Opinion: The Ebb and Flow of Heilman
Last night, Aaron Heilman took over in the eighth inning, replacing Duaner Sanchez, who had pitched a near-perfect seventh.
The first batter reached base against Heilman, due to a bobbled ball by Jose Reyes, who then moved to second after Heilman hit the next batter with a fastball in the back. Kosuke Fukudome hit a single off Heilman to load the bases.
However, Heilman got the next two batters out, putting himself one strike away – twice – from ending the inning, before letting up a two-run single to Ronny Cedeno.
Willie randolph replaced Heilman with Jorge Sosa, who immediately have up a two-run home run to Felix Pie.
…if you went to the kitchen for a drink, you would have missed the entire explosion…it happened so quickly…
Aaron Heilman, talking to reporters after the game:
“I put myself in a jam and tried to make a pitch and, unfortunately, I didn’t get it in far enough. He was able to put some contact on it and get it through the infield. You’re one pitch away from getting out of the inning, and unfortunately I didn’t make that pitch.”
…a) i’m glad he didn’t throw reyes under the bus, even though it’s jose’s error that started the slide…b) he’s right…he’s not making the pitch he needs to make…he had cedeno down in the count, with two outs, yet lost him, ultimately serving up a meaty pitch over the plate…
…i’m starting to realize that there is an Ebb and Flow of Heilman that must be acknowledged by the team’s management…in that, he’ll be great for several weeks than become a total mess, then be great again, then be a mess, and back and forth he’ll go…which does not play well with a manager like willie, who sees the down time as a moment to test his faith, a time when he must trust his players in an effort to bring them out of the slump…which may be good, i mean maybe that method is what resurrects heilman during his down time…then again, what is being lost while waiting for aaron to get it together, i.e. what is the opportunity cost…
…smarter men than i will decide how best to use heilman…but, it doesn’t take a genius to realize how streaky he is, and only a fool would ignore it…
