Somebody Needs to "Wake" Maddon From World Series Slumber

by jdgibbs on Jul 16, 2009 4:13 PM EDT Comment 16 comments

Tim Wakefield has become a premier pitcher in the majors this season. In 17 appearances for the Red Sox, Wakefield holds a record of 11-3 with an ERA of 4.31 (Boston Red Sox stats). Colorado's Marquis and fellow Boston teammate Beckett are the only other pitchers in the MLB to rack up as many wins thus far. Wakefield is 42 years of age and has been in the majors for 17 seasons, but Tuesday was the first time he had been voted into the All-Star Game. With a resume like that, he deserved to be named the starter of the All-Star Game right? Well not according to Rays manager Joe Maddon.

On Tuesday night, Maddon decided to give Roy Halladay the nod instead of Wakefield. I'm not denying the fact that Roy Halladay is a deserving pitcher, his numbers this season are amazing as always: 10 wins in 17 starts, 2.85 ERA, 106 K's, 123 IP including 3 complete games. You can't argue with that. But if Maddon didn't want to start Wakefield, why didn't he at least use him at some point in the game? After Hallday's uncharacteristic start, granted it was against the National League All-Stars, Maddon gave the ball to the following pitchers: Buehrle, Greinke, Jackson, Hernandez, Papelbon, Nathan, and Rivera. Despite the fact that Greinke, Jackson, and Hernandez lead the AL in ERA, none of them have as many wins Wakefield does.

Considering the fact that he is an early candidate for this year's Cy Young Award, Wakefield was more than worthy of making an appearance in the All-Star Game. Apparently the way to be named the starting pitcher in the All-Star game is to be involved in trade talks at the time of the Midsummer Classic. Roy Halladay can thank Joe Maddon for giving him a national audition for all 30 MLB teams, even though his 2 inning performance didn't exactly sign him any deals.

I hope future All-Star managers take note and give Tim Wakefield a chance if he ever makes it back to the All-Star Game. And I hope Joe Maddon enjoyed all of the festivities this year because the 2008 Rays were a fluke and he will never find himself in this position again.

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whoa there..

We went from undervalueing Wake to overvaluing him in what? 2 weeks? I love the guy but to say he is a candidate for the CY is a bit of a stretch. There were 2 others that should have gotten the nod ahead of Wake, that being Felix and Greinke. I would have loved to see him toss an inning or at least to a couple of hitters, but we seem to forget that this was a 1 run game, and there was a real possibility of that game heading to extras, in which case he would have been used as a “long man” of sorts.

Why do I get the feeling that if Maddon had thrown him for an inning or two, it would be said that he was intentionally “burning him out”.

by ritz on Jul 16, 2009 5:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Look, we all love Wakefield

Well, most of us love Wakefield (coughNGcough). But there’s NO WAY he was deserving of a starting role. Hell, he wasn’t even deserving of a all-star spot when it comes right down to it. He got in as a sort of lifetime achiever because Maddon/the Players/whoever the hell chose him saw they had an excuse to do a nice thing (the wins) for a guy who’s been solid for a long time.

But he did not deserve it.

Wins are a BS statistic that shouldn’t really be looked at at all. You know why Wakefield has so many wins? He gets more run support than almost any other pitcher out there. It’s ridiculous some of the scores this team has put up for him. 8 runs, 10 runs, 10 runs, 13 runs, 12 runs, 8 runs, and that’s only half a season’s worth. He has an ERA of 4.31 (not at all All-Star worthy), a WHIP of 1.38 (ditto), and even though a knucleball pitcher is naturally not condusive to strikeouts, but to weak contact, a K:BB ratio of less than 2 is still very bad. His FIP is good for 20th among AL starters while Roy Halladay is 3rd.

The fact is that Wakefield got in ahead of some pretty deserving candidates. Cliff Lee, Jon Lester, Dallas Braden to name a few. Criticizing Maddon for not playing an extremely risky pitcher in a close game when home field in the WS is on the line? Come on now. The people who should be complaining are guys like Beckett who were passed over for Mark Buehrle who has been lucky and mediocre this year.

