Is he being told by Atkins to be patient? Was Atkins responsible for pulling Berrios in the playoffs? Or are all these decisions by Schneider? With these guys you just don't know. In any case, it's pure incompetence and poor judgment by this blundering management.
I think they're keeping Springer in the leadoff because if he's moved he'll sulk. He did it last year for two weeks, marginally improved, and then was moved back. Another day of batting .200 in the leadoff for him. So nice to not see Kirk out there. He's hitting .205 with a .582 OPS. And slow as molasses on the basepaths. Can we stop playing Vogelbach and his .105 BA in 29 AB? He offers nothing. Also Biggio and his .205 BA. Smooth looking stroke, producing little this season.
Davis and Clement should be playing every day even if they go into a minor slump. Bichette will be ok. Guerrero looking better except for his still swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone. Varsho only hitting .227 but 2nd in the order shows how poor this offence is.
I've pointed this out a number of times, but when Montoyo was in charge, everyone said he was just a puppet for the front office to make all the decisions. Then he got fired and a new guy came in and dealt with lineup construction and bullpen usage in entirely different ways, and... people call him a puppet for the front office to make all the decisions. It's dumb and it makes no sense.
I don't think there's any reason to think Springer would sulk if he was moved out of the leadoff spot. They did it for a month last year and it went fine.
Kirk and Biggio are decent examples of how playing time should be awarded.
- Kirk struggled with the bat, so he stopped getting so much playing time once Jansen came back. He also has a 105 wRC+ since Jansen came back, so I think we'll start seeing him in there a bit more (though it's possible he just can't handle full-time catching duties and will be at his best as a part time catcher/part-time DH).
- In the first 17 games, Biggio had a 140 wRC+ and was in almost every game, averaging 3 PA/game. In the last 20 games, he has a 24 wRC+ and is average 2 PA/game. He's struggled, and he's found himself on the bench. That's what should happen. No one is ever going to get zero playing time - that would be dumb - but it should go up and down based on performance.
The problem is that those standards we see applied to a guy like Biggio don't seem to apply to everyone - certainly not Springer or Bichette or Clement.
I would also add Jansen batting 6th or 7th. He's easily been their best hitter and overall he's an excellent hitter. He should be in the top 4 when he's playing. I would be tempted to have him DH as well when Kirk is catching.
Schneider's bullpen management this year hasn't been good as well.
I give him a bit more leeway on the bullpen because it seems like even when he makes the "right" move, it goes wrong. The bullpen has been a shitshow so far with guys injured/banged up and underperforming.
