We seriously need to consider another closer at this point

[eddie83]

How many times do you see a manager do this? Yanking a proven guy for another guy who is struggling, especially in May? Big picture has to be looked at here.

[oriolesmagic9]

Buck is going to start losing the clubhouse.

He is putting Jim Johnson above the other 24 guys.

Patton was ready in the bullpen and he let JJ give up the winning double to a punch and judy LH hitter that Patton would have ate up.

Does someone need to send the stats to Buck on what happens to a closer after his 20th pitch yet alone his 40th??

I think you missed this one. I doubt very much that Buck is losing the respect of anyone in that clubhouse. I'm guessing it's just the opposite. Wait and see.

[crawjo]

It's really amazing to watch what a few ninth inning meltdowns will do to people's moods on here. Johnson clearly didn't have his stuff today. Maybe Showalter should have pulled him for Patton, he probably hoped he could get through it since he needed only one more out and it was the Jays' ninth-place hitter at bat. It didn't work out and we lost.

I think what the Orioles actually need to do is figure out why Johnson's stuff has been off over the last couple of weeks. Work with him to try to get that natural sink back to his pitches. I don't see any great candidates to close in our bullpen right now. Honestly at this point I'd rather stick with Johnson and help him work through this than use O'Day or Hunter in the ninth. I want to be able to use O'Day for high-leverage situations in the seventh and eighth innings and I am not sold on Hunter's effectiveness.

Everybody needs to breathe a little bit and relax. Go outside, eat a sandwich, listen to some music.

[LookitsPuck]

Personally I think it's inexcusable that Showalter left Johnson out there to dry. 37 pitches after that embarrassment of an inning was all said and done. For reference, last season Jim Johnson threw 31 pitches in 1 inning....but only allowed 1 hit and a walk.

[SteveO]

Buck isn't making bad calls. He's ignoring reality. So are you apparently. It's right there in front of his face.

We dl'd strop for the exact same thing. But Johnson will not only get to keep pitching but he gets to keep closing too???

I'm sorry that's bad managing any way you slice it and no amount of "buck did this last year so he's always right" rationale will change that.

SMH. I clearly said all managers make bad calls. This turned out to be one of them.

Bad calls do not mean a guy should be fired blah blah blah

Buck gets it right a hell of lot more than he is wrong. If you cant see that then its you who is ignoring the reality in front of your face not me

[Flacco Machado]

How many times do you see a manager do this? Yanking a proven guy for another guy who is struggling, especially in May? Big picture has to be looked at here.

At what cost? Buck lost his job in New York, Arizona, and Texas. I love Buck and I hope that doesn't happen here, but he's not God. He can mistakes too. Big picture, yes, I get it. But, shaking things up now and putting Johnson in less pressurized situations so he find his curveball can help us down the road, as well. Hypothetically, would you feel comfortable pitching Johnson in Game 1 of the ALCS right now? Honestly?

[Jonesy10]

Sorry but Johnson sucks. He seriously needs to be given Pedro Strop treatment right now. He has 5 losses, 4 blown saves, is the worst closer in the MLB, and is the reason this team isn't 31-19 or at worst 30-20 right now. He's terrible right now, and he can't work out his kinks in the closer role. He's the worst pitcher by far on this roster right now, and you just can't afford to keep handing away games. We could easily miss the playoffs by 1 game this year, solely because JJ.

[Sanfran327]

I don't want to replace JJ for the remainder of the season, but I do want to see Buck go to someone else in save situations for a week or so. Put JJ in some non-leverage situations and let him get his mind right (like we did with Gregg last year) while the save committee locks up a few. Gotta right the ship, and JJ is way too good to give up on him. These four have stung because we've come to expect perfection from him, but if he gets back on track, we'll be talking about a 4 of 5 game bad stretch out of two full seasons. Not so bad when you take a breath and look at the big picture.

[Brooks The Great]

It's really amazing to watch what a few ninth inning meltdowns will do to people's moods on here. Johnson clearly didn't have his stuff today. Maybe Showalter should have pulled him for Patton, he probably hoped he could get through it since he needed only one more out and it was the Jays' ninth-place hitter at bat. It didn't work out and we lost.

I think what the Orioles actually need to do is figure out why Johnson's stuff has been off over the last couple of weeks. Work with him to try to get that natural sink back to his pitches. I don't see any great candidates to close in our bullpen right now. Honestly at this point I'd rather stick with Johnson and help him work through this than use O'Day or Hunter in the ninth. I want to be able to use O'Day for high-leverage situations in the seventh and eighth innings and I am not sold on Hunter's effectiveness.

Everybody needs to breathe a little bit and relax. Go outside, eat a sandwich, listen to some music.

You don't think they've already tried to figure it out?

If you don't see any great candidates in the bullpen to close, you're blind. O'Day and Hunter both have ERA's under 2.00 pitching in some high-leverage situations (O'Day much more so than Hunter).

It's perfectly fine to use either to close for a few series while Johnson works on his issues in low-leverage situations. Expecting him to work it out by trotting him out there in save situations any time soon is foolish and puts the team at risk for more losses.

[LookitsPuck]

Johnson needs to be removed from the closer role. He's the difference between 12 games over .500 and only 4. It's early enough to remove him from the closer role and put someone like O'Day or Hunter there. Ideally Hunter. Put Hunter in the 8th inning role if you need a "setup" man. Relegate Johnson to working in a role like Strop. 4 blown saves in 2 weeks is unacceptable.

[ChaosLex]

Rodney and Johnson are both pretty horrific at this point.

It just amazes me how fickle bullpens can be from year to year.

[AlbionHero]

At what cost? Buck lost his job in New York, Arizona, and Texas. I love Buck and I hope that doesn't happen here, but he's not God. He can mistakes too. Big picture, yes, I get it. But, shaking things up now and putting Johnson in less pressurized situations so he find his curveball can help us down the road, as well. Hypothetically, would you feel comfortable pitching Johnson in Game 1 of the ALCS right now? Honestly?

At the rate we're blowing games we should win, I'm not sure we should even be thinking playoffs right now. What we should be thinking is how to fix the ship NOW so we have a chance at even making a run later on.

[Ori-Al]

Would anybody be opposed to seeing what Arrieta a shot at closing?

Jake can't pitch from the stretch. The runner gets on, he's in trouble.

[Majopa]

Why don't coaches pitch to match ups in the ninth like they do with the rest of the game? Why does a team need to have one guy come in to close the game? If that pitcher is supposedly your best bullpen arm wouldn't it be better if he came in while there are runners on base than in a bases empty situation? Why do coaches tend to not pull a closer out of the game when they are clearly struggling?

In my opinion as saber metrics continue to grow in popularity the closer role will disappear.

[Three Run Homer]

JJ absolutely should have gotten the ball in the 9th. He was outstanding yesterday. But it was clear from his first batter that Johnson didn't have his good stuff today. When he's right, he's throwing his sinker at the knees at 94 for strikes on the corners. When he's off, he falls behind with his sinker, can't throw anything offspeed for strikes and is forced to throw four seamers to get them over, which are very hittable.

I blame JJ for the loss but I also blame Buck. True, he didn't have any good options once he decided that O'Day needed a day off, but it was obvious early in the inning that JJ didn't have his good stuff. Anyone would have been a better choice--even Patton or TJ.