Ernesto Frieri, Momentum Destroyer

[NrM]

I'm pissed at Frieri too. I'm tired of seeing him out there and I hope he's never in a closing role again. That being said, he wasn't in a closing role last night. Without Smith being available, who in our bullpen of woe would you guys have gone to?

Its like playing Wheel of Fortune but every peg on the wheel is a bankrupt.

Morin

[Angel Oracle]

Kohn also can at least start an inning without imploding.

That makes SIX appearances for Frieri the past 11 games, AFTER the DC debacle.

SIX!

Edited May 7, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[mtangelsfan]

Morin has pitched in how many games?  2?  3?  Kohn has blown a couple of leads and let some inherited runners score as well.

 

There are no great choices.  Face it, this pen sucks.  I do like Morin, I'd like to see him in a few more games before he gets put in late pressure situations though.  (although at this point there may not be another choice)

[Reveille1984]

Seriously, throw Morin out there and get him some experience in a high leverage spot.  What the f*** is the point of calling up a dominant reliever from our system to use him as a mop up guy for the first month?  Relievers are supposed to be used to these kinds of situations.  Yet, he's sitting on his ass waiting for another 8-1 game to get a shot.

 

I don't usually jump on the Scioscia hate bandwagon, but his bullpen management is mind boggling at times.  He's like the guy that keeps trying to grab the cheese from the mouse trap until his hand is a bloody stump. 

[OregonLAA]

Morin. Salas. Kohn. Ibanez. Scioscia. Anybody with an ERA under 6 and hasn't single handedly lost several games for us already this year.

[RallyMo]

This bullpen is killing an otherwise incredibly solid team.

[19HALO71]

I get the frustration with Frieri. But that pitch that Roberts hit out was actually a pretty well placed fastball. It was down and in and he simply went down and got it. NOW!!! I don't have the scouting report on Roberts, but if that is a strength of Roberts then shame on Frieri. Otherwise, you just have to acknowledge that Roberts had a great at bat and that's it!!

 

Before i get flamed, please understand that I am from the camp that thinks Frieri needs to and should have already come up with a plus secondary off speed pitch.

 

You may now light the fire.

[fan_since79]

It really is sad to see MS do the same thing over and over.

 

Something has to change or all these blown opportunities will be too much to over come this year. The pattern is being set and it does not look good.

 

There's going to be a lot of spin when we come up a couple games short at the end of the season.

 

Turn the page and wait for 2015. When does Scioscia's contract expire again??

[laagamer]

This is what happens when the strikes you throw are up and over the plate.

[wopphil]

The scariest part of this is that Scioscia believes Frieri is ready to resume closing duties. As of just ten hours ago, Frieri had either been given back the closer role (why else wasn't Joe Smith brought in there?), or was a decent appearance away from getting it back.

I think I am finally in the Scioscia has to go camp. His stubbornness is costing us games we can't afford to lose, and I don't see greatness out of him in any other facets of his management.

[brianvargo]

Here's sort of a simplified overview of Frieri's Angel career so far, at least as I view it:

 

• He comes over to the AL and is, at first, virtually unhittable, thanks largely to a fastball with incredible movement.  He gets a lot of strike three calls by throwing it tight to lefties and having it break just over that inside corner at the last moment, as well as a lot of swinging strikes by throwing it - seemingly - right down the middle and having it break out of the strike zone.  His stuff is electric.
• The league makes adjustments, of course.  Batters begin to realize that their best bet is either to swing early and pounce on a straight, get-a-strike fastball or let Frieri get a couple of strikes on them and watch as his moving fastball misses the plate, working a walk or at least forcing him into a deep count in which he has to throw strikes.
• After blowing a few pivotal games, Frieri's confidence is visibly shaken.  He becomes streaky.  When he's on, he's on, but when he's even slightly off, he looks lost out there.  In the latter cases, teammates and fans have to keep their fingers crossed that he'll get something over the plate and that the fat pitches that do get over the plate stay in the yard.
• This trend continues through 2013, a year in which he appears to make no substantial adjustments to his approach to hitters.
• Realizing that he needs to be more consistent if he wants to remain a big-league closer, Frieri does make some adjustments, refining his change up during spring training and challenging hitters more often with two strikes.  The problem - as I see it, anyway - is that his idea of challenging hitters is to consciously *aim* his fastball.  He looks fine, usually, getting those first couple of strikes.  Then he'll waste a couple.  At that point, you can almost feel him straining to guide the ball over the plate.  And over the plate it goes, plenty of speed on it, but flat as a polished stone.  The hitters know it's coming, too, and they're sitting on it.  It's tee time at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

 

There's no doubt that Frieri has talent, but his self-consciousness on the mound seems to doom him all too often.  That's the sort of thing that developing confidence in your secondary pitches and keeping the faith that things will right themselves will fix.  It's a mental problem.  Perhaps the long-term solution, if one exists, is to take Frieri permanently out of the super-high-leverage situations that seem to trigger this self-consciousness and let him thrive in a more comfortable role.  He could be a solid seventh-inning guy, or a valuable guy to pitch an inning when the Angels are behind three or four runs and want to keep the game within reach.  It may not be the sexiest role in baseball, but much of the success of the 2002 team can be attributed to guys like that.  As a fan, I know that my confidence in Frieri is a lot higher when he's brought into games earlier than the ninth inning.

 

Personally, I'd like to see Frieri succeed, whatever the solution.  I hope he figures things out, and soon.

