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Jim Johnson the 2013 scapegoat.


mark_beckens

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Some here think he's the reason we will not make the playoffs. They forget that baseball is a team game and no one player ever wins or loses any game. Yet he seems to take the blunt of the blame. To the point that some are making these kind of excuses for his teammates!

At least Chen gave up his runs honestly, by making some bad pitches and getting hit

So based on this quote, any run that is given up honestly is ok. It's only the dishonest runs that get a pitcher blamed

The job of a pitcher coming out of the bullpen is to not allow a run. It's an un-written rule but is what is expected.

I'm confused, does that mean when a starter comes out of the bullpen to start a game, he's not expected to not give up runs? I thought the job of all pitchers was to not give up runs.

Has JJ pitched as well as last season, NO.

Has he had really bad stretches this season, YES.

Does he deserve some of the blame for losses and our mediocre season, YES. However, he is not the reason we won't make the playoffs, if we don't. He is part of the reason. Every player is responsible. Buck and the coaching staff are responsible. DD and the front office are responsible. They all share the blame for every loss and us not being good enough, not playing well enough to win the division, make the playoffs, and win a championship.

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Some here think he's the reason we will not make the playoffs. They forget that baseball is a team game and no one player ever wins or loses any game. Yet he seems to take the blunt of the blame. To the point that some are making these kind of excuses for his teammates!

So based on this quote, any run that is given up honestly is ok. It's only the dishonest runs that get a pitcher blamed

I'm confused, does that mean when a starter comes out of the bullpen to start a game, he's not expected to not give up runs? I thought the job of all pitchers was to not give up runs.

Has JJ pitched as well as last season, NO.

Has he had really bad stretches this season, YES.

Does he deserve some of the blame for losses and our mediocre season, YES. However, he is not the reason we won't make the playoffs, if we don't. He is part of the reason. Every player is responsible. Buck and the coaching staff are responsible. DD and the front office are responsible. They all share the blame for every loss and us not being good enough, not playing well enough to win the division, make the playoffs, and win a championship.

While this all may generally be true, it is also generally true that if this Orioles team had a league average closer they would be right in the thick of things. Or imagine if they had Koji how many wins they would have?? Johnson is a scapegoat for a reason. You would have to be living in the land of denial to think otherwise, period.

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Leading after 8 innings

Bal 67-9

Bos 73-3

NYY 64-4

TB 65-5

Cle 63-2

KC 65-2

TEX 71-1

Oak 71-2

Det 74-4

In the 9 Orioles losses when leading after 8 innings JJ blew the save in 8 of them. In 5 of those 8 blown saves he lost the game. Regardless of the other flaws of the team we have lead going into the 9th 76 times, tying Boston and only behind Detroit. It is kind of hard not to look directly at those numbers .

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Some here think he's the reason we will not make the playoffs. They forget that baseball is a team game and no one player ever wins or loses any game. Yet he seems to take the blunt of the blame. To the point that some are making these kind of excuses for his teammates!

qm.gif

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Those numbers are really sad, but I wonder what our average margin is for those leads after 8 innings versus other teams. It seems like our leads going into the 9th are always 1 or 2 runs only, whereas I have to think other teams do a better job building big leads after 8. This year, we have been a ridiculously unclutch offensive team and that translates to thin margins late.

All of that being said, a closer's job (whether up by 1 run or 3 runs) is to not allow any runs and to win the game in the biggest of pressure situations (the 9th inning). Johnson has failed miserably this year, and those kind of horrific losses (of which we had approximately none last year, until the playoffs) take a huge toll on fans and players.

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Some here think he's the reason we will not make the playoffs. They forget that baseball is a team game and no one player ever wins or loses any game. Yet he seems to take the blunt of the blame. To the point that some are making these kind of excuses for his teammates!

first_stage_denial.jpg

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Johnson lost the playoff series to the Yankees last year

I believe that damaged his psyche

It should not have suprised anyone that he would not be good this year.

Several of us lobbied hard for him to be traded in the offseason.

Now I am lobbying to trade Wieters who is not worth the 8 million he will make next year.

I hope that the Orioles have the kahunas to release JJ and not wast 8 million on him also.

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Some here think he's the reason we will not make the playoffs. They forget that baseball is a team game and no one player ever wins or loses any game. Yet he seems to take the blunt of the blame. To the point that some are making these kind of excuses for his teammates!

However, he is not the reason we won't make the playoffs, if we don't. He is part of the reason. Every player is responsible. Buck and the coaching staff are responsible. DD and the front office are responsible. They all share the blame for every loss and us not being good enough, not playing well enough to win the division, make the playoffs, and win a championship.

Johnson is a HUGE part of the reason. There's simply no denying that. Of course he's not the only reason. But a decent year by our closer would've masked a number of our other deficiencies, especially our offensive ones. No one looks too closely at our hitters' struggles after a 3-2 win, but if JJ turns that into a 4-3 loss, suddenly those failures with RISP are magnified tenfold.

JJ stinks and should not be on the Orioles next year. He needs to be Cundiffed, stat.

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After one of JJ's recent blown saves in NY, there was a shot of AJ tossing a helmet up and hitting it with his bat.

I sincerely believe that JJ lost the confidence of his teammates. It's not unbelievable to think the feeling of defeat is in the back of the O's hitters' minds when things get tense late. Whereas last season they "knew" they'd win and the magic happened, the exact opposite happened this year. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Many players shoulder the blame for this season, but you'll never convince me that if JJ blows 6 less saves this season it's not a TOTALLY different team, both in confidence and wins.

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You seem to be quite the Johnson fanatic. Maybe after the season is over you can have the honor of presenting him with his award in person.

It will be a pair of goggles personally signed by Kevin Gregg himself.

LOL

He isn't the scapegoat, he IS the reason we aren't making the playoffs. This is the worst thread ever.

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Johnson is a HUGE part of the reason..
We have 69 losses. Johnson has 8, Chen has 7, Gonzalez has 7 and Hammel has 8. Garcia pitched in 11 games and lost 5 of them. Gausman has pitched in 13 and has lost 5. How is Johnson any more responsible then they are? Johnson has 9 blown saves. Strop, Hunter, O'Day, and Matusz blew 11 also. You don't think that those blown saves and losses have anything to do with the position we are in?
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We have 69 losses. Johnson has 8, Chen has 7, Gonzalez has 7 and Hammel has 8. Garcia pitched in 11 games and lost 5 of them. Gausman has pitched in 13 and has lost 5. How is Johnson any more responsible then they are? Johnson has 9 blown saves. Strop, Hunter, O'Day, and Matusz blew 11 also. You don't think that those blown saves and losses have anything to do with the position we are in?

If they thought that, they would have no excuse to stomp around, throw tantrums and spend all off season demanding action. Action now, dammit. Oh, and frustration has to have a face because it's just so uncomfortable trying imagine a world where all this ambiguity is allowed to exist

It's much harder and less immediately gratifying trying to figure out exactly why the 2013 Orioles - a better team than 2012's version - didn't succeed to the same degree.

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Fair or not, the closer is often referred to as the leader of the bullpen. And with our bullpen's regressed performance this year, plus his plethora of blown games, it's out hard to see why he's taking a lot of blame.

Yes, baseball is a team sport, but l think the old saying of "a teen is only as strong as its weakest link" is HUGELY applicable here.

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