95% Chance Gregg Blows This Save...

[Sports Guy]

Both his blown saves came against NY last year including a walk-off HR to Swisher.

Who cares? He is still your best pitcher out there.

[royalstillman]

I wish Buck would look at Gregg's and Gonzo's bubblegum cards.

[eddie83]

Another horrendous argument.

Gregg isn't that good...He has been the same pitcher for years..Gives up a lot of walks, a good amount of homers, k's a good amount, throws innings and is durable. He has value but he isn't really all that good.

He isn't a reliever that distinguishes himself from most of the league. IIRC, there were well over 30 relievers, who threw at least 50 innings last year, who had a better ERA than Gregg...and that is just in the AL.

Who the hell does distinguish themself? You honestly think getting outs earlier in the game is the same as the 9th inning? Thornton has had good years and this year as a closer he stinks.

[Sports Guy]

He didn't do anything wrong from a mental approach standpoint and you know that. Yes, he threw a pitch that caught too much plate. It was the very first pitch. That happens regularly. Most teams are taking first pitch there, though I agree that I wouldn't expect Posada to do so. I'm not saying I'm happy about it, but I don't think acting like he did something wrong is the correct reaction.

We lost. It sucks. But only Berken and Gonzalez deserve any blame tonight. Both walked their first hitter.

Saying Gregg doesn't deserve any blame is just horrible.

The bottom line is you have to know that Posada is going up there looking for a fastball and you groove one in the middle of the plate.

But you are right, don't blame Gregg...Blame Buck for making the horrible decision to actually trust Gregg to protect that lead against the heart of the Yankees lineup.

[eddie83]

Who cares? He is still your best pitcher out there.

Why? You don't sign Gregg to a 2 year deal and then the first chance he gets not give him the ball.

[SrMeowMeow]

I still don't understand why Koji wasn't pitching the 9th. Or the 10th.

[Sports Guy]

Who the hell does distinguish themself? You honestly think getting outs earlier in the game is the same as the 9th inning? Thornton has had good years and this year as a closer he stinks.

This doesn't even make sense.

Sorry but its pretty clear you want to ignore stats and common sense...No sense in further discussing this with you.

You are just wrong, plain and simple.

[BaltimoreTerp]

I want someone to tell me who the shutdown closer is we should of aquired? JJ had a chance to close two years ago and was terrible. Koji blew two games against NY last year.

Well, if he blew two games that means everything. Not the fact that he was lights out against everyone else, and did save a game against the Yankees (and pitched the tenth inning in another).

[Emory Eagle]

I wonder, do the O's blow more than their share of these types of games to the Yanks and Sox? At least compared to other team's results versus them?

[SrMeowMeow]

Saying Gregg doesn't deserve any blame is just horrible.

The bottom line is you have to know that Posada is going up there looking for a fastball and you groove one in the middle of the plate.

But you are right, don't blame Gregg...Blame Buck for making the horrible decision to actually trust Gregg to protect that lead against the heart of the Yankees lineup.

Agreed. Gregg got beat. He wasn't awful, but he got beat. He threw what he threw and he cost us the game. The loss rests most heavily on Gregg's shoulders.

Now, I don't want to crucify him based on one game, but in this one game, he blew it. And people have a right to be mad that he sucked.

[Stotle]

He didn't do anything wrong from a mental approach standpoint and you know that. Yes, he threw a pitch that caught too much plate. It was the very first pitch. That happens regularly. Most teams are taking first pitch there, though I agree that I wouldn't expect Posada to do so. I'm not saying I'm happy about it, but I don't think acting like he did something wrong is the correct reaction.

We lost. It sucks. But only Berken and Gonzalez deserve any blame tonight. Both walked their first hitter.

I generally agree with this, though I think part of the issue with using Gregg in any important situation is that his fastball is imprecise, and not hard enough for him to necessarily get away with missing his spots. Not Gregg's fault at all, but he isn't a great relief option in a high leverage situation, in my opinion (of limited merit).

[Stotle]

Why? You don't sign Gregg to a 2 year deal and then the first chance he gets not give him the ball.

I think this would have been a perfect post if you had just typed the bolded.

[Sports Guy]

I still don't understand why Koji wasn't pitching the 9th. Or the 10th.

And here is another thing...Why would you warm up Koji and then not bring him in? It isn't smart to get Koji, of all pitchers, up in the pen, get him loose and then not use him.

[Sports Guy]

I think this would have been a perfect post if you had just typed the bolded.

LOL...exactly.

I mean, the best thing you can say about the signing was that we didn't sign Balfour and lose a pick. That's it.

[Sports Guy]

Honestly, and I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I think you're just more blame oriented than I am. Gregg threw a bad pitch. No doubt about it. I also agree that Posada is a dead red hitter so I probably start him offspeed. Wieters and Gregg were trying to throw the sinker. Aim middle, it drops and tails, hope he swings andhits the top. It didn't sink. It went a mile. It sucked. It wasn't a good pitch. That doesn't mean I think we should "blame" him. I place game when guys do things that aren't fundamentally smart. Gonzalez wasn't fundamentally smart in his inning.

BTW, I did think bringing Gonzalez in there was a pretty awful decision.

The blame on Gregg is that he really isn't that good.

Its not his fault Buck made an awful decision to bring him in or that AM made an even worse decision to sign him.