaster will ensue.
This all stems from the typical manager's predilection towards neatly defined relief roles, rather than a certain organized fluidity in the bullpen where it's not mandatory that your "closer" pitch in every single save situation. Alas, Neftali Feliz -- who appears to have overcome his Opening Day shakiness, throwing a perfect eighth inning on just 10 pitches -- was pulled in favor of Francisco, all hell broke loose, and now here we are, watching a team that should be 4-1 rather than 2-3 and is now evidently mired in a closer's controversy. He may not be hurting in the conventional sense, but below-average velocity and dubious fastball command is a veritable recipe for disaster.
So, what happens now? I usually respond to these self-created queries with "nothing," but it may be that Feliz is promoted into the closer's role within the month (if not within the week), with Francisco being relegated to a lesser role ala Francisco Cordero after his horrendous early-'06 run, or placed on the disabled list with some vague injury; should the latter scenario come to pass, the direct beneficiary could end up being Triple-A Oklahoma City flamethrower Omar Beltre, with Pedro Strop -- a 40-man roster denizen -- and Willie Eyre also being possibilities and other RedHawks such as Clay Rapada and Geoff Geary lingering on the periphery.
One would ordinarily classify all of this talk about yanking the chain on your closer after two poor outings as reactionary rubbish of the highest order, and under normal circumstances they might be right; however, this team is operating/performing under the pressure of elevated expectations, and that may be doubly true for Ron Washington, whose job was safe through at least Opening Day but is now subject to heightened scrutiny, and who undoubtedly recognizes that his managerial future in baseball could be riding on the Rangers' success (or lack thereof) in 2010. From a personal, career-minded standpoint, he may no longer be in a position to play the wait-and-see game.
28 Comments | in Analysis, Game Recaps, The Season
Reader Comments (28)
It has to be done and was probably going to happen eventually anyway. The Neftali Era has arrived. Hopefully.
This one sure hurt. Straight from a three-plus hour drive from Austin, one of a few Rangers trips I can make in a season. Gorgeous weather, Nellie homer, Josh walks. Plus: players featured in the giveaway calendar are all currently on the team. (Joke: the one sold during the off-season has Millwood, Blalock, Padilla . . .)
Hate the kneejerk as much as anyone but based on these 2 outings FF just doesn't look right. I hear that he says he's healthy but what then explains his subpar performance? All closers have off days. Those that are right bounce back. When they don't there's usually a cause.
His stuff is not fooling anyone right now. His velocity is down. His command is lacking. His confidence looks shot. What's that you say? Duh, how could he be confident when he's blowing saves? Closers for championship contenders blow saves and can't wait to get back out there. Francisco is not giving out that vibe.
For the record, I 'm pretty sure it's the bullpen guys who prefer the defined roles. That said, the manager gets paid to make the big decisions and there's a fine line between emphasizing stability for harmonies' sake and accepting that heightened expectations demand breaking paradigms.
Bulllpen pitchers come and go with great regularity. I have seen some people advocate trading a good closer because the odds are they will not repeat and you maximize their trade value (Gagne anybody?).
FX2 is history. Nothing here folks. Time to move on.
The real discussion is who should be your closer.
I nomiate Perry.
I would give Frankie a few more games if he still can not get the job done then they need to turn to feliz and move frankie to the 6th or 7th inning and let him try and work it out give him a few mop up games to work with.
I agree enthusiastically with each point in the article!! Well said!
@Jon - Perry?
@Jon
Gaylord?
Feliz closer; Scheppers setup. Stranger things have happened!
We're about to see the value of pitching depth.
Hopefully, it's a mechanical thing that can be fixed with a side session.
If he's injured, well I think RW would go with Feliz. He's the type of manager that prefers his players to have defined roles. So, closer by committee would seem not to be an option.
I don't mind managers going by the book, but sometimes they should just sit on it so they get a better view of the game.
Frankie absolutely did not look right after facing the first two guys in both blown saves this past week. With both games so close why did Ron Washington let the man stay in and get his head handed to him both times? Washington sits there scribbling in his notepad, doesn't even look like he is watching the horror that is unfolding and we end up with two losses that should have been wins! Wilson and Harrison should be be 1-0 but it turns out that Washington is o-2!! Frankie wasn't on that is for sure but what is the manager's job? If the Rangers don't replace Washington and replace him quickly this team will be lucky to end up 3rd in the West Division. The guy never has been a good field general and it shows more and more!! While Frankie was off, and might be at a crossroads in his career, Ron Washington lost both of these games through inept managing.........
I haven't said a word since the game ended some 15 hours ago.
I'll talk now.
"Bah."
One of, and in fact maybe the most critical, Washington's strengths is his faith with his players. It has given him a clubhouse that has stood solidly behind him through adversity. To react on the bench as we might in these situations would be opposite his philosophy the last 3 years and says to players not "I got your back" but "watch your back". He's managing more than just the present situation.
The issue the last 2 losses is Frankie, not Washington. That said, as i mentioned above, I am interested in what he does going forward. These players are no longer in development mode, they've got to get it done. Same goes for the manager.
Move Neftali to the closer role now. I can have patience with Frankie in the 7th and 8th innings.
Part of the problem is that the Rangers feel compelled to follow the script that has worked for better teams: 8th inning setup guy, 9th inning closer. But the manager has to be wise. If your 8th inning guy has just set down the side in order and is in great shape, why risk bringing in another guy who may not have his best stuff that day? Let the guy with the hot hand finish the 9th. True, you may not be able to use him the next day, so be it. I think you have to always concentrate on winning the game on hand and go all out. Indeed, that attitude will help you win the next day, too.
