Last night, fresh off a three-game suspension that was ostensibly about giving the closer role to Bailey, Bobby V brought in Aceves to make a two-inning save. As is his style, Aceves was able to get out of the 8th with no problem but surrendered two runs and the lead in the 9th.All this even knowing that, according to Over the Monster,
Amongst relievers with 10 or more innings pitched for the Boston Red Sox this year, Alfredo Aceves ranks 10th of 11 in ERA, 9th of 11 in FIP and xFIP. He is not simply an ineffective closer indicative of a weak bullpen, one who would ideally be shifted to lower-leverage innings in a stronger unit. Alfredo Aceves has been a bad relief pitcher in an overall strong unit.There's a reason that basically nobody in the league uses closers to get two inning saves! In fact, the only reason I can think of for this move is that, in true Bobby V fashion, he was passive aggressively trying to teach Aceves a lesson - that he shouldn't be the closer. But I sure hope that childish reason wasn't the case...
I really, really hope that Valentine is gone at the end of the year. I see no reason for keeping him.
Regardless of whether or not Valentine had a reputation as a master tactician, it's not why the owners pushed to have him hired. They weren't trying to figure out how to win some extra 1-run games.
ReplyDeleteNo, Valentine was hired because the owners wanted to change the culture in the clubhouse. They thought that a headstrong, disciplinarian manager would be able to put a bunch of headstrong, self-entitled players in their places.
Has that experiment worked? Obviously not. The best that can be said for it is that it forced a number of ugly confrontations, which in turn provided the catalyst for the team to be overhauled.
There's a lot more work to be done, though, and most of it has to be done by the GM - not by a new manager and not by the owners.