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Following last night’s win over the Nationals, Willie Randolph had the following to say while speaking to reporters about:
…Johan Santana, and whether he earned his money tonight…
“Well, no, he should have had the cycle…(laugh)…he would have really earned his money then…He did enough. He pitched a good ball game, settled in and did a superb job.”
…Carlos Delgado, who hit sixth in the batting order…
“CD hit the ball sharp. You know, every one really needs to be guarded when they start talking about guys being finished and done and slumps of that nature. We’ve talked about this before, in that, it’s not always the end results, it’s not always 0–for-this and 0–for-that. He’s hitting the ball pretty well, so it was a good night for him. He’s gonna heat up. He’s gonna have a good year for us.”
…playing a more small-ball style tonight…
“Tonight we manufactured some things. We used our speed. I had the guys on contact in normal situations, because sometimes you’ve got to just force it a bit. We’re always gonna come at your with speed, but tonight we just tried to push it a little harder…Sometimes you’ve got to do that to get yourself going.”
Santana really carried the team last night! We got lucky with some of our runs, but Santana getting himself out of trouble almost every inning wasn’t luck at all.
I just purchased tickets to tonight’s game (section 109U). I hope to see some of you there!
Yes exactly. We had alot of breaks in this game. Santana did what he was supposed to and thats all that matters. Just hope OP can follow suit
Couple notes. Reyes needs to act like a leadoff hitter and take some pitches. I agree Matt, Reyes is swinging at everything, especially when runners are on base. Patience Jose. As for Delgado, I agree with Willie. He hit the ball well, just at people. He hit a grounder up the middle, which would be a hit for anyone else, but again there is the shortstop playing behind the bag. Just bad luck for Delgado.
reyes, men on, seems to get caught up in the moment, and just flails at the first thing he sees, in his excitement, which usually ends up right at the shortstop.
the problem with Delgado is he seems to have lost the lift in his swing.. he can’t even hit the sac fly we need (and he’s the big guy, that’s kind of his job)… When he does get a hit, it’s a line drive, not a towering shot at the wall. Maybe this is mechanics, and his new approach, but being the big slow guy, with the shift on, it just doesn’t cut it..
He also got a hit because he hit the ball to SS but Zimmerman was playing there and he’s no SS…
The shift seems to end up evening out with hits gained and hits lost so far this year.
I wonder if Milledge plays more shallow when Luis Castillo or Jamie Moyer is batting?
It’s not bad luck, it’s simple defensive strategy for the opposing team. Everytime Delgado is up they pull that infield shift to the right. So he’s bound to hit the ball *at* somebody.
If he could just learn to hit the ball the other way, he’d get on base a lot more often.
I like Church in the 5 spot and when Alou returns that would push Delgado to the 7 spot. Hopefully he can get it going a little there with no pressure. 20 HR and 75 RBI from that spot is great but from the 5 spot its horrible.
I think when Alou returns, it pushes Castillo to the 7-8 spot, with Church going to #2, and Alou at #5….Delgado would stay #6
Again, would you rather have Delgado 6th or 7th? I would much rather trust that Castillo can do the job of a #2 hitter than put Delgado in an RBI spot. a string of Wright, Beltran, Church, Alou, Delgado, Schnieder is not an easy 4-8 at all.
obviously meant to say 3-8.
I like that Delgado’s nickname is “CD.” Much like a compact disc, Delgado is pretty much obsolete.
good one…
“Sometimes you’ve got to do that to get yourself going.”
Very true Willie.
And I don’t think Delgado is done. My line-up (once Alou returns)
Reyes
Church
Wright
Beltran
Alou
Delgado
Schneider
Castillo
P
That’s S, L, R, S, R, L, L, S, [P]
Not too shabby. Even putting Castillo 7 and Schneider 8 would work out well.
I can see that lineup but I still think we can get more use out of Castillo in the 2 spot and Church in an RBI spot.
Reyes
Castillo
Wright
Beltran
Church
Alou
Delgado
Schneider
S,S,R,S,L,R,L,L
i agree with this lineup only because church is going to have more protection with alou behind him. If slappy can get on the ball we would be solid through alou. Now as far as delgado there i still think he brings some intimidation and that will help alou. I think this is the order we will have when alou comes back.
I posted the same thought below before I even read your post. I agree this is likely to be the line up, and it does work for th emost part. Key of course is Slappy doing a decent job in the 2 hole.
Although pretty much ever since he arrived last year, Reyes has regressed. COincidence?
Is it also a coincidence that whoever Church hits behind has a big day? In the games Church hit 2 … Reyes was on fire. Last night Church hits behind Beltran, and Beltran smokes the ball. These guys need protection.
Castillo was good last night … he actually turned on a fastball and pulled it. Lets see if he can do that on a consistent basis, but I still would like to see Church hit 2 and Alou hit 5 when he comes back.
Would you rather have Delgado hitting 6th or 7th? I trust Castillo to hit in the 2 spot more than I do Delgado to hit in the 6 spot.
Delgado 6th or 7th really doesn’t make a difference. Besides, Willie won’t bat him 7th … he’ll see it as too much of a shot at Delgado’s “confidence”.
You were prob. one of the ones that said he would never move him out of the 4 spot for Beltran/Wright, then never out of the 5 spot for Church, then never out of the 6 spot for Alou.
I’m sorry, did you hear me say that or do you just assume. You know the expression.
The fact is, Willie may at some point move him to hit 7th … but that won’t come anytime soon. If you pay attention to how Willie does things, you’ll see my point.
Posted this yesterday but lets try again:
Reyes-S
Church-L
Wright-R
Beltran-S
Alou-R
Delgado-L
Castillo-S
Schneider-L
Great for Church, bc with Wright behind him, he’ll get pitches to hit whether Reyes is on base or not.
Plus the way the lineup is set, a pitcher can’t have the advantage to more than one batter in a row. Should the other team bring in a righty against 3-4-5, then you are pitching to Beltran’s power side (.513 slg over the last 3 year, compared to .491 as a RHB. A .22 point increase)
If a lefty comes in against 6-7-8, you are facing Castillo from the right side, where he is much better…check out his 3 year stats: .313/.370/.453
“We’ve talked about this before, in that, it’s not always the end results.”
This is a good point. If you ignore the “end results,” 2007 wasn’t all that bad after all!
I just looked at a couple of things and this shows how early it still is and how things are misleading this early.
We are on pace right now to win 89 games and be 16 games over .500. If we win tonight we are on pace for 93 wins and 24 games over. :)
yea and Heilman, Sosa, and Joe Smith are still on pace to be seeing Dr. Andrews in August…
True, I am just saying it’s so early.
I’m in agreement. Obviously those guys wont make 110 appearances this year. And obviously the extrapolated W-L record is so fluid it doesnt tell us much right now. A nice 3 game winning streak adds about 12-15 wins onto the projection at this point.
I’m getting sick and tired of watching Castillo not swing the bat!!! Castillo looks like he is up to walk at every at bat… Granted he takes a a strike. But with a 3-1 count man on 2nd, how do u watch a fastball right down broadway?? Pitches are well aware of this. This is over and over again.. Somebody please tell Castillo to be more aggresive.. He has David Wright batting behind him.. Hes going to get alot of good pitches to hit. TAKE ADVANTAGE LUIS!!!!
That fastball was not right down Broadway – it was a good tailing pitch on the outside corner…Castillo did a good job last night, and the night before that too, for that matter. I’m convinced after last night’s game that Degaldo is the root of all problems in this lineup, not Castillo. Yesterday, in spots where Delgado would normally pop out or strikeout and kill the rally, Church came through. Castillo is going to be fine in the 2 hole, and Church is going to do a fine job in the 5 spot.
I know its a vote of confidence, but Delgado IS done. Castillo maybe not, but Carlos ran on fumes last year and is on empty this year.
It is fine that Willie thinks Delgado is swinging the bat well, and the results will come. Porbably also the only thing he could say right now.
As long as he leaves him down in the order, he can say anything he wants to.
So, if he does heat up and regain some of his former production, great for the team, and move him up. If the results never come, then you excise him from the line up.
CHurch 5th and Alou 6th could work nicely, especailly against a RH pitcher, maybe flip them for a lefty.
batting him 7th and behind Alou could be the best situation. Alou doesnt need the protection as he is a hacker and wont let the one good pitch to hit get past him. Once Delgado reaches that low in the lineup its put up or go home time. He isnt a catcher or a SS, so his can more easily be replaced as a 1B/7 hitter.
I just like the balance of Beltran, Church, Alou, Delgado. If you flip them then you end up with 3 LH in a row.
