Brad Ausmus needs to be fired by the Detroit Tigers
As we head down the stretch in the MLB season, we are seeing some incredible things occur. The pennant races are tightening up. Some teams are handling the pressure well, while others are feeling the collar tighten around their necks. One such team feeling the heat is the Detroit Tigers. Brad Ausmus is receiving a lot of criticism over his managing while the Tigers struggle.
On July 24th, the Tigers had a league-high seven game lead over the Kansas City Royals. Now, they are looking up at the Royals, a game and a half behind them. They are also in a fight for a playoff spot. They are currently a half game behind the Seattle Mariners for the last Wild Card Spot in the American League.
What has happened? While I’ll allow that injuries have had an impact on the Tigers, first year manager Ausmus has made many mistakes.
Ausmus took over for Jim Leyland when he retired from the field and went to the front office. He inherited a very good team, and that fact perhaps covered Ausmus’ shortcomings until now.
It seems that Ausmus has let the inmates run the asylum. He has deferred too much to the veterans. He has stayed with his starters too long, and has brought in his relievers in tougher situations than was necessary. He has also been stubborn in having Joe Nathan close out games, even though he has struggled mightily.
A team needs a strong closer to win. That closer has to give the team confidence that when the team enters the ninth with a lead, that lead will turn into a win.
That has not been what Nathan has been doing. He is third in the league in blown saves with six, and has a 5.11 ERA to go with a 1.57 WHIP. The league is batting .260 against him and has a .350 on-base percentage.
These are not the stats that a closer wants to have. It has gotten so bad that after a save recently, he made a derogatory gesture towards the home crowd twice.
Why not give Al Alburquerque a chance? He has a 2.86 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He can’t be worse than what Ausmus has in Nathan, right?
The Tigers also picked up All Star closer Joakim Soria from the Texas Rangers, but, of course, he is injured and will be out a couple of weeks. Even when he was in there, Ausmus had him in a set-up role. He is in love with Nathan and it is costing the Tigers.
Brad Ausmus also has a problem with X’s and O’s. Grantland released its “Managerial Meddling Index” which ranks managers on how active they are in-game. They have 10 categories, including hit-and-runs, sacrifices, pitch-outs and challenges. In that index, ranked 25th among the 30 managers. He did especially bad in pinch-hitting and shuffling his lineup. As with the bullpen, Ausmus is a stubborn manager, even in the face of failing results. Ausmus’ mismanagement was in full view in a game against the Cleveland Indians.
In that game, Anibal Sanchez was pitching well, allowing no runs through six. He was getting tired, but was left to go out in the seventh. He lost it, and was not yanked until Nick Swisher hit a two-run single with the bases loaded and no outs. Instead of taking him out in a good situation with a chance to win, he left him in too long and he got shelled. Ausmus brought in lefty Ian Krol with a lefty on deck. Indians manager Terry Francona just put in a right hander. Krol really struggles against right handers so of course he could not stem the rally, and the Indians eventually scored seven runs in that seventh inning to win the game.
The Tigers may end up getting to the playoffs even with this bad stretch, but Ausmus has shown that he is not ready to manage in the big leagues. He is having trouble with making in-game decisions, and does not have a handle on when to pull his starters and which relievers to use in different situations.
He has also shown a stubbornness in staying with a closer who cannot get the job done, and not making the necessary changes in the lineup when needed.
Brad Ausmus is not ready for prime time, and he should be fired at the end of this season. He has been given the keys to a Ferrari, but is driving it right into a brick wall.