Frieri is finished as closer!

[Chimi]

As much as this sucked, every closer is going to blow a save every now and then.  Luckily for us, Frieri has been fairly consistent in turning his opportunities into saves.  I think some people are forgetting what we had before he was here.

[Mark68]

He'd be a lot more reliable setting up, so you could pull him when he doesn't have it. Handing this guy the closer role is asking for disaster.

I doubt he's the closer by mid-May. Smith will finish the season in that role.

[haloman]

Jaso took the change up for strike 2 right down the middle. Didn't even think about swinging at it. Just shat on it. Guess he thought "this guys gonna throw me 4-5 straight fastballs next I'll just wait for one of those."

Why?

[fan_since79]

Guess I'll be the apologist here.

 

37-for-41 in save chances last year.  Perfect in save opportunities in August/September.

 

Four consecutive lights-out innings in a row.  Only one baserunner in all four outings combined.

 

Breathe, people.  Breathe.  Frieri ain't pretty, but have you looked around the league lately?  Nearly every closer seems to be injured, suspect, or ejected from the role already.

 

Closers throw mistake pitches.  Shit happens.  We're 6-7 not 6-14.  Pujols is mashing, Santiago's start portends great things to come... the weak link in our rotation is Weave!  

 

Color me more optimistic than most.  Tonight smarted but it's one game.  149 to go.

 

Good post.

 

I'm more concerned with Freese than Frieri. Ernesto will settle down and be good for us. He'll have a couple of disasters like tonight. They all do.

[Hoops McCann]

He lives off his FB which, for the most part, doesnt have great movement.  So, if he doesnt locate it, it is quite hittable and it isnt fast enough where he can just blow it by batters.

 

He also doesnt have a very good secondary pitch, or at least one he can consistently throw for a strike or ring up batters.  Hitters will just sit FB on him until the get one they like.

 

That's a problem I dont think is going away anytime soon.

[Docwaukee]

yes, Frieri failed tonight, but he's a decent closer.  Not a good one because of his propensity for doing what he did tonight more than most closers on teams with playoff aspirations, but probably average or so.  

 

to put this collection of near replacement level players out on the field with this type of team is a massive failure by the front office.  Locking down other teams when you take a lead to the ninth or keeping your team close when you are down a run or two is paramount for a team with a good offense and mediocre starting pitching. 

 

I am as much of a saber nerd as anyone and I get that it's not considered a good idea to spend money on a pen, but you just can't allow this to happen for a fourth year in a row. 

[full circle]

yes, Frieri failed tonight, but he's a decent closer.  Not a good one because of his propensity for doing what he did tonight more than most closers on teams with playoff aspirations, but probably average or so.  

 

to put this collection of near replacement level players out on the field with this type of team is a massive failure by the front office.  Locking down other teams when you take a lead to the ninth or keeping your team close when you are down a run or two is paramount for a team with a good offense and mediocre starting pitching. 

 

I am as much of a saber nerd as anyone and I get that it's not considered a good idea to spend money on a pen, but you just can't allow this to happen for a fourth year in a row. 

Well said.  Its time to build a ****ing bullpen for once. 

[NrM]

Guess I'll be the apologist here.

37-for-41 in save chances last year. Perfect in save opportunities in August/September.

Four consecutive lights-out innings in a row. Only one baserunner in all four outings combined.

Breathe, people. Breathe. Frieri ain't pretty, but have you looked around the league lately? Nearly every closer seems to be injured, suspect, or ejected from the role already.

Closers throw mistake pitches. Shit happens. We're 6-7 not 6-14. Pujols is mashing, Santiago's start portends great things to come... the weak link in our rotation is Weave!

Color me more optimistic than most. Tonight smarted but it's one game. 149 to go.

he was perfect in saves when the angels were out of it. Great.

[jshep]

I would have thought Fernando Rodney would have gotten us out of the habit of judging closers based on save conversion rate.

[Kendo36]

No way joe smith doesn't finish the season as our closer.

[ten ocho recon scout]

It's impressive that a living, breathing vagina actually learned how to pitch. Give him a break.

he could close games for colon.

[ten ocho recon scout]

He lives off his FB which, for the most part, doesnt have great movement. So, if he doesnt locate it, it is quite hittable and it isnt fast enough where he can just blow it by batters.

He also doesnt have a very good secondary pitch, or at least one he can consistently throw for a strike or ring up batters. Hitters will just sit FB on him until the get one they like.

That's a problem I dont think is going away anytime soon.

Nail on head. Hes a one pitch pitcher. He probably has a few options to throw, but not regular enough to count them as 'his'.

Thats something he REALLY needs to work on.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Agreed with docs post up above. This year especially, with questions about the SP already very apparent going in, if they werent going to pull the trigger on tanaka (or something similar) they should have gobbled up at minimum two plus bullpen arms.

If burnett was healthy I can see him being a good 8th inning guy. Then you could play around w him, smith andfrieri and see who works out best. With burnett already being a ?, there was no excuse.

Especially when you factor in the garza attempt....IE, we have the money

[Guest]

Agreed with docs post up above. This year especially, with questions about the SP already very apparent going in, if they werent going to pull the trigger on tanaka (or something similar) they should have gobbled up at minimum two plus bullpen arms.

If burnett was healthy I can see him being a good 8th inning guy. Then you could play around w him, smith andfrieri and see who works out best. With burnett already being a ?, there was no excuse.

Especially when you factor in the garza attempt....IE, we have the money

 

We should have traded Bourjos and Grichuk for decent relief pitchers rather than flushing them down the drain for a sub-replacement 3B and a gas can reliever.

[Second Base]

You closer should be your best reliever. Who is our best reliever? Joe Smith.

[Inside Pitch]

So frustrating. Terrible pitch sequence to Jaso. 

 

I still believe in Frieri, but I think the Angels should go with a bullpen by committee and just play the matchups. 

 

Is 67 fastballs an actual pitch sequence.

I won't even pretend to lie -- I turned the TV off and went to bed when I saw Frieri.

 

 

The biggest gap between these two teams right now at least as far as the results have been, is the RP -- the Angels best and only hope at this point is to play .500 ball and wait/hope for Bedrosian, Morin, Alvarez to pull a 02 type of infusion come May/June.

[AngelsFaninGA]

Frieri may have had a good save ratio last year, but it seems like he blew just about every key save he needed to get, and that's why everyone has a highly skewed opinion about him. He'll have no problem striking out the side against the bottom of the Astros order but put him in with a one-run lead against a good team and it's pretty much guaranteed he'll serve up a meatball. If we actually made it to the playoffs with him as the closer he'd roll up into a ball and start crying on the mound in his first playoff appearance. 

[Hollyw00d]

Frieri: I held it like an egg...

ianneta: ya, he scrambled that sumbitch!

[greginpsca]

While watching Frieri in the 9th inning, it was pretty apparent that the A's were not going to swing at anything but a fastball. I don't recall him being able to throw any other pitch for a strike. Unless Frieri can learn to throw breaking pitches for strikes, he will be throwing batting practice to opponents.

[YouthofToday]

I would keep Frieri as the "closer". I really don't like labeling relievers for only specific roles anyways. Like Beau Porter, I believe a relief pitcher's job is to get outs when their number is called.

I would keep Joe Smith as the high leverage guy. You want your best reliever pitching in situations that are most critical in the job. More often than not this is before the 9th inning.

At least he didn't walk BH Upton on 4 straight pitches to lead off the 9th up by one. That is a crime against baseball logic and competence.

[mtangelsfan]

So frustrating. Terrible pitch sequence to Jaso. 

 

I still believe in Frieri, but I think the Angels should go with a bullpen by committee and just play the matchups. 

 

Chuck, you know as well as I do that Sosh would never do that.  Its not how he manages.  This is one of the reasons I'm so frustrated.  Either get Sosh the players he needs for his kind of team or get rid of him. 

[eligrba]

Chuck, you know as well as I do that Sosh would never do that.  Its not how he manages.  This is one of the reasons I'm so frustrated.  Either get Sosh the players he needs for his kind of team or get rid of him. 

 

The players that Sosh needs have since retired.  The game has passed him by.

 

Frieri would be unstoppable in the hands of a Molina and a true pitching coach.

[nando714]

There were some good things last night. Was very impressed with Santiago.

These losses just hurt the most especially against a division foe who has dominated us at home. It would have done wonders psychologically & we could have been 7-6 and won 7 of 10.

Edited April 15, 2014 by nando714

[mtangelsfan]

The players that Sosh needs have since retired.  The game has passed him by.

 

Frieri would be unstoppable in the hands of a Molina and a true pitching coach.

 

this is a ridiculous statement. 

[Jimmag]

Was mostly a supporter now not so much. Seen this movie one too many times. Change is good.