But this just points to the greater overall problem: Bob Geren has not yet figured out how to utilize a bullpen.

I wanted to make a fanpost about this over the weekend but I was far too lazy, and now it’s a couple days past, I’m not so fired up about it, and I’ve forgotten some of the details and points I wanted to make. What it boiled down to was this: Horrible management of the pitching staff by Geren led to the Marlins almost winning on Friday and winning on Saturday. The A’s should have had a sweep, but Geren absolutely dropped the ball. Then he tripped over it like Brian Griese tripping over a dog. Now that I think about it, perhaps Geren was drunk.

Here’s one thing I do remember from what I was going to post: Bringing in Huston Street with runners on base in the 8th inning is a bad idea. I have no idea what his numbers are when coming in for these situations, nor do I know what his runners on/bases empty splits are. But I know this: Street is one of the few full-time relievers I have ever seen who pitches out of a windup with nobody on base. This means something. Either he’s significantly better or significantly more comfortable doing this. To unnecessarily bring him in for that situation on Friday was ridiculous, as were a handful of other pitching-related moves over the weekend.

About Gaudin: Geren really has dropped the ball on how to use him. If he’s being used as the long man/mop-up guy, that’s alright I guess, but then USE HIM THAT WAY. Geren doesn’t seem to really know how to use a guy like Gaudin, so sometimes he’s used in important situations, other times for just a couple batters, other times in mop-up situations.

I’m getting frustrated all over again thinking about how poorly Geren does with this. The manager’s only real task when it comes to on-field stuff, in my opinion, is putting guys in the best possible position to succeed. Sometimes it seems like he’s doing the exact opposite.

Gaudin has a higher ERA in May and June than both Embree and Foulke. He either doesn’t give up a run or give up at least 2. The last thing you want in the late innings is to be down by 2 runs or more, so I can understand why Geren doesn’t use him there.

With that said, I agree that Gaudin is underutilized. Geren seems to have the tendency to use the ones he trust until they are injured or unavailable before he’s forced to turn to the others. (I’ve already voiced my dissatisfaction with Geren’s use of the bullpen in my Fanpost and comments in the Marlins game thread, so I won’t repeat myself here.)

but i would rather see Gaudin starting than Blanton.

Recently been listening to the Red Sox commenting on how their young starters are approaching their career highs in IP, and when that happens they will start mixing in other arms for spot starts. The prevailing baseball thinking is: you dont have a guy jump more than a certain number of innings (25 maybe?) between seasons, especially if it’s his career high.

Will Gerg and Dana be encountering this situation? If so, Im guessing Chad is the first guy they start mixing in. At the very least, this must be on the list of things the A’s are considering right now. (come to think of it, maybe even Harden and Duke are part of this question too…)

Now don’t let it get to your head too much!

I’d like to see this question asked next time Blez does one of his excellent interviews with an A’s management person.

Geren’s bullpen management has been terrible. Every fan feels his/her team’s manager uniquely makes bad moves – the reality is usually that good bullpens make managers look smart and bad bulllpens make managers look dumb. I’m just highlighting my main dissatisfaction; overall I think Geren has done fine.

I’m of the camp that geren needs to just plain use his veteran pitchers less. Street especially seems easily injurable with a heavy usage. Let’s avoid doing things like using him 3 days in a row in san francisco. That wasn’t smart baseball management imho. Let’s get the guys like andrew brown, santiago, and ziegler to pitch in more 7-9th innings. I think it would help rest our older guys and reduce injuries…plus maybe we’ll win more :)

Casilla, Embree, Street, and occasionally Foulke, and that is what they are trying to get back to, and now you add Ziegler. Health will eliminate this for the most part.

The starting pitching has been stellar, so there hasn’t been a need for long relief. The Casilla/other, Embree/Foulke, Street combo has worked well too. Gaudin has also shown his versatility to be used late in games and, if need be, long relief. I don’t think Geren has mismanaged the bullpen at all. It aint broke, so why try and fix it?

Is there any chance the Curt Young has Gaudin pitching simulated games every 5 days? This would keep him stretched out if a Starter goes down, and would limit the innings he could pitch between simulated games. Seems like a good idea.

but he can pitch more innings at a time. Therefore they’d be utilizing him better pitching him less frequently but for more innings to give the other guys a break and also to make his transition to starter easier. It may also make him feel better if he’s piling up 3 inning wins or saves.

Why use four roughly equivalent pitchers when one will do just as well? I haven’t seen anyone articulate the downside to this plan.