I don’t think that I can handle another appearance by lefty reliever Alex Torres. Lately, whenever I see him and that Martian baseball cap emerge from the bullpen, I cringe.
Last night, was the final straw for me. Forget the Ruben Tejada error in that four-run eighth inning, Torres was an absolute horror show. He’s been an embarrassment out there for the last three months, always making a situation more precarious than how he inherited it..
His entire body language over his last 5-6 appearances have especially turns me off. He looks defeated from the moment he steps onto that mound and before he even throws the first pitch. This is not a guy you want out there while you’re battling for a wild card spot or the division.
Beat reporter Jared Diamond pointed out something very interesting last night. You have to go all the way back to May 23 for the last time Torres made an appearance without allowing at least a hit or a walk. That’s 17 straight relief appearances he’s put at least one runner on base for those of you who are keeping count.
At first I blamed Terry Collins for most of his awful performances, because the clueless manager keeps using Torres as a lefty specialist even though his OPS is almost 300 points higher against left-handed batters. (.582 OPS vs .862 OPS)
But it goes far beyond that now, I mean the guy has a 1.584 WHIP for crying out loud. He has a 5.59 FIP and a 7.1 walk rate to go with that WHIP. Do you have any idea how incredibly awful those numbers are? He’s not providing any relief, he’s dousing gasoline on the fire.
In his 36 relief appearances he has had just eight clean performances. Eight… Out of 36! And six of them were back in April.
I’m sorry, but it’s time to pull the plug on this Alex Torres experiment… I would much rather have Logan Verrett back than this clown, and Eric Goeddel is nearing a return as well.
And if Collins insists on a lefty specialist – which Torres has never been in his career – I wish he’d turn to Hansel Robles who like Torres has reverse splits.
The rookie right-hander has allowed a .702 OPS against righty batters this year and a miniscule .516 against left-handed batters. And it’s not a fluke. Robles has had reverse splits throughout his minor league career.
In fact, the guy who should be managing this team, Pedro Lopez, used Robles to get out tough lefty batters when he managed him in Binghamton. He was also responsible for converting Robles from a starter to a reliever and eventually a closer. Ah… the things you learn by reading MMO. 🙂
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