Jim Johnson Today, 2013

[Tx Oriole]

I have to laugh, JJ isnt going anywhere. Last i checked he leads the league in saves.

Buck will get him thru this.

Yes he will. JJ is scuffling but the whole team is. IMO

[Winter]

Depends what the Tigers would give up at this point, but I think JJ needs moved into an alternate role ASAP

[Tx Oriole]

The worst part is all the espn baseball geeks kept predicting Johnson would regress.

While not even the staunchest O's fan would predict him to repeat last years performance, what he's done in the first half so far is extremely disappointing. The games he's been blowing haven't been extremely tough......he's been blowing very winnable games.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you play matchup baseball for 8 inning to great effect, why abandon it in the last inning with everything on the line? Closer by committee is the answer.......we don't have Kimbrel or chapman......play the matchups all the way through and win the games.

Losses like tonight and the white sox Dunn walk off are going to keep us out of the playoffs if we don't get smarter about how we finish games.

We could honestly have one of, if not THE, best record in baseball if not for blowing games in the last inning or two. While I know every team blows at least a few games late, I'd love to see where we'd be vs. other teams in 7 or 8 inning games.

Extremely disappointing and the worst part is, most of us who've been paying attention can see Johnson isn't remotely himself. Buck has to dl him and let him rest his arm. They did it for strop, we've got to do it for Jim. He's running on fumes and yet we keep resting the world on his shoulders in close games. Give him 2-3 weeks and bring him back healthy for the second half and I think well see the old Jim Johnson.

I am sure Buck will do what needs to be done. IMO

[bmoreosfan]

Jim Johnson is not going anywhere. He is the closer for the rest of the season. I don't know why everyone thinks that Buck is going to pull him. Clearly, Buck stated last night that he is more worried about the offense. Johnson can blow five more games and he'll still going to be there in the closer role this September. Unfortunately, the Orioles will be out of playoff contention by then.

[brooksfrankjim]

What makes Johnson's blown saves even worse is he doesn't just let the opponent tie the game, he loses the game when he blows the save. I recall the first time JJ was used as a closer and he struggled. I think he was something like 10 for 16 in save situations. JJ was great last year during the regular season but he was awful in the playoffs and has been awful this year.

I make JJ our 7th inning situational guy and put Hunter in the closer role.

[mlaws9]

Jim Johnson is not going anywhere. He is the closer for the rest of the season. I don't know why everyone thinks that Buck is going to pull him. Clearly, Buck stated last night that he is more worried about the offense. Johnson can blow five more games and he'll still going to be there in the closer role this September. Unfortunately, the Orioles will be out of playoff contention by then.

Might be wishful thinking, but I think maybe the worm will have finally turned, in the way Buck moves forward. At this point the confluence of the ghastly numbers and the experience of the team's fortunes always just so happening to plummet whenever he enters a ballgame -- even when he gets out alive, it's usually harrowing -- just seems like too much. To the point I'd have to question Showalter if he really does stay the course and keep tossing him out there. I understand the whole thing with dancing with the one who brung ya and not wanting to destroy confidence, but after a certain point what destroys confidence is the sight of other teams licking their chops whenever your number comes up.

Of course, this provides a perfect opportunity to do what the team ought to be doing anyway: closing by committee. Everybody saves! If you've got the hot hand and ample rest and the right matchup profile, you're in.

(More on this in today's recap, btw.)

[weams]

Might be wishful thinking, but I think maybe the worm will have finally turned, in the way Buck moves forward. At this point the confluence of the ghastly numbers and the experience of the team's fortunes always just so happening to plummet whenever he enters a ballgame -- even when he gets out alive, it's usually harrowing -- just seems like too much. To the point I'd have to question Showalter if he really does stay the course and keep tossing him out there. I understand the whole thing with dancing with the one who brung ya and not wanting to destroy confidence, but after a certain point what destroys confidence is the sight of other teams licking their chops whenever your number comes up.

Of course, this provides a perfect opportunity to do what the team ought to be doing anyway: closing by committee. Everybody saves! If you've got the hot hand and ample rest and the right matchup profile, you're in.

(More on this in today's recap, btw.)

Right here.

[Rene88]

I woke up and I am still angry. I love JJ but enough already. That loss made me so angry. Awful awful loss.

[russ snyder]

Nice tantrum. I understand that you have to let off some steam when you are struggling, but I'm real glad no one was walking by when he let that bat fly. It was good to see him put a good swing on the helmet though. He probably would have missed it if it was a little lower and outside.

[SeaBird]

Showalter was all BS in the post game. When asked about Johnson's performance, he ignores the fact that Johnson has 6 blown saves now, glosses over Johnson's lack of command and deflects his response to hang the loss on the offense.

"I'm concerned about the way that we swung the bats tonight. There's a lot of factors that go into it. We've got some guys who can't pitch every day and some guys can. Certain things will work themselves out. Everybody will seek their level and figure it out."

And then the good old "tip your hat" line:

"Obviously, publicly, and rightfully so, you've got to tip your hat to the people we're seeing. They're pitching real well. But certainly, we face good pitching every night. That's why they're in the big leagues. We've got to figure out a way to do a little bit better job with it."

Wieters said if the Orioles are up by 1 run today they'd welcome Johnson coming into the game! Really? I know he's got to be the good teammate but there is no way he believes that.

And as long as I'm venting, I have a nit to pick. How the heck does an Orioles player get named as "The AT&T Player of the Game" after an absolutely crushing loss? Gonzalez was given the honor. Are you kidding me? Nova went the whole game, got the win and retired 23 of 25 Orioles batters he faced the rest of the way after the Wieters HR in the 2nd. He was clearly the player of the game as he was masterful in silencing the Orioles bats. If they insist on having the award, change the name of it to "The AT&T Orioles Player of the Game".

Or how about this? When you lose, there are no heroes; only goats. And last night's "AT&T Goat of the Game" was Johnson with an honorable mention top Showalter.

End of rant.

[russ snyder]

Showalter was all BS in the post game. When asked about Johnson's performance, he ignores the fact that Johnson has 6 blown saves now, glosses over Johnson's lack of command and deflects his response to hang the loss on the offense.

"I'm concerned about the way that we swung the bats tonight. There's a lot of factors that go into it. We've got some guys who can't pitch every day and some guys can. Certain things will work themselves out. Everybody will seek their level and figure it out."

And then the good old "tip your hat" line:

"Obviously, publicly, and rightfully so, you've got to tip your hat to the people we're seeing. They're pitching real well. But certainly, we face good pitching every night. That's why they're in the big leagues. We've got to figure out a way to do a little bit better job with it."

Wieters said if the Orioles are up by 1 run today they'd welcome Johnson coming into the game! Really? I know he's got to be the good teammate but there is no way he believes that.

And as long as I'm venting, I have a nit to pick. How the heck does an Orioles player get named as "The AT&T Player of the Game" after an absolutely crushing loss? Gonzalez was given the honor. Are you kidding me? Nova went the whole game, got the win and retired 23 of 25 Orioles batters he faced the rest of the way after the Wieters HR in the 2nd. He was clearly the player of the game as he was masterful in silencing the Orioles bats. If they insist on having the award, change the name of it to "The AT&T Orioles Player of the Game".

Or how about this? When you lose, there are no heroes; only goats. And last night's "AT&T Goat of the Game" was Johnson with an honorable mention top Showalter.

End of rant.

It's easier for Buck to make it a team loss by pointing out the lack of offense yesterday. Everyone saw the blown save, what good what it do to publicly kick a guy when he's down? All that will do is let the other players know that the manager won't hesitate to blame specific players for a loss. This is a surefire way for the manager to lose the clubhouse.

I have no problem with him acknowledging the effort of the other team. Nova was pretty much dominant, and you even acknowledge that he should have been named the player of the game.

I know that you are ranting, but perhaps Weiters really has faith in Johnson. After all, until recently the guy has been a pretty successful pitcher for the Orioles.

Orioles fans vote and I doubt that they'll ever vote for a Yankee player. You're correct. Nova was the player of the game win or lose IMO.

Kind of hard to argue that Johnson was not the goat last night.

End of response to your rant.

[weams]

...

I have no problem with him acknowledging the effort of the other team. Nova was pretty much dominant, and you even acknowledge that he should have been named the player of the game.

...

Orioles fans vote and I doubt that they'll ever vote for a Yankee player.

Think the Yankee fans ever vote an Oriole as their "Player"? No. Never. So I really don't have a problem with the MASN views picking an Oriole. I am not in any way indignant at the lack of intellectual integrity in the choices they make.

[russ snyder]

Think the Yankee fans ever vote an Oriole as their "Player"? No. Never. So I really don't have a problem with the MASN views picking an Oriole. I am not in any way indignant at the lack of intellectual integrity in the choices they make.

I'm sure that they don't. I've never voted, mainly because I do not care to. Like yourself, I really don't put a whole lot of thought into the choices that the viewing audience makes.

[crawjo]

All this doesn't matter Johnson had a 1 run lead in 9th they did enough to win.

No closer will convert every save opportunity handed to him. I'm not making excuses for Johnson, I'm just pointing out that the team as a whole didn't really deserve to win that game, regardless of whether Johnson got the save or not.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Since last year's playoff series against the Yanks, he hasn't been the same. Sure, he leads the AL in saves, but has not been anywhere near effective as last year. When he came into the game last night, I had zero confidence. The problem is: What do you do with him? Does he need:

A. To be demoted and put in non pressure situations to build his confidence.

B. Nothing, just keep running him out there till he fixes it

C. Traded while there is still some value in him

D. DL stint with some weird made-up injury in the hopes of getting back his groove while on "rehad" work

E. Other ideas?