Charlie Wiegert writes:
It’s been quite a battle, and just to be in a position to win is remarkable. I didn’t really think Steve Gardner or I had a chance to catch Andy Behrens a month ago, and I was focused on second. My team needed a lot of work during the year to keep it in contention, mainly because I came out of the draft short on relief pitching and heavy on stolen bases.
With just this final week to go, I took a look at the standings Sunday night and tried to see where I might be able to pick up a point or two. The categories where it looked like some movement could happen between the three of us on offense was HR’s, RBI’s and AVG, so I decided to drop a non productive Casey Blake for Yuni Betancourt. After Blake’s two home runs yesterday, that might not have been a smart move! I need 6 HR’s to pick up a point, and I’ve fallen 17 RBI’s back, so I doubt anything will change there. Batting Average is a real deadlock. Going into today, I’m tied with Doug Dennis at .2742 and Gardner is at .2741, so that one point I need could come if my guys can hit .310 for the week.
Pitching has been an effort all year long, and I’ve been chasing saves for months. After picking up Heath Bell and Matt Lindstrom in trades July 5th I started making up some ground. Storen helped a little, Parnell was a bust, but Rodney got me a few, and then Coke got me a couple. I was playing 6 RP’s for 3 weeks, but holding my own in wins and strike outs. So going into this last week I had 62 saves, 2 ahead of Minnix and 5 behind Kastner. I thought playing just Bell, Franklin and Storen I could stay ahead of Minnix (who has Wagner and Axford), and I couldn’t catch Kastner. So I loaded up on starters and to try to catch Gardner in wins, who I was two behind. I played Lannan and Slowey for two starts, Daniel Hudson, who has been hot, Lester, Kershaw and Liriano. Tim Hudson, who had been getting rocked and was losing a day of rest, scared me, so I left him on the bench.
What a dumb job of managing that turned out to be, as Slowey gave up 6 runs in less than two innings, and single handidly lost me two points in ERA and one in WHIP with the performance. I’d be in first right now if I went with Hudson instead of Slowey, although I’m sure everyone could say if I did this instead of that, they’d be in first. And it looks like Kershaw is done for the year, missing his final start.
So I need great performances out of Lester, Liriano and Daniel Hudson, Slowey to rebound with his last start, and Lannan to finish strong to have a shot. Looks like Sunday will be a big day for me!