Second Guessing the Second Guessers

Some examples from last night's game. People second guessing Dave Trembley for putting in kid pitcher Bob McCrory for his major league debut in a two run game:

hmm..
if you reeeeaaaallllly wanted to win this game… down 3-1 .. perhaps you bring in a tested relief pitcher. maybe try and keep us in the game.. not experiment, you know?
now, if we were down 6-1, i figure maybe try it out. Or if we’re up 6-1, bring him in.
Bad move throwin him out there in a game that was somewhat in reach.
by Y Not

Manager Dave Trembley made an interesting call when he decided to let Bob McCrory start the seventh inning. A pitcher making his major league debut in a two-run game. Not an ideal way to break him in...Trembley has been pushing the right buttons this season, but he's open to a little second-guessing tonight.

- Roch Kubatko

Now, to be fair, the general tone has been more of a "s**t happens" mood than a "s**tty manager" tilt but just so nobody gets any ideas, I thought I'd look at how Dave Trembley throws his young relievers into the deep end of the pool.

Dennis Sarfate - Dennis made his Oriole debut on April 4th. He had been in the majors before but only for a couple mugs of java. He ends April 2008 only 3 innings short of his previous career total.

Sarfate was called upon with the O's leading Seattle 3-2 with two outs and one on in the top of the 6th and squared off against Adrian Beltre. He struck him out.

It was still only a two run game in the top of the 7th when he walked Brad Wilkerson and then struck out Jose Vidro. (Wilkerson was thrown out on a steal attempt...)

Jim Johnson - Johnson had exactly 5 innings of major league work when he was called up a couple of weeks ago. In his first game, he pitched an inning at the end of a 6-2 loss to Tampa.

But the very next day he came in in the 6th with the Orioles holding onto a 3-1 lead against Toronto. He pitched 2.3 scoreless innings.

Randor Bierd - Bierd had never pitched above AA before this season and he only compiled 45 innings at that level.

Bierd made his major league debut on April 2nd. It was the top of the 5th, the Rays led 5-3, there was nobody out and the bases were loaded. Bierd induced a double play ball and a groundout to limit the damage. He then went on to pitch a scoreless 6th and the O's would come from behind to win the game.

What's the difference between these scenarios and last night's debut of Bob McCrory? Last night it didn't work out. It happens.

But more importantly, Trembley has to do it even if he doesn't think it'll work out. Repeat after me: this team is a work in progress. I do not care what the standings say, all these kids need to play and any veteran on this team should be traded if the opportunity arises. It is more important for Trembley to find out what McCrory is made of than worry about winning a game you are already losing by two runs.

Trembley's reasoning for sending McCrory out there, according to Roch:

Manager Dave Trembley explained his decision to use McCrory in the seventh inning by saying it seemed like a good situation, with the Rays sending up the bottom of their order and the Orioles trailing.

Seems logical to me. The kid has to debut sometime. Right? And isn't it nice to have a manager who seems to be thinking before making a move?

This teams Pythagorean Winning Percentage is 13-14 and Trembley has them at 15-12. they were outscored by 6 runs in April, yet have a winning record.

I'll defer to Dave for now...