Time for a new closer, Johnson's time has come

[Blizzard1090]

The guy made one bad pitch. He gave up 1 ER. He was much better than yesterday. He's close.

The problem is that tied the game up and led to our defeat. Your job is to protect the lead and when only giving up one ER is viewed as good,that's a problem.

[Orioles5]

Jim Johnson......Opposing batters hit over 270 against him last year I think its higher now and he frequently was bailed out after struggling to close out the games. Fly balls are way up as are HR's. That's not good for a sinker ball pitcher. Hes not typically an overpowering pitcher but usually rely's on his movement and location. The same has only gotten worse this year.A few points

1) Just my opinion but I think Buck has placed him in a position to fail by relying on him way way to much. You know the saying go to the well once too much and too often..It runs dry eventually! Sometimes you need to manage to protect your guys. IE Pedro....etc etc Arietta

2) He frequently shakes off" Weider's calls for certain pitches....tonight he did and they hit him all 3 times.

3) I say go with your "Hot hand" pitcher of the week.What was wrong with keeping O'day in there?

4) Who cares if we have the same guy closing out the games?

5) Isn't it better strategy if we keep-em guessing on who we send out there for the save on any given night?

6) Don't we stand a chance for JJ to "burn out" before the end of the season by over- using him anyway?

7) What happened to him mixing up his pitches? Its almost all Fastballs....Where's the Curve? Ok so he threw the Change 3 times but its at 90mph?

More general observations:

8) Why don't we run more with 0 or 1 out and a man on base with speed and a not so great throwing catcher? Again I think Buck places his guys in a position to fail. I want them to play aggressive and play to Win. Don't simply play to keep the lead. They did that a couple times last week but then its like he gets away from it or forgets...

9) I just don't know about him sometimes. And what about that bad call with the pick-off move. He just sat there and did nothing..His players were upset. He should have gone out there and layed it on the Ump Bigtime. We would've got the other call go our way if he would've. So we get nothing once again. I'm sorry but I see what I see and I see a guy who's just not being assertive enough for me. Hes depending on his players way too much.

10) We need to manufacture runs! Maybe sometimes you need to say your player stunk and maybe that makes them mad and then they develop that killer mentality to do better aka Billy Martin-Reggie, Earl Weaver-Palmer-Demspey......etc etc...What I see is a manager who lets his players manage themselves to a great extent. He's even said this dozens of times. I know Buck has their backs and hes loyal to his players and all but hes still in charge and thus needs to assert himself and take control like EW#4

Who knows but maybe hes 3 and out once again....Players managers don't typically last as time has shown.

[sfosfan]

Just to throw this out there: the famous 1971 O's had four 20-game winners who threw a combined 70 complete games and pitched an average 270 innings pitched. If the O's could fine just ONE starter who could be counted on for 200 innings it would make a world of difference. The lack of innings by the current starters has been a time bomb waiting to go off. I'm not going to throw JJ off the island yet because it's not fair to expect him to be perfect forever. Let JJ rest a bit and bring in Oday or Matusz to close out games once in a while. Even better, let the starter throw 120 pitches. Buck likes the versatility of players, well now lets see some in the closer role. It could only help.

[Knuckledragger]

JJ hasn't been the same since blowing those games in the playoffs. Everyone talks about 35 consecutive but forget to mention the postseason. Unacceptable in this division, can't happen. Yes its only May, but these games count. can't be working out the kinks in crucial situations. Egos need to be put aside , the W is more important. good teams aren't afraid to make changes. The way we are getting beat demoralizes everyone , including those guys in the dugout

[Malike]

JJ hasn't been the same since blowing those games in the playoffs. Everyone talks about 35 consecutive but forget to mention the postseason. Unacceptable in this division, can't happen. Yes its only May, but these games count. can't be working out the kinks in crucial situations. Egos need to be put aside , the W is more important. good teams aren't afraid to make changes. The way we are getting beat demoralizes everyone , including those guys in the dugout

Did Joe Maddon go with Rodney when we came back to 12-10 in that game?

[NewMarketSean]

I think Johnson needs to go on the DL with an "injury". Clear his mind, maybe get some work in Norfolk or Bowie. Until then, use situational guys.

[DrungoHazewood]

Just to throw this out there: the famous 1971 O's had four 20-game winners who threw a combined 70 complete games and pitched an average 270 innings pitched. If the O's could fine just ONE starter who could be counted on for 200 innings it would make a world of difference. The lack of innings by the current starters has been a time bomb waiting to go off. I'm not going to throw JJ off the island yet because it's not fair to expect him to be perfect forever. Let JJ rest a bit and bring in Oday or Matusz to close out games once in a while. Even better, let the starter throw 120 pitches. Buck likes the versatility of players, well now lets see some in the closer role. It could only help.

Oh yea... nothing will solve the O's problems quicker than insisting the starters pitch to exhaustion. I know last night's game would have been much better if Freddy had pitched another 2-3 innings when he was gassed.

I have a more realistic solution: get a time machine and have the O's current starters face the mediocre lineups of 1970, chock full of Belangers and .575 OPS defense-only players and a pitcher batting 9th.

[SpinJr]

We're all angry. This is the most pissed I've been in a long time. I'm just saying you can do better. The game thread is reactionary by definition, but at least chime in on occassion when things go well. Or just refrain from throwing every player under the bus. It's a long ass season, man.

But hey, thanks for acknowledging. And at least you're trying.

Oof.. I need to cool off myself. Sigh.

I glad we get to see a range of emotions on here. The game threads always get a pass from me because I totally get it. Certainly there are a few trolls here and there but for the most part I'd bet some of the most asinine posts are from some of the most passionate fans. Last night this would have been my tread title.

Best we can all do is step away from the computer at times like that.

[Knuckledragger]

Exactly. Never saw Rodney.

[Dr. FLK]

Low leverage? Everyone can't pitch in low leverage. Strop belongs in low leverage too. Patton hasn't exactly been great either.

If we keep pitching like this, we'll have plenty of low leverage situations to go around.

[eddie83]

Did Joe Maddon go with Rodney when we came back to 12-10 in that game?

He threw 35 pitches the day before. JJ hasn't worked back to back games lately, he has had plenty of rest. Big difference.

[justice98]

Every other player on the field is allowed slumps, just so happens now are closer is in one. He'll snap out of it.

[harp6]

Because JJ doesn't strike out a lot of guys as a closer is supposed to, it's hard to watch him if he's even a little off.

Are closers suppose to strike out a lot of guys? I thought the object is to not allow players to score. JJ had a 1.02 whip last year. Many of those strikeout closers had whips higher than JJs which meant that they were allowing more runners on base to potentially score on a base hit. Because he is a groundball pitcher, many of those baserunners get eliminated by double plays.

[Malike]

He threw 35 pitches the day before. JJ hasn't worked back to back games lately, he has had plenty of rest. Big difference.

Rodney was up in the pen warming. Apparently, Maddon thought he was available but didn't use him in a tight game just because he's the "closer".

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[Malike]

Why was he warming? If Rodney was rested, he would have pitched.

No clue, he was up in the pen, though. Maddon didn't use him, though.

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