Are the Indians a bad team this year? Or are they a good team with a manager who is unable to motivate them?
Obviously the bullpen issues can not be blamed on anyone but the pitchers in those situations, but there is no reason that the pen should be this bad.
In Friday's Plain Dealer, there is an article that says Wedge call out bullpen for... being lousy or something like that. This is after blowing a 7-0 lead to lose 8-7. Wedge was also ejected in this game, but one has to believe he still has say in the pitching decisions. There is no excuse for not going to a closer in a game that you should win. Instead they bring in a guy who hasn't pitched in three months, as the Guinness guys would say BRILLIANT!
However I'm not putting last night's loss entirely on the bullpen. The Indians are 2-2 in their last 4 games, and the two that they have lost, they have lost by one run. However, in both of those games an outfielder's inability to hit a cut-off man cost the team two unearned runs.
Ben Francisco's throw was way off line four days ago, which allowed both runners to move up and both of the runners scored on a single.
Shin Soo Choo throwing from Right-Field to third base to try and get Evan Longoria out bounced over DeRosa/Peralta's head and allowed Longoria to score and whoever hit it to move up to second. That guy also scored.
So the bullpen may be sucking but there is a lack of fundamentals on this team and that needs to be blamed on Eric Wedge. I've never been a big Wedge fan and I think it's time to move on.
