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Kudos, Doc...
1. Players seem to play hard for Wedge
2. He does just fine with the press
3. You don't hear Ichiro or Felix or Olivo (our leaders, or imagined ones) calling for his head. (Although Ichiro would certainly not do it in public, Felix, too I imagine. And Olivo is the beneficiary of Wedge's largesse).
4. And he has handled the bullpen without (seeming) problem, which was something of concern when he came.
All good and true.
On the Slop side, the team hasn't improved, the natives (fans) seem to be restless....and who he plays regularly (or did) can be questioned.
1. Wells was handled badly. Not played, then down...but finally up and our best bat.If the ends justifies the means here, then it worked. But I think he missed what Wells would bring, until he had no other option. Ultimately he played, however....after being jacked around.
2.Figgins has been handled badly by Z and Wedge in the sense that he shouldn't be here, at all....but I will say that Wedge has finally buried him on the bench and Figgins hasn't pubicly exploded. Would be interesting to sit in onthe discussions, in office, between those two. Listen, he's costing us a ton whether he doesn't play or if he goes home. We would be better off with a Luis Rodriguez as the utility guy.
3. Smoak. He isn't going to hit, last night's tater not withstanding. If Wedge keeps trotting out a Mendoza-line 1B, it is an issue. If he soon gives those AB's to Carp or Liddi or Cat or somebody else, then the call was late...but correct. See the Wells decision, above.
4. All this Olivo? No excuse. However...Olivo did DH (Yikes!) last night while Montero was behind the plate. More of this...Montero and Jaso catching, and I'll be much happier.
5. Iwakuma? Why the deep freeze for this guy?
I've been one of the biggest critics of Wedge, certainly around here. I don't think the team has shown the improvement that we wish for. However, there is the possiblity that his lineup decisions eventually move in the right decision....slowly. If we see less of Smoak (well, THIS Smoak) and Olivo in the very near future, then it will be indication that "slow-but-sure" is the Wedge trend.
Accordingly, I'm resigned to watching the Wedge M's (and promise not to complain too much) for the next 2.5 months. Who plays, who doesn't, and who gets jacked around will be what I'm looking for.
I won't be a Queen of Hearts ("Off with his head!") for a little bit. I promise.
moe
Edit: Stuff learned today: I've always thought that Wedge saw the game through the eyes of a veteran catcher......a guy who was the grizzled old-dog AAA receiver and dispenser of justice.
However, in really looking at his playing record I'm not seeing what I thought I would see. Once he got out of the low minors, he was primarily a DH, not a catcher. He started 22 MLB games, 17 at DH and 5 at catcher. In his last 4 AAA seasons, he started 6, 9, 27 and 21 games behind the plate (out of 328 games played).
He was, BTW, a Moneyballer's dream, as a hitter. His MLB line in '92 (his only year with more than 11 MLB PA's) in 81 PA's was .250-.370-.500, with 5 homers.
From '94-'97, (he had his last 7 MLB PA's in '94) he walked 120, 111. 84 and 101 pts....and homered once every 18 AB's.
Which makes the Olivo fixation all the more odd.
Hmmmmmmm.....