10/12: Wang and the ALDS
Posted by: Patrick
Last night on WMAR, one of the things that we discussed was Chien-Ming Wang and the ALDS. I was asked if bringing him around to pitch game 4 on short rest was the right call. I feel it absolutely was and I supported it at the time. Hindsight says it was a mistake, but hindsight is worthless.
The fact of the matter is that Wang is our ace. Whether or not he is AN ace or not, he is OUR ace. He's our horse. You give him the ball in game 1 and you give him the ball in game 4, facing elimination, when your other option is Mike Mussina. It blew up in our face and we lost, but that doesn't mean it was the wrong call at the time.
I like how some people think that Wang just completely forgot how to pitch. He had 2 bad games. He's 38-13 with an ERA around 3.66 in the last 2 seasons. He was 1-1 in 2 postseason games with an ERA of 2.71 or so before these two games. He didn't suddenly turn into a pumpkin. He's 27 years old and, besides being the ace of a team with a payroll nearing $200 million, he'd be the ace for plenty of other teams. He's a high value player that has performed - a player we should be glad to have. So, let's keep these 2 games in perspective.
The fact of the matter is that Wang is our ace. Whether or not he is AN ace or not, he is OUR ace. He's our horse. You give him the ball in game 1 and you give him the ball in game 4, facing elimination, when your other option is Mike Mussina. It blew up in our face and we lost, but that doesn't mean it was the wrong call at the time.
I like how some people think that Wang just completely forgot how to pitch. He had 2 bad games. He's 38-13 with an ERA around 3.66 in the last 2 seasons. He was 1-1 in 2 postseason games with an ERA of 2.71 or so before these two games. He didn't suddenly turn into a pumpkin. He's 27 years old and, besides being the ace of a team with a payroll nearing $200 million, he'd be the ace for plenty of other teams. He's a high value player that has performed - a player we should be glad to have. So, let's keep these 2 games in perspective.
Nick wrote:
I would rather take a guy like Mussina, with a rested arm and take my chances. If we follow your line of logic, the Indians should have thrown Sabathia at us instead of bird Byrd. Instead, Byrd, with a rested arm beat us.