Mark Melancon was charged with three runs, all earned, in blowing a save Tuesday at PNC Park. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Baseball can be really mean.
As Andrew Lambo buttoned up his shirt following the Pirates’ 9-8 ninth-inning, blown-lead bummer of a loss to the Cubs, he lamented some of his lousy luck at the plate of late, and he did so with just the right tortured tone: “I go up there thinking aggressive, and I swing at a ball. I go up there patient, and I’m down in the count. It’s enough to …”
Yeah, no need to finish, kid. Fail just seven times out of 10, as they say, and you’re in Cooperstown.
Baseball can be outright vicious, too.
Mark Melancon looked like he’d just emerged from being beaten up in a dark alley as he met with a group of reporters afterward, and it’s saying plenty that he looked even more beaten up while still on the mound: His team and manager had entrusted him with a two-run lead, and it took all of two pitches for Anthony Rizzo to drop a single into center and Jorge Soler to scream a double into center.
Second and third, nobody out, tying runner in scoring position.
(Nobody up in the pen, by the way, but let’s get back to that later.)
Kris Bryant, Chicago’s wunderkind rookie, worked a full-count walk. Bases loaded.
(Still nobody up in the pen. Seriously, just wait.)
Starlin Castro, swinging with confidence all night, swatted an infield chop that traveled so high it landed over third baseman Josh Harrison’s glove and into the left-field grass. Now it was tied.
(Hey, someone’s up in the pen! And no, this isn’t later.)
Wiped away, in essence were a Harrison opening-AB home run, a Francisco Cervelli two-run single and, what really should have been the buzz of the evening, a bases-clearing double by Jung-Ho Kang that drew not only a sensationally demonstrative Zoltan from the Korean rookie but also a warm standing ovation from the 13,680 on hand.
Jung-Ho Kang drills a three-run double as part of a 2-for-4 night at PNC Park. — GETTY
“We had some good things happen,” Hurdle would say. “There were some positives.”
There were. Even Francisco Liriano’s five inefficient innings — 97 pitches, 40 balls — came with nine strikeouts and encouraging movement from his trademark slider.
“I felt OK,” Liriano said. “I could have done better.”
So could the bullpen, to be kind. Each inning from the sixth onward summoned a new arm but the same result: Radhames Liz, Jared Hughes and Tony Watson each drip-drip-dripped away a run.
“Not good enough,” Watson said.
Still and all, Melancon inherited an 8-6 lead and yet another chance to cast aside the lingering doubts about his health, specifically as related to a velocity drop. His cutter that averaged 90-91 mph last season now is being clocked, night after night, at 88 mph.
The cutter to Rizzo: 89.
The cutter to Soler: 88.
The cutter that struck out Chris Coghlan after Castro’s key hit: 87.
The cutter that Wellington Castillo tapped to second for the tiebreaking RBI groundout: 87.
That was basically the ballgame. And bad fortune or not, it doesn’t require any leap to suggest that Melancon’s usual stuff might have produced better results to override the luck.
So, this is a really big issue, right?
The closer of 2014 who put down 33 of 37 save opportunities and held hitters to a career-low .195 average suddenly can’t get people out. It was hardly just this game. For the season now, opponents are 9 for 25 at the plate, a .360 average. It’s early and all that, but the ominous combination of the lesser stuff and its impact on a team that needs every win it can get, whether in April or late October, that heightens this to an immediate worry.
And at the risk of repeating ad nauseum, the man doesn’t look right.
Just don’t suggest that to Hurdle and Melancon, both of whom have become increasingly irritated in recent days when the subject is raised, especially related to Melancon’s velocity.
Of course, I asked Hurdle about Melancon’s velocity after this game, anyway: “Well, I would say right now that we’re not seeing the crispness out of his pitches overall. You know, there’s been a bit of a velocity drop …”
The manager paused, then added, unsolicited, “There’s no injury. We’ve been through things. We’ve watched tape. There just doesn’t seem to be that sharpness.”