As for Willie what was he supposed to say. Delgado is done, but we have to keep him in the lineup and I cant move him any further down yet.
without Alou a good lineup to use right now would be
Reyes
Pagan
DW
CB
Church
Delgado
Castillo and Schneider in either order,
P
I didnt like seeing Pagan hitting 8th last night, but it seems to work as he got leadoff chances and acted like a leadoff man infront of Jose McPopup…
I would go
Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Church, Pagan, Delgado, Schneider until Alou gets back. I think Delgado in the 7 spot is the way to go.
oh eventually it will be, but they just dropped him to 6th, so he will hit there for a while.
I try and take into account what the team is going to do when I state my opinion. If it was up to me entirely I would platoon Marlon and Easley at 1B and tell Delgado to go learn how to hit with his current body, or to go get his old body back…
Not directed at anyone in particular, but I don’t hear too many Willie haters.
To all the Willie haters, a few suggestions:
-Dont always take what he’s saying literally. When he talks to the media a manager is now a politician. Giving the perception that everything is alright and will be alright.
-Willie can’t react as quickly as us, the fans, want him too. We cant demand that he keep Church in the 2 hole and bury Castillo after such a small sample size with each lineup. Lets see now how can he find out how Luis will react in the two hole, oh yeah he has to play him there.
-The man can only work with what he has. He didn;t have an arm to go to in the pen during the collapse and then you say its his fault. But in 06 when our pen was one of the best and permforming well, he’s a genius.
-These fans that react to Willie prematurely make me sick. Please think of the alternatives
Alternative: Bobby Valentine.
What is the love affair with Valentin, he is an average manager just like Willie. He had a good run but can’t even get a job in the US. The last season he was here his players quit on him and he constantly drew more and more attention to himself by doing media driven acts. He was better at strategy than Willie but still not better than an average manager overall.
HE CANT GET ANY MLB MANAGER JOB! Do you think he would chose Japan over TB, SF, Marlins, KC or anyother dead end job?
Willie does need to eventually go but not for Valentin or Acta.
You are absolutely right about Bobby V. drawing more attention to himself and I seriously think thats why he is staying in Japan, the media loves him.
The guy I would like as the manager would be Buck Showalter or Bob Brenly.
Just so no one complains about where all the anti-Willie people went when we were winning…
Willie must still be fired. We beat the Nationals with our ace…if we couldn’t do that, I don’t even know what to say. In ‘06, he wasn’t a genius, the team won in spite of his “great” decisions. He made the same mistakes then that he made in 2007 and the same ones that he is making in 2008. This team can not achieve its “potential” with him at the helm.
Agreed.
Let’s see how they play the Braves at Shea this weekend. That will give us a much better idea of where things are as we move into May and don’t have the best pitcher in baseball facing the worst team.
I’m going to all three games, and have a feeling I’ll be leaving happy after maybe one of them. People can call me whatever they want for saying that, but if they can take off the promotional Citi Field Shades they might have to admit that those games (especially the Smoltz one) don’t usually end well.
….and it really sucks to think about him going up against just about any other manager in a playoff series…why should we have such a disadvantage automatically…it often comes down to a couple of important decisions….
What never fails to make me blow a gasket is the asinine questions asked day after day by the reporters. I would have pulled a Hal McRae long ago.
Prematurely? You make it sound like he was just hired this offseason. He’s got 3-plus years of track record now!
I don’t want to hear anyone call for Omar’s head because of the Milledge trade…
Look at how everyone is loving on Church now– putting him 2nd, 6th, noting how much protection he gives to those around him in the batting order.
Fact is, Omar made a good trade there. Church is probably going to hit in the .280 range, with 15-20 HRs and may have close to 90 RBIs if he put in these “prominent” places in the lineup. Schneider is one of the best catchers in the NL, and if he can knock a few in here and there it will be a plus. Schneider knows how to call a game (see Santana’s comments) and can throw runners out. Where’s Paulie? Oh, I’m sorry, he’s hurt? Can’t wait until Ramon comes back (Matt, cue the Storm Trooper head) and we’ll have a nice combo at C.
bottom line is that Castillo and Delgado are DONE and this team needs another big bat to win the NL East!
I have not yet seem any indication that Milledge has a clue in the outfield.
.“CD hit the ball sharp. You know, every one really needs to be guarded when they start talking about guys being finished and done and slumps of that nature”…. Willie sounds like the Governator: and this and that, and all those types of things, and things of that nature…. haaaa