Leo Nunez, the formerly embattled Marlins closer, is not a household name. If he keeps playing the way he has the first two months of the season, he soon will be. "Lights Out" Leo (OK, I just gave him that nickname) has been spectacular.
He's appeared in 13 games, successfully converting all 6 save opportunities and, most incredibly, he's only allowed 4 hits all season. Among all major league closers, Nunez's 0.68 WHIP is second only to Mariano Rivera's 0.56 and he has the lowest opponent's batting average among all closers with a tidy .100. In short, Nunez hasn't just been great, he's been otherworldly.
When new pitching coach Randy St. Claire arrived in Jupiter, his first order of business was fixing an anomaly in Nunez's delivery that he thought was tipping the coming pitch. Nunez's repertoire is not very diverse - a changeup (his out pitch) a fastball and a slider that really only serves a "show me" role - so tipping a pitch, thus eliminating the element of surprise on the changeup, would be devastating. So far, it looks like St. Claire was correct. Nunez still has the same mid-90's fastball and biting changeup, but now hitters look completely befuddled by it. For now, it looks like St. Claire hit the jackpot on one mechanical tweak, and the rest of the National League has to deal with it.
Showing posts with label Leo Nunez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leo Nunez. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Fredi's Bullpen Management A Problem
It was a tough meltdown to watch last night. The Marlins scored early and disappeared late, but games like that happen, and with a bullpen like the Marlins', no lead is safe.
The real problem, though, was Fredi's use of his rested bullpen. Monday was an off-day, the performances turned in by Nolasco and Robertson gave the bullpen basically a weekend off. Why then were the Marlins on the short end of a 7-4 decision having used only 2 pitchers: starter Chris Volstad and then Tim Wood for an ill-advised 2 innings of work.
The bigger problem, though is the way Fredi uses his bullpen; last night, other than Wood, the only other reliever Fredi got up was Renyel Pinto. This isn't anything new, Marlins fans know that Fredi has his favorites and sticks with them to a fault. The real problem goes deeper than playing favorites, the real problem is that the Marlins have a bad bullpen and Fredi is too hesitant to pull a struggling reliever out. Wood clearly didn't have it last night in the 7th, yet Fredi stuck with him for the fateful 8th, much the way he stuck with Kevin Gregg, Matt Lindstrom, Jorge Julio and the litany of relievers we've run through here the past several years.
Fredi's old school bullpen management is beneficial when a few alpha relievers rise above the rest of the bullpen, look at Joe Torre's successful Yankee teams or Bobby Cox's mid 90's Braves teams, but the Marlins don't have that luxury. The 7 arms in the bullpen, handedness excluded, are basically all of interchangeable quality, except for the recent emergence of Clay Hensley and what appears to be a more confident Leo Nunez. Fredi needs to learn to get away from a struggling reliever rather than allowing him to try to work it out on the mound. The team has been very fortunate with the performance of their rotation to this point, Fredi can't allow the bullpen to keep handing games away because he stuck with "his guy" too long.
The real problem, though, was Fredi's use of his rested bullpen. Monday was an off-day, the performances turned in by Nolasco and Robertson gave the bullpen basically a weekend off. Why then were the Marlins on the short end of a 7-4 decision having used only 2 pitchers: starter Chris Volstad and then Tim Wood for an ill-advised 2 innings of work.
The bigger problem, though is the way Fredi uses his bullpen; last night, other than Wood, the only other reliever Fredi got up was Renyel Pinto. This isn't anything new, Marlins fans know that Fredi has his favorites and sticks with them to a fault. The real problem goes deeper than playing favorites, the real problem is that the Marlins have a bad bullpen and Fredi is too hesitant to pull a struggling reliever out. Wood clearly didn't have it last night in the 7th, yet Fredi stuck with him for the fateful 8th, much the way he stuck with Kevin Gregg, Matt Lindstrom, Jorge Julio and the litany of relievers we've run through here the past several years.
Fredi's old school bullpen management is beneficial when a few alpha relievers rise above the rest of the bullpen, look at Joe Torre's successful Yankee teams or Bobby Cox's mid 90's Braves teams, but the Marlins don't have that luxury. The 7 arms in the bullpen, handedness excluded, are basically all of interchangeable quality, except for the recent emergence of Clay Hensley and what appears to be a more confident Leo Nunez. Fredi needs to learn to get away from a struggling reliever rather than allowing him to try to work it out on the mound. The team has been very fortunate with the performance of their rotation to this point, Fredi can't allow the bullpen to keep handing games away because he stuck with "his guy" too long.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Marlins Bullpen Already Set?
Fredi Gonzalez never misses a chance to oversimplify and today was no exception; claiming he has 6 of his 7 bullpen spots ready.
Notably missing: the loser of the 5th starter race and Mike MacDougal. In MacDougal, the Marlins had what I thought to be the prototypical Beinfest reliever: a big fastball, a closing pedigree and a chip on his shoulder.
The fate for the odd-man out in the rotation race is a little more convoluted. With the exception of Hayden Penn, every pitcher still "in it" has options left (or, in the case of Clay Hensley, isn't even on the 40-man roster) so the minors are very much in play.
It should be an interesting race to the finish for the bullpen, but I cannot stress how shocked I would be to see the Marlins leave Jupiter without Mike MacDougal on the team.
Post Game Addition:
And, like clockwork, Jose Veras took the job security and then threw up all overhimself. 4 runs (all earned) a walk and a strikeout in an inning and two thirds. I reiterate: Mike MacDougal not getting the job ahead of Veras would be the biggest shock of the spring.
“Things can change with trades, waiver-wire acquisitions,” Gonzalez said, “but as of today you got Pinto, Meyer, Nunez, Sanches, the Hopper, Veras – I like his stuff. So, I leave one spot.”
Notably missing: the loser of the 5th starter race and Mike MacDougal. In MacDougal, the Marlins had what I thought to be the prototypical Beinfest reliever: a big fastball, a closing pedigree and a chip on his shoulder.
The fate for the odd-man out in the rotation race is a little more convoluted. With the exception of Hayden Penn, every pitcher still "in it" has options left (or, in the case of Clay Hensley, isn't even on the 40-man roster) so the minors are very much in play.
It should be an interesting race to the finish for the bullpen, but I cannot stress how shocked I would be to see the Marlins leave Jupiter without Mike MacDougal on the team.
Post Game Addition:
And, like clockwork, Jose Veras took the job security and then threw up all overhimself. 4 runs (all earned) a walk and a strikeout in an inning and two thirds. I reiterate: Mike MacDougal not getting the job ahead of Veras would be the biggest shock of the spring.
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