Edited May 7, 2014 by brianvargo

[Angel Oracle]

Frieri = Jepsen!

Sack less

Edited May 7, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[gurn67]

Momentum destroyer? I give that title to the guy who sits at the top step of the dugout with the perplexed look. I do have to give him credit though, at least this season he has a more animated perplexed look than last season.

[Blarg]

Roberts got lucky. It wasn't that bad of a pitch and he swung out of his shoes to get his first home run of the year.

[Guest]

blame the idiot who brought Frieri in. Everyone knows he's pure garbage, so there was 0 reason for him to be pitching. 

[HeavenlyHalos]

Morin has pitched in how many games?  2?  3?  Kohn has blown a couple of leads and let some inherited runners score as well.

 

There are no great choices.  Face it, this pen sucks.  I do like Morin, I'd like to see him in a few more games before he gets put in late pressure situations though.  (although at this point there may not be another choice)

 

Incorrect. http://www.sportingcharts.com/mlb/stats/pitching-inherited-runners-scored-leaders/2014/. (He's #387 on the list, or easier to do a control find).

 

But you will notice Jepsen, Salas, and Maronde in the top 10 of that list.

[Ludwig Von Mises]

It was a terrible pitch. Throw a down and in laser straight 4 seam fast ball to a lefty and expect to have it hit into the seats.

The Roberts home run:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v32670821/nyylaa-roberts-solo-homer-gives-yankees-a-43-lead/?c_id=mlb

 

He threw nearly the same pitch to Jaso:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v32090641/oaklaa-jaso-crushes-a-tworun-shot-to-take-lead/?c_id=mlb

 

The pitch to Lobaton was inside also but had slightly more movement:

http://m.mlb.com/video/v32332251/laawsh-lobaton-hits-a-solo-shot-to-right/?c_id=mlb

 

The pitch to Smoak was right down the pipe but with an identical result:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=31782239&c_id=mlb&topic_id=vtp_longest_drives

 

Where is the formerly awesome running fastball usually located high and away that left handed batters couldn't catch up to?

Is he really throwing a 4-seamer instead with the target being inside to a lefty? Or is his command so terrible that he is missing his target by two feet with completely different movement? FWIW, the automatic pitch classification on gameday reads it as a 4-seam fastball. Based upon where the catcher is calling for these pitches (low and inside) it appears that they really are trying for a duck of a 4-seamer, which makes no goddamn sense considering how effective the running 2-seamer has been over his career. I'd like to know for certain.

 

Either way, Frieri should be in mop-up role until he either grows a brain and goes back to the effective 2-seam fastball, or (if it's a command issue) works out his mechanics. Considering the level of instruction available to him, I expect that to take months.

[ELEVEN]

Seriously, throw Morin out there and get him some experience in a high leverage spot. What the f*** is the point of calling up a dominant reliever from our system to use him as a mop up guy for the first month? Relievers are supposed to be used to these kinds of situations. Yet, he's sitting on his ass waiting for another 8-1 game to get a shot.

I don't usually jump on the Scioscia hate bandwagon, but his bullpen management is mind boggling at times. He's like the guy that keeps trying to grab the cheese from the mouse trap until his hand is a bloody stump.

I saw that guy. He opened for Ozzy in '87

[joeywings]

After the second out, Sciosia should pull him out.

[Frieri Meatball]

Seriously, throw Morin out there and get him some experience in a high leverage spot. What the f*** is the point of calling up a dominant reliever from our system to use him as a mop up guy for the first month? Relievers are supposed to be used to these kinds of situations. Yet, he's sitting on his ass waiting for another 8-1 game to get a shot.

I don't usually jump on the Scioscia hate bandwagon, but his bullpen management is mind boggling at times. He's like the guy that keeps trying to grab the cheese from the mouse trap until his hand is a bloody stump.

I like how Mike Scioscia will put garbage pitchers like Yoslin Herrera in pressure situations and keep letting him show he's awful but they bring up somebody like Morin with potential and he won't use him.

[Richard]

After the second out, Sciosia should pull him out.

Hindsight.

 

[tdawg87]

The team didn't really deserve to win last night anyway. The offense scored 1 earned run.

[Richard]

I normally don't get into the whole Scioscia is a moron banter, but I don't know why they still continue to trot out Frieri in these high leverage situations when clearly he has struggled all year. I don't recall him having a dominant stretch where he was lights out to reclaim any trust. I would rather have seen one of the guys who have been more consistent, like Kohn or Salas(surprisingly), in that situation. 

That being said, they really need Ernesto to bounce back and get over whatever mental lapses he keeps having.

[tommylov]

The pitch wasn't well-placed.  Hank had set up low and outside, and Frieri completely missed his spot.

 

I get the frustration with Frieri. But that pitch that Roberts hit out was actually a pretty well placed fastball. It was down and in and he simply went down and got it. NOW!!! I don't have the scouting report on Roberts, but if that is a strength of Roberts then shame on Frieri. Otherwise, you just have to acknowledge that Roberts had a great at bat and that's it!!

 

Before i get flamed, please understand that I am from the camp that thinks Frieri needs to and should have already come up with a plus secondary off speed pitch.

 

You may now light the fire.

[19HALO71]

The pitch wasn't well-placed.  Hank had set up low and outside, and Frieri completely missed his spot.

http://m.mlb.com/vid...-lead/?c_id=mlb

 

You sure it wasn't low and inside? Look at the :04.