Horrible Decision by Baker to Let Prior Throw 116 Pitches

[ChuckSims]

This jackass Baker has a 10-0 lead after 5 innings and continues to pitch Prior until he runs out of gas with 116 pitches. Prior had thrown over 130 pitches in his last 3 starts. Baker says he did'nt want to see a lot of crooked numbers by the Marlins so he left Prior in there. If you can't hold a 10 run lead with your bullpen then you have no business advancing to the WS.

 

[Railbird]

Pitch counts are overrated, Prior didnt look that great, Marlins were hitting ball well.

 

[RPM]

WITH that big of a lead, no reason at all to allow that high a pitch count in this day and age.

 

[RPM]

WITH that big of a lead, no reason at all to allow that high a pitch count in this day and age.

 

[ChuckSims]

Baker is such a dope during the game. He could of let his bullpen get some work and much needed confidence. He's going to have to use them during the series, let them pitch to stay sharp. Prior could have gotten some much needed rest and may have been available to start GM 5 and pitch relief in GM 7 if needed.

 

[Railbird]

Prior is no Orel Hershiser, Prior is a 1 pitch pony, if Prior tries to pitch in relief in game 7 the Marlins will sit on his fastball and make him pay. I guarantee you Marlins will hit Wood in game 3, this Fla team is a fastball hitting team.

 

[Gagne38]

Rail, I guess you have never watched Wood or Prior pitch because they are not 1 pitch pitchers. Obviously their best pitch is the fastball but they both have devistating breaking balls.

 

[winkyduck]

100% agree. prior should have been pulled after 5 - or NO LATER than the 6th. to let him pitch the 7th was asinine. dusty - you are gonna need him later to win this series. the game was OVER so you shoulda gotten him out of there and saved him for his next appearance.

 

[BornLoser+]

Rail,
Spoken like a true Cardinals fan.
Gagne38 is right both of these guys have great breaking balls. Also, Prior has a good straight change that he doesn't need to use very often.

 

[Railbird]

Prior telegraphs his cb by arching his back, the guy goes for the K too much, and he grips his cb too tight, which means he will hang them in a tight situation by muscling the cb, also the guy gets tired easy and gets it dead red after the 5 th inning like he did tonight back to back jack in the 6th, so yeah take him out early in a tight game becasue he breaks down. Prior is another Nolan Ryan who only cares about K's, but he wont have a long career because he is fragile like Koufax he has already had hammy and shoulder promblems.

 

[Railbird]

And if he does come in relief in game 7, the guy has no clue how to hold runners, a walk will become a triple real quick against the Marlins.

 

[BornLoser+]

Shoulder problems? He collided with a fielder and landed on it. you are talking about a guy who missed a month, and still threw 211 innings with a 2.43 era. Went 18-6, struck out 245, and only walked 50. Yeah your right, he's a bum.

 

[Celaya]

Remember what Dusty Baker did last year in the world series. The Giants had a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th in game 6 against the angels, leading in the series 3 games to 2. So what happens, Russ ortiz is pitching a great game, But then gave up a back to back singles, No big deal he didn't throw that many pitches, but then comes in there and takes him out of the game, Angels rally win the game 6-5, and then came back the next day to win game 7. It sure doesn't make sense that he leaves Prior to pitch so many pitches when the game has already been decided.

 

[ChuckSims]

I wish Game 2 was a day game because Dusty would of lifted Prior much sooner. You Know Prior is white and white guys can't take the heat according to Dusty Baker.

 

[soccerbob]

Prior was left in the game way too long. I felt he should have been taken out after the 6th inning. He's thrown a lot of pitches lately and will have another start in this series and if he's not overused, he could pitch in relief in a key spot in Game 7 if it goes that far.

With a big lead like the Cubs had, he had no business being in there for that many pitches.

 

[TheOldBallgame]

Once the pitcher has thrown 50-60 pitches he's done for three days, although most teams use a five man rotation which means a minimum of four days rest. He can throw 60 or 150 pitches and his arm will be ready in three days. High pitch counts are bad because the pitcher risks injury when the arm is fatigued and because most lose power and effectiveness as the arm fagigues.

 

[BrianG103]

Mike Mussina said he lost against Boston Game 1 because they had or he had to many days to rest..

When your in the groove your in the groove.. Prior can pitch 150 pitches every 3 days if he wanted to.. You got a whole winter to take off..

 

[Mr.Jones]

I remember a day when the only pitch count you kept track of was in a singles bar and if you were piching a shutout after six or seven you took yourself out.

 

[vinividivinci]

Baker is just trying to use his white guys as much as possible in the night games. That ought to be obvious to all the politically-correct posters at this forum.


VVV

 

[Mr.Jones]

Last night I jumped on his case too. But I'm now going to give him and Larry Rothschild, one hell of a good pitching coach, the benefit of some doubt.

First us mouse click managers are not in the dugout. Except for Railbird we don't know Mark Pryor. We have not practically lived with him the last 6 months. In fact we don't know squat about what's really going on down there. Yea we are obsessed with pitch counts in this day and age but that sure wasn't the case all that long ago. Maybe this kid is a throwback and will just get stronger. I think maybe Dusty Baker kind of has a clue about what he might need from his staff and I think he just may have given some thought to the various scenarios which may play out. Hope so anyway.