If FF can not go on the DL.
I give him some mop up duty until he gets going.
I use Feliz in the 8th and if he has his control and pitches working , bring him back in the 9th.
Washington can not sit there and do this again and expect to remain .
When Kinsler comes back , I move Josh Hamilton down to 6th where a 230 hitter should be.
This "defined" closer role stuff is nonsense. Either you can do the job or you can't. If Frankie can't do the job then Feliz will do the job. I'd give Francisco a couple of more shots at the 9th inning (though that thought scares me the way he's pitching). If he fails then Neftali Feliz takes the role. This weird idea that has consumed managers of "he's my set up guy and he's my closer" is too set in concerete. No...your closer is that pitcher(s) that can shut down a team in the last two innings. That's your "closer."
Oh, and this team needs Kinsler back in the lineup. Sorry, had to add that.
Joey, good perspective. Normally, I would say be patient, it's only April. Using your words, it's "quickly, falling by the wayside." Desperate times require desperate measures. It's time to get real creative, cuz Franky is so flustered right now, he can't even pretend he's confident. ChopperJim
Re-read my post. Must have had a brain snap. Meant to say Oliver. I really liked the way he came in the eight inning and shut it down in the home opener.
"Ron Washington lost both of these games through inept managing........."
SIGH. I'm not surprised to see the finger pointing directed here at RW, because that's what so many Rangers fans always do. But come on people, seriously? Put yourself in the manager's shoes. You have to maintain team unity and player trust over the course of a full season at the very minimum. It's only been 6 games. Granted, those two losses really hurt, but you have to bite the bullet and try to let your closer do his job. Franky was very very good as a closer part of last season and the same the year before, and you'd be asking a lot of a young kid to come into the season as a closer with absolutely no experience. And since CJ is now in the rotation, Franky is your man going into the season. His job is to close out games, and he has to be given the opportunity to do so, at least for a time. If he blows one save and the manager yanks him, what message does that send to the players? One bad game and you've lost your starting job? You think the team is going to pull together and try to work through these difficulties if that's the environment created by the manager in the first week of the season?
If you look at the game yesterday, what RW did was exactly the right thing - he yanked Franky only after he had given up the tying run - it was O'Day who gave up the game-winning run.
Now, of course RW isn't going to let Franky go out there indefinitely and lose games. I imagine that right now there are big meetings going on with RW, Nolan, and JD about the solution to this problem. But what RW did was the right thing to do. For fans to criticize him and attack him for that only proves what I've thought for a long time regarding him - that they simply don't like him, and they will never give him a fair shake. If Joe Torre was the manager, and Mariano Rivera blew 2 saves in a row, how many Rangers fans would be screaming at Torre? None.
One other thing. You don't leave Feliz in there multiple innings for a couple of reasons. One, you are trying to protect his arm against injury, and you do that by trying to keep him regular and not do anything too taxing at the start of his career. The last thing you want is another Liriano situation to happen.
The other thing is that if you use Feliz for 1 inning, you have a chance to use him again sooner. The longer you leave him in, the longer the gap between appearances. You guys forget that Feliz has only once been used in back to back games.
So I repeat, the problem here isn't Ron Washington. He did everything exactly the right way in both blown saves. Those who think otherwise just show they don't understand baseball.
I agree with Jim partially....Ron was going with defined roles correctly. The debate I feel is brewing is if those roles are really worth it? Can we not have a more fluid situation like Joey writes about? Will that really screw up the confidence and mental health of the relievers? I guess we on the outside don't know for sure, but I for one, with no elite closer on the roster, would play to matchups and who is pitching well at that time.
The reason managers like defined roles is that defined roles take the manager off the hook. No thinking required. 7th inning is Pitcher A; 8th inning is Pitcher B; 9th inning is Pitcher C. That works if you have a great bullpen and a great closer. Most teams have neither.
LOL - the reason managers have defined roles is NOT because they want to avoid responsibility for having to think. Every organization thrives through structure, through defined roles and responsibility. Baseball's not any different.
And it would be just as ludicrous to say that Mike Young should go out to center field because Borbon isn't hitting. Pitching in the 9th is quite different than the 6th or 7th, or even the 8th. I don't see how anyone who is a knowledgeable fan of baseball can fail to acknowledge this obvious fact.
It's one thing to say that baseball itself is stupid for doing it "this way," which might be arguable. But no - our lovely Texas Rangers faithful seem to want to pin this policy on Ron Washington, as if he were somehow doing things differently than everyone else, or as if he were the one who invented the idea of having a "closer" and a "setup" guy. Some of you folks need to take a look at your own biases and just admit that you have an irrational hatred of Washington.
Baseball is also an economic game, and you don't jack around with your investments by putting players at undue risk, especially not your phenom who is only 21 years old, and especially not in the first freaking week of the season.
It never ceases to amaze me the crap that Ron Washington has to endure. It's unfreakingbelievable.
Bump Frankie now...sends a message of perform or we sit you down.
Franciso has without a doubt cost the Ranger's 2 W's... however, look at the K total for their wins vs losses
Mon = 7Ks - Win
Wed = 9Ks - Loss
Thur = 9Ks - Loss
Fri = 8Ks - Win
Sat = 7Ks - Loss * Blown save... they should've won
Sun - 2Ks - Win
As I've said MANY times now, the Rangers, as a team, cannot strikeout an avg of 8 or 9 times a game and expect to win.
There have been many decisions tat RW made where the Rangers were able to win despite his mistakes...In spite of tehir manager...And that will ocntinue until Clint Hurdle takes over...The closer thing is not RW's fault...Frankie has to let them drop and get people out...put up or shut up...