Thought he handled that OK.
Now, watch Melancon, and watch this the whole way through, uncomfortable as it is:
Ow.
Doesn’t exactly instill a whole lot of confidence at the moment, does it?
And the moment matters more for the closer more than any role in baseball. Liz, Hughes, Watson, anyone in the pen, anyone else on the 25-man, really, can mess up without consequence. When the closer messes up, it’s lights out. No fallback. Nowhere to hide. No Plan B.
Or, hang on a minute … is there?
(OK, now, finally.)
Hurdle is more open than most old-school managers to new ideas, but he clings to the closer concept, one that’s seen as terribly dated by the stats community, as if his integrity were on the line.
Three-run lead or less?
Closer time. Have to get that save.
Any other situation?
Closer sits and watches.
Well, that manifested in another way on this night. Because even though Melancon clearly was being hit hard and lacking command, Hurdle didn’t call to the pen until after the save was lost with the 8-8 tie.
I double-checked that with Arquimedes Caminero, the reliever who got that call.
And hey, while in the neighborhood, I thought I’d take this flamethrowing 27-year-old right-hander’s temperature as it related to taking on the ninth inning regularly.
Arquimedes Caminero has struck out seven, walked three in 6 2/3 innings this season. — GETTY
He has absolutely devastating stuff, not least of which is 101 mph heat he throws effortlessly — as well as off-the-charts makeup. His only shortcoming, and the reason the Marlins casually sent him to Pittsburgh for cash over the winter, has been control. But the noted magician Raymond Searage the Great uncovered delivery hitches early in spring, and the strikes and strikeouts have flowed freely.
He’s been far from perfect, with four runs and five hits over his 6 2/3 innings, but the seven strikeouts have been sizzling, the kind any team would fantasize about getting game after game from a closer.
“The ninth inning?” Caminero replied to the initial question with a soft smile and equally soft Dominican accent. Reminds me a lot of Salomon Torres, actually. “Yes, I can do that because I know that I’m just going to be me. That’s what I love about being there. My teammates, Ray, the coaches … they’re not asking me to be go out there and be great every time. It’s not the same pressure. They just want me to do my job. And if I do it well, I can be great.”
Did I mention the makeup? Or how Searage gushes over the intelligence?
“What about you? You’re a reporter,” Caminero continued in a rare bit of sportswriter/athlete turnabout. “If you go to work every day thinking you’ve got to get the biggest story out there …”
Right. You’ll fail, I came back. All the time.
“Yes! And because that was your only goal, you won’t do anything else.”
But if I show up, work hard, ask lots of questions …
They have to exhaust all options first.Something is off. They need to find out what it is and then try to fix it.
In the Grilli/Frieri case, Searage was not able to work his magic. Perhaps it was because they did not have the off-season to study Frieri and then work with him to address it.
FrankLNovoa
4-22-2015, 1:07 am
Seriously, mentioned this to you on Twitter as soon as I saw your live-tweets of Melancon messing up. WE HAVE CAMINERO. He can throw over 90 MPH. That does matter!
I'm not one to meltdown over a player too soon, but what does it hurt to throw him in there in a save opportunity next time. He gets by, do it again. Have Melancon as the set-up man again. He doesn't do well, well. Then there's a problem if Melancon doesn't eventually get out of this "thing." But it's better to find out the problem now or maybe even fix the problem in April rather than later on in the year.
I would say the biggest concern is that his recent success is new to Caminero. With that being said, the coaching staff may rightly have concerns that thrusting him into save situations too soon will lead to him reverting back to old habits. He gets wild with his pitches and loses his confidence. Then, the coaches would have to go back and fix things, again.
Still, it is better to fix things now rather than in August and September.
FrankLNovoa
4-22-2015, 2:58 pm
I understand it's a risk to put him in that situation. As soon as you see any negative sign, get him out of there. Otherwise, give him a chance. Maybe I'm just being impatient and it'll happen. I don't know.