Oh, and the Rays are a fluke? Really? They’ve got a fantastic run differential, have had a good number of injuries this year, have a minor league system filled to the brim with talent, and are still only 6.5 games out despite being the unluckiest team in the majors. They’re no fluke.

by USG on Jul 16, 2009 5:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am among the biggest Wakefield homers out there

But I totally understood why Wakefield might not actually play in the game. Ironically, it might have been Carl Crawford’s stealing of the homerun that prevented Wakefield from appearing in the game.

That said, I don’t think anybody wanted a repeat of last year’s festivities, when the game ended about one inning before the pitchers of record would have been David Wright and JD Drew.

by lone1c on Jul 16, 2009 6:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If Beck was complaining, I'd be more concerned that he thinks he's a horse.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 16, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry to put it like this man

But is this post a kind of joke? Or are you being sarcastic about the wins as a “stat”?

"It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone". A. Bartlett Giamatti

by radiohix on Jul 16, 2009 5:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

by RSNexile on Jul 16, 2009 5:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think everyone summed it up pretty well.

Also, the game was low-scoring and flew by. No one had to be pulled for performance reasons, so Maddon ended up not needing to use as many pitchers as he might have. If the game had been a pure exhibition, I think Wake would have pitched. But it does count and he was almost certainly the worst candidate on that team to pitch an inning. Wake’s value comes in his endurance, flexibility and ability to be a guaranteed league average pitcher for many, many innings. This does not translate well to pitching one innings against the game’s best hitters.

"Ninety percent [of my salary] I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
-Tug McGraw

by BTLove on Jul 16, 2009 6:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

But to be fair, I thought Maddon was going to pitch Wake.

"Ninety percent [of my salary] I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
-Tug McGraw

by BTLove on Jul 16, 2009 6:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maddon was just saving Wake

to eat up innings in case it went into extras…..

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by mystman995 on Jul 16, 2009 7:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

That was the reported plan.

Wouldn’t have minded seeing him though – he would’ve screwed with the batters, esp. if they had to adjust back.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 16, 2009 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh Really?

I was just trying to make a little joke.

Introducing the new 2008 Big 12 Football Champions: OU, UT*, TT*, and MU*!
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by mystman995 on Jul 16, 2009 11:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ah.

It’s true though, Maddon didn’t have JD Drew to pitch if it went deep into extras.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 17, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh my god

who cares? Its better he didnt pitch!

I cant believe people are worked up over this. Its the biggest non story.

Let me make it easy for you – none of the AL’s catchers had experience catching a knuckler and we were trying to win the game. There are actually many more reasons not to use Wake – among them, that he was probably the least deserving pitcher on the staff and was more of a career achievement/sentimental pick – but just take that one on its face and it should be enough.

by alskor on Jul 16, 2009 7:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Actually, Buehrle was less deserving, but still.

@bs_uf15bosox9be:OverTheMonster-ALLERGEN WARNING:May contain PB.

by bs.uf15bosox9bears23 on Jul 16, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who would catch?

I think Inge said it best a day or two before the game. The best way for someone to catch Wake who hasn’t done it before is to “Run to the backstop and pick up the ball.”

Neither V-Mart or Mauer would be prepared to catch him. It takes Sox catchers all of spring training to be confident enough to handle him. If Mirabelli or Cash had made the All-Star team maybe we would have seen him pitch otherwise I never expected to see him or Beckett take the mound, the game (unfortunately) has meaning and they can’t afford to blow it on passed balls and wild pitches.

I do agree though that Wake is truly deserving of a spot on the team but he isn’t a Cy Young candidate by any means.

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on Jul 16, 2009 10:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mauer catches RA Dickey

So he’s seen knuckleballs. Not Wakefield’s knuckleball, but it’s a knuckleball nonetheless.

If they needed to bring in Wakefield in extra innings, they could have claimed some sort of “soreness” or “tightness” and brought back Mauer (it’s allowed under the ASG rules).

by lone1c on Jul 16, 2009 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs