Sh*t That Should Not Be
Coming off a career year, Ricky Romero had determined he was going to step up in 2012 and be the ace of the staff.
The rotation got decimated by injuries, and Romero was the last man standing and was encouraged by John Farrell and the rest of the coaching staff to be the “tough East LA kid” they knew him to be. Romero had a disastrous 2012 with a terrible ERA and a metric tonne number of walks.
People freaked out. Romero freaked out, not knowing what had happened. His mechanics were a mess, and he was lost. Romero, when the season ended, talked about how there were starts where he couldn't bend his elbow and his knee was all messed up, but refused to blame his body for his terrible season, even though it seems rather obvious that that played at least a part of why the season was so terrible. He was the tough East LA kid, after all.
This is what I believed happened. Romero pitched hurt and got out of his mechanics. He continued to deny his physical pain because he believed or was encouraged to believe that he needed to be tough.
Pitching mechanics are choreographed and repetitive, and a pitcher relies on rhythm to keep them consistent, as consistency is what’s needed to stay in the strike zone. A person's body doesn't like pain and the body will make little adjustments to avoid that pain. The adjustments might be so small, that a person might not even be aware they have been made.
The Jays, believing that Romero was healthy, decided to adjust Romero's mechanics. The mechanical adjustments and various other goings on messed with Romero's confidence and this is where he stands. It doesn't matter much that Romero is now physically healthy, because he’s got baseball PTSD. And it stemmed from pitching hurt.
Why am I talking about this? Well, I got a little incensed listening to the game last night, a game the Jays lost 8-2. Josh Johnson gave up four runs in the first inning, and when he left it was 7-0.
Jack Morris sounded pretty disgusted on the radio broadcast, and I don’t blame him. Morris also said that Johnson claims he isn't injured, but Morris finds it a bit concerning that they keep running Johnson out there when it's clear something is up. Listening to the stats over and over just made me ill.
The dude has a career 3.37ERA, but it is now an ungodly 6.60 with a 1.68 WHIP. He's taken the loss in 6 straight starts and failed to get out of the 3rd inning for the second time in three games.
I understand that a team should be able to trust their players when they say they aren't hurt, but I also know that a lot of pitchers are stubborn SOBs and would try to convince their team (and themselves) that they could pitch even if their arm was a bloody, pulpy mess on the mound, especially in a season that is so disappointing.
I'm not angry at Josh Johnson, nor do I think he “sucks”, but I think there is some mismanagement going on and to see it so soon after the Romero debacle is just irritating. Per Stoeten on Twitter. Yeah.
“It's frustration. That's it,” Johnson said. “I'm out there trying to battle, trying to get through it and trying to stay positive. You've got to find a way. I’ll come back and watch some video and do whatever I can to get back. The worst part is doing this to my bullpen and my teammates. I felt like I made some pretty good pitches, but they were hitting the ball all over the place.”
Confusion and feeling horrible about disappointing teammates. It all sounds so familiar.
I was also incredulous that Melky Cabrera has been playing all week, despite the fact that he can barely run. That play in the third where he threw the ball and it managed to end up 3 feet behind him is mind blowing.
How is running out shitty defense going to help a struggling pitcher? The fact that Cabrera has been DL’d is only a slight consolation as it should have happened a week ago. This is shit that should not be.
Colby Rasmus makes my heart sing. Again, I'm so glad you lack winning baseball instincts because your "losing baseball instincts" are working like a charm.
Rasmus has 38 hits since July 1 (.376 AVG). Only 5 players in the Majors have more hits in that time.