Good Lord! Why on earth would you leave Vlad and Tori on the bench with a chance to win? This is not the time to experiment with building confidence levels of the unproven young guys. Have the Angels forgotten that they now trail Tampa Bay for the best record in baseball? Do they remember getting blasted in Tampa? You put your best players in a position to win the game daily, end of story. I am so mad at the ninth inning tonite.
I realize that you needed to pinch hit for Mathis. I am not sure the guy could square up a beach ball right now but you can't possibly rationalize Napoli as your best pinch hitting option available with Vlad and Tori on the bench. Correct me if I am wrong, if you use Vlad or Tori for Mathis there is nothing in the rule books that says you can't use Napoli as a defensive replacement? Heck, even Sean Rodriguez thought he would be pinch hit for as evident by his body language and his extended stair into the dugout looking for the inevitable call back to the dugout. What was Roenicke thinking? Vlad and Tori make the big bucks. They are paid to be in a position of trust when it comes to the need for clutch hitting in stressful situations. Napoli and Rodriguez combine for an average below .200. To my shock Napoli struck out and Rodriguez oopsed a ground ball to first on a feeble check swing. The result of opting to use those two hitters in the ninth with a runner in scoring position is exactly what you would have expected. Statistics don't lie. Vlad and Tori need to hit in this situation and those two at bats would not have undone the benefits Scioscia attributes to resting those guys down the stretch run in preparation for the playoffs.
Keywords: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
