Remember the game a few years back when Bob Boone sat Ken Griffey Jr. against that "kooky" lefthander Dontrelle Willis? Despite the fact that Junior had a huge game the night before?
It's amazing that Jerry Narron did the same thing yesterday:
With Florida Marlins starter Dontrelle Willis on the mound Sunday, Reds manager Jerry Narron leaned his lineup a little to the right. He also left 55 home runs on the bench.Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr., both left-handed hitters, received a day off from the starting lineup against the lefty Willis, who entered 14-7 with a 3.03 ERA. Dunn pinch-hit in the ninth against reliever Todd Jones and struck out to end the game.
"With Griff, it's more of a scheduled day off," Narron said. "With Dunner, he's been playing banged-up at times and I just thought it would be a good day."
It's tough enough to win games with your best players, especially when you're trotting out pitchers like Ramon Ortiz against stars like Willis. Why make it even harder?
Yeah, Griffey and Dunn haven't had much success against Willis, but their history against the guy is 15 at bats deep. That's something of a small sample size.
For a guy who's literally managing with his job on the line, you'd think Narron would play it safe and keep his best players in the lineup day in and day out.
But ah well. It's August 8th, and I guess it's that point in the season where the Reds just can't be bothered to try their hardest to win games.
It's sad, but I think December (which brings the winter meetings) is a more exciting month for Reds fans than the stretch run of the season.