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Say goodbye to the complete game shutout.
Last night, Shane Greene of the Tigers had about as stress-free an eight innings as any starting pitcher could have. Three measly singles, zero free passes, and a host of strikes in his cool and calm 81 tosses from the PNC Park mound.
But alas, it is 2015, and the complete game shutout has gone the way of the bullpen car and the brushback pitch, a relic of baseball’s past not likely to see a return anytime soon.
If the first week’s worth of action is any indication, this Tigers squad could very well go the whole spring, summer, and fall without a single completed game.
David Price was removed from the opener carrying a shutout and a four-run lead with just a single out to go. Ditto for Greene in his first start, tossing a nearly flawless (one unearned run) eight innings of ball and needing just 85 pitches to do it.
It’s not necessarily a major issue, and Brad Ausmus’ reluctance to let the starter finish his own job has not cost any ballgames this year. But the strength of this team is in its starting pitching. The question marks will be in the bullpen. Utilizing the starters while trying to minimize the impact of the pen should be a goal of the Ausmus regime.
We have seen in recent Tigers playoff runs how the unnecessary removal of cruising hurlers can be detrimental to the cause.
It will take decades to forget the Game 2 debacle in the 2013 ALCS. With the Tigers on the verge of taking a commanding 2-0 series lead in Boston, holding a four-run lead with six outs to go, Jim Leyland inexplicably snatched the ball away from Max Scherzer. We need not go through all of the events that followed, but the Red Sox stormed back to win the game and finish the Tigers in six.
Last year saw a similar scenario play out, albeit with a starter posing as a reliever. Aníbal Sánchez was making mince meat of the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2, facing six hitters and setting each of them down without a whimper. Yet Ausmus made the determination that Sanchez could go no further, an arbitrary and irresponsible decision that for all intents and purposes, cost Detroit the series.
It is widely agreed upon that the role of the manager in the American League is not a tremendously important one. The inclusion of the Designated Hitter more or less made in-game strategy a moot point. You roll out your lineup and let the players decide their fate.
Ausmus has never seemed all that comfortable with that setup, though. He likes to mix it up and put his stamp on the ballgame, even when the situation requires no participation at all.
The Tigers won last night’s game, and easily at that. There were no ninth inning shenanigans and the team’s record moved to a sparkling 7-1.
Big picture wise, however, the hook to Greene and Ausmus’ robotic usage of his “closer” in the final frame could rear its ugly head when the playoffs roll around.
Relief pitchers were always meant to bring relief when the situation called for it. The blaze is becoming more explosive, you call on the fireman to settle things, to douse the flames.
Yesterday, last year in Baltimore, and two years ago at Fenway, there was no fire to speak of. No hard-hit balls, no runners on the bases, no rally to speak of whatsoever. Just bored American League managers uncomfortable at the thought of a game being won without a hint of their own involvement.
The heartbeat of the complete game shutout has been fading for years now, but last night might have been its official death.
Let’s hope that fact doesn’t come back to bite the Tigers yet again this October.