Again, not freaking out. But the option of a better closer is right in front of our eyes, might as well try it out in a mid-week game at the end of April.
@pghpiratefan
4-22-2015, 1:10 am
Can't say I'm not nervous. And in such a close division, these blown saves will matter in September. I'm still hesitant to give up on a proven closer after 2 weeks. But a brief dismissal from the role could snap him back into form, assuming the velocity issues are mental. If they aren't, it won't matter much as he'll pitch himself out of a job (if he already hasn't).
Nice column DK. You direct quotes and video responses from the main players really make your columns convincing.
In terms of the no one up in the bullpen, Hurdle, to me, is clearly a 'long term perspective guy'. He likes to stand behind his players until he feels he needs to make a change. I think he builds a stronger relationship and trust among the team which has been one of the key ingredients of the Buccos success. Yes looks bad game by game, but long-term, the results are their.
I've been watching baseball for a long time, even played little league. It seems the umpires are biased against the Pirates. Their relief pitchers are not getting the strike calls on close pitches. I think it's a league wide conspiracy to keep scoring down and to help big-market teams win and produce close games to keep people watching. Blown games are what make the great comebacks even more enjoyable and by Mid-summer the Pirates will be getting theirs if this team is as good as Pittsburgh baseball fans hope.
And the fact that we constantly hear from the organization that velocity is everything, and the manager doesn't act according to that fact, is my biggest concern.
EddieT
4-22-2015, 1:48 am
This is Hurdle's fatal flaw and the reason he will never win a championship. He stands there and watches a failing pitcher lose games. In last year's playoff, he did not even warm up a pitcher until Volquez had for all intents and purposes lost the game. He will not pull a pitcher unless "the book" says it is the right move, despite what his eyes are telling him. Hurdle always always waits at least one batter too long to pull a pitcher. Melancon should not be used again until he shows in the bullpen that he has the stuff to get outs. Put him on the DL and let him work on it. Send him to AAA on a rehab assignment and make him show that he has it. He must prove himself every day-he has no special right to the position. In forty-one appearances for the Red Sox in 2012, his ERA was six point two, though he has been quoted as saying he was doing nothing different. Melancon was a nice reclamation project while it lasted, but this division is far too close to flush away games while Melancon tries to find his velocity. As my wife said in disgust: "Melancon is just pitiful". Why does Hurdle sit on his hands when everyone in the world can see what he must do? Maybe Hurdle is too nice a guy to manage a pitching staff.
In all fairness to Hurdle, They could've started warming a guy in the 1st inning in the WC game and it would not have mattered. MadBum was just THAT good. No one was going to score on him.
Arriba Wilver
4-22-2015, 4:39 pm
That must be why his Colorado team lost the World Series.
Arriba Wilver
4-22-2015, 4:43 pm
Yeah, Brian, but it might only have been 4-0. ;-)
Battleship Bob
4-22-2015, 3:12 am
Maybe Hurdle was trying to make Melancon a man instead of a ballplayer tonight.
Velocity is everything. As soon as it dips, if you don't have nasty stuff, the game of baseball takes away your ability to play it at a high level. Happened to Grilli last year. Same thing again. Can't just sit back and allow him to blow games.
Melancon certainly hasn't been himself these first few weeks. It's definitely a concern, and he should probably be on a shorter leash than usual.
But as it always is with relief pitching, small sample size is skewing the picture a bit. There have been times the last few years that the Shark looked like his teeth fell out, but he always came back at it.
I'd play him as usual 2-4 more times. If he blows up in one of them, or even if he just pitched poorly in more than one, then I'll start to be concerned.
Although I am concerned about the speed. Fingers crossed it's a mental, early season thing.
mdjbarron, you said: "There have been times the last few years that the Shark looked like his teeth fell out, but he always came back at it."
The problem is that this is very different. He never had this kind of issue with pitch velocity in the last couple years. Then, he would have a couple games when his control wasn't good, or the opposition just happened to hit a little bit better. This time, he can't hit 90 mph at all. They can't afford to take a chance on 2-4 more times in this division. The way for him to work through this is to put him in only when it is a low leverage situation - either up or down by several runs when they can pull him quickly and limit the damage if he falters.
Robert
4-22-2015, 5:34 am
Melancon needs a DL stint. Lots of close but no cigar games early on. Hopefully, the luck and the bullpen can get turned around.
Outstanding exchange with Caminero DK; a few sentences that provided great insight and a lesson for us all. Now it's time for me to show up and work hard on the field of IT ......
When you ain't got it...ya ain't got it. Melancon blew a save. Let's push him off the Clemente bridge. How many times is he gonna do this? Probably many. Why? Because it's the nature of the role. He should just quit worrying about it and trust his stuff. That's the only way he will fight thru this. As I quote the classic movie "Major Leauge".,,,,,,,
"This ain't the California Penal League Vaughn! We're professionals here.
t.fuscardo, you said: "He should just quit worrying about it and trust his stuff. That's the only way he will fight thru this."
That may be what he needs to do, but they can't afford to wait until that happens - not if they want to win this division.
bpn8pitt
4-22-2015, 6:38 am
You know as hard as Caminero throws, there's been times it's looked flat to me. And another thing I noticed with him, going back to Spring, looks like he has issues holding runners on base. Lot of unknowns with him.
Even Watson has been hit harder early on. And so far Liz has not been as advertised.
It was the same last April, so it probably has to play out more. Troubling though, hard to argue.
I think if Melancon has another Frieri moment, Watson becomes the closer, Hughes goes to the 8th. Shark probably splits the 7th with Caminero and in low pressure situations.
NMR, if Watson closes do they eventually acquire another LHP/LOOGY?
NMR
4-22-2015, 9:24 am
Seems like Melancon is just going through a "dead arm" period. Guy averaged 92.5 mph on his cutter and 94 mph on his 4-seam just last September. Those same pitches are averaging about 89.4 mph this April. Pitchers don't just lose 3-5 mph in five months. I think this is one of those situations where a guy is trying to "grit" through an injury without complaining. I simply don't believe him for a second when he says he doesn't feel anything wrong. Of course he knows exactly what's going on.
Caminero reminds me of Trevor Rosenthal and similarly would make for a good, not great closer/setup guy. I'd be fine with giving Watson a shot at closer and using Hughes/Caminero/Bastardo to set up depending on matchup. Also don't think another lefty is needed, or really benefits the team.
Liz has gotten himself into trouble by getting behind in the count and serving up a couple fat fastballs, but nobody has been able to touch that slider. He's got the stuff to be a good one once things settle out.
Steelkings
4-22-2015, 10:31 am
I hope your right, NMR about "dead arm". Because a pitcher who relies on a cutter needs that velocity to make it cut where it needs to cut. What I have seen the last few outings is the shark is leaving that cutter over the plate. And an 88 mile per hour cutter over the plate is going to be hit hard by even an average MLB hitter.
In that regard I think the Pirate pitching staff has made teams look a little better than they actually are. Combine that with the fact that the Reds and Cubs are off to a hot start and you have, well, what ya got.
bpn8pitt
4-22-2015, 10:57 am
I wonder how much Chairvellis pitch calling and setup has to do with some of the bullpen issues too. He's still learning everybody. Uncle Ray/Clint is still learning Bastardo, Liz, and Cameniro.
I'm concerned with Melancon, but considering how Grilli has righted himself not ready for anything drastic.
Good stuff guys, thanks.
Dejan Kovacevic
4-22-2015, 3:04 pm
@NMR: Really good Liz observation.
karbil2
4-22-2015, 6:41 am
I don't understand why Hurdle like all manages take something so clear and easy and make it so difficult that even the fans can see it. Melancon is either hurt which they deny or just doesn't have it this year. Why wait till June to make the change when the losses hurt just has bad as September losses.
Pirates have played only 14 games.
Melancon has pitched in 7 of them (half).
Melancon has given up runs in only 2 games.
"Relax! Don't do it——when your gonna . . . . "
Arriba Wilver
4-22-2015, 4:57 pm
Groat--First time I heard that song was in a Brian DePalma film, I think.
Body Double?
karbil2
4-22-2015, 5:12 pm
Groat, all I'm saying is that most managers deny deny deny there is ever a problem when it looks so obvious with his pitch speed so sharp down. I just don't want this problem to go on and on. Hopefully Melancon pulls out of this funk.
Every year there are four or five pivotal games for a contender. Last night was one of those -- for both teams. Whether a single heartbreaking defeat or an exhilirating comeback, it matters how the team reacts. With the Bucs seemingly still trying to solidify their grip on the season, a closer with confidence issues isn't going to inspire the rest of these guys. Then again, this is what they might need to wipe the offseason hibernation from their eyes, finally.
April 22, 2015
Column: Hurdle can’t keep waiting on his closer
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Pirates
Mark Melancon was charged with three runs, all earned, in blowing a save Tuesday at PNC Park. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Baseball can be really mean.
As Andrew Lambo buttoned up his shirt following the Pirates’ 9-8 ninth-inning, blown-lead bummer of a loss to the Cubs, he lamented some of his lousy luck at the plate of late, and he did so with just the right tortured tone: “I go up there thinking aggressive, and I swing at a ball. I go up there patient, and I’m down in the count. It’s enough to …”
Yeah, no need to finish, kid. Fail just seven times out of 10, as they say, and you’re in Cooperstown.
Baseball can be outright vicious, too.
Mark Melancon looked like he’d just emerged from being beaten up in a dark alley as he met with a group of reporters afterward, and it’s saying plenty that he looked even more beaten up while still on the mound: His team and manager had entrusted him with a two-run lead, and it took all of two pitches for Anthony Rizzo to drop a single into center and Jorge Soler to scream a double into center.
Second and third, nobody out, tying runner in scoring position.
(Nobody up in the pen, by the way, but let’s get back to that later.)
Kris Bryant, Chicago’s wunderkind rookie, worked a full-count walk. Bases loaded.
(Still nobody up in the pen. Seriously, just wait.)
Starlin Castro, swinging with confidence all night, swatted an infield chop that traveled so high it landed over third baseman Josh Harrison’s glove and into the left-field grass. Now it was tied.
(Hey, someone’s up in the pen! And no, this isn’t later.)
Wiped away, in essence were a Harrison opening-AB home run, a Francisco Cervelli two-run single and, what really should have been the buzz of the evening, a bases-clearing double by Jung-Ho Kang that drew not only a sensationally demonstrative Zoltan from the Korean rookie but also a warm standing ovation from the 13,680 on hand.
Jung-Ho Kang drills a three-run double as part of a 2-for-4 night at PNC Park. — GETTY
“We had some good things happen,” Hurdle would say. “There were some positives.”
There were. Even Francisco Liriano’s five inefficient innings — 97 pitches, 40 balls — came with nine strikeouts and encouraging movement from his trademark slider.
“I felt OK,” Liriano said. “I could have done better.”
So could the bullpen, to be kind. Each inning from the sixth onward summoned a new arm but the same result: Radhames Liz, Jared Hughes and Tony Watson each drip-drip-dripped away a run.
“Not good enough,” Watson said.
Still and all, Melancon inherited an 8-6 lead and yet another chance to cast aside the lingering doubts about his health, specifically as related to a velocity drop. His cutter that averaged 90-91 mph last season now is being clocked, night after night, at 88 mph.
The cutter to Rizzo: 89.
The cutter to Soler: 88.
The cutter that struck out Chris Coghlan after Castro’s key hit: 87.
The cutter that Wellington Castillo tapped to second for the tiebreaking RBI groundout: 87.
That was basically the ballgame. And bad fortune or not, it doesn’t require any leap to suggest that Melancon’s usual stuff might have produced better results to override the luck.
So, this is a really big issue, right?
The closer of 2014 who put down 33 of 37 save opportunities and held hitters to a career-low .195 average suddenly can’t get people out. It was hardly just this game. For the season now, opponents are 9 for 25 at the plate, a .360 average. It’s early and all that, but the ominous combination of the lesser stuff and its impact on a team that needs every win it can get, whether in April or late October, that heightens this to an immediate worry.
And at the risk of repeating ad nauseum, the man doesn’t look right.
Just don’t suggest that to Hurdle and Melancon, both of whom have become increasingly irritated in recent days when the subject is raised, especially related to Melancon’s velocity.
Of course, I asked Hurdle about Melancon’s velocity after this game, anyway: “Well, I would say right now that we’re not seeing the crispness out of his pitches overall. You know, there’s been a bit of a velocity drop …”
The manager paused, then added, unsolicited, “There’s no injury. We’ve been through things. We’ve watched tape. There just doesn’t seem to be that sharpness.”
Thought he handled that OK.
Now, watch Melancon, and watch this the whole way through, uncomfortable as it is:
Ow.
Doesn’t exactly instill a whole lot of confidence at the moment, does it?
And the moment matters more for the closer more than any role in baseball. Liz, Hughes, Watson, anyone in the pen, anyone else on the 25-man, really, can mess up without consequence. When the closer messes up, it’s lights out. No fallback. Nowhere to hide. No Plan B.
Or, hang on a minute … is there?
(OK, now, finally.)
Hurdle is more open than most old-school managers to new ideas, but he clings to the closer concept, one that’s seen as terribly dated by the stats community, as if his integrity were on the line.
Three-run lead or less?
Closer time. Have to get that save.
Any other situation?
Closer sits and watches.
Well, that manifested in another way on this night. Because even though Melancon clearly was being hit hard and lacking command, Hurdle didn’t call to the pen until after the save was lost with the 8-8 tie.
I double-checked that with Arquimedes Caminero, the reliever who got that call.
And hey, while in the neighborhood, I thought I’d take this flamethrowing 27-year-old right-hander’s temperature as it related to taking on the ninth inning regularly.
Arquimedes Caminero has struck out seven, walked three in 6 2/3 innings this season. — GETTY
He has absolutely devastating stuff, not least of which is 101 mph heat he throws effortlessly — as well as off-the-charts makeup. His only shortcoming, and the reason the Marlins casually sent him to Pittsburgh for cash over the winter, has been control. But the noted magician Raymond Searage the Great uncovered delivery hitches early in spring, and the strikes and strikeouts have flowed freely.
He’s been far from perfect, with four runs and five hits over his 6 2/3 innings, but the seven strikeouts have been sizzling, the kind any team would fantasize about getting game after game from a closer.
“The ninth inning?” Caminero replied to the initial question with a soft smile and equally soft Dominican accent. Reminds me a lot of Salomon Torres, actually. “Yes, I can do that because I know that I’m just going to be me. That’s what I love about being there. My teammates, Ray, the coaches … they’re not asking me to be go out there and be great every time. It’s not the same pressure. They just want me to do my job. And if I do it well, I can be great.”
Did I mention the makeup? Or how Searage gushes over the intelligence?
“What about you? You’re a reporter,” Caminero continued in a rare bit of sportswriter/athlete turnabout. “If you go to work every day thinking you’ve got to get the biggest story out there …”
Right. You’ll fail, I came back. All the time.
“Yes! And because that was your only goal, you won’t do anything else.”
But if I show up, work hard, ask lots of questions …
“One day, you’ll get your big story.”
Maybe that just